Visitors Get A Taste Of What It Might Be Like To Ride Into Space

One of the tallest objects on Boeing Plaza at AirVenture this year is a rocket ship ... for real. Blue Origin has its New Shepard booster on display at the show, along with a mockup of the company's crew cabin that will one day carry people into space.

On Nov. 23, 2015, New Shepard became the first rocket to ascend above the Karman line and successfully return to Earth for a vertical landing. The same booster made four subsequent flights in 2016—on Jan. 22, April 2, June 19 and Oct. 5—successfully demonstrating the reuse of a rocket for the first time. EAA AirVenture Oshkosh attendees will get an up-close look at the historic rocket.

In addition, Blue Origin’s exhibit features a 1:1 mockup of New Shepard’s astronaut crew capsule, which has seating for six people. AirVenture guests are able to climb inside, recline in flight-ready seats and experience a simulated flight to space created with real mission footage from New Shepard’s on board cameras. The crew capsule features the largest windows in spaceflight history, which take up more than one-third of the capsule’s surface area offering every astronaut stellar views during flight.

“We are very excited to come to EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2017 and showcase our reusable New Shepard rocket and crew capsule so everyone can experience what it’s like to be an astronaut,” said Rob Meyerson, president of Blue Origin. “We hope to inspire the explorers of tomorrow, the ones who will help us achieve Blue Origin’s goal of millions of people living and working in space.”

Blue Origin is retiring the New Shepherd seen at Oshkosh and a new booster will be mated to a new crew capsule, hoping for a first flight before the end of the year, and a resumption of what has heretofore been a very successful test program.

(Source: Interviews and EAA news release. Staff image)

FMI: www.blueorigin.com