Unveils Mission Patch

Blue Origin announced that its 10th human mission, New Shepard Mission 30 or NS-30, is scheduled to launch from Launch Site One in West Texas on Tuesday February 25, 2025, with the launch window slated to open at 9:30 a.m. CST / 15:30 UTC.

The launch will be streamed live on the company’s website. The five astronauts named as crew members include Elaine Chia Hyde, Jesus Calleja, Lane Bess, Dr. Richard Scott, and Tushar Shah. Blue Origin has not released the identity of the sixth crew member.

Blue Origin also released the NS-30mission patch and described the significance of some of the symbols embedded in the design:

• The mountain represents Spanish mountaineer and adventurer Jesús Calleja, who has climbed the world’s Seven Summits
• The airplane and clouds represent Jesús Calleja, Elaine Hyde, Dr. Richard Scott, and Tushar Shah, all of whom are pilots
• The dove with the olive branch represents Jesús Calleja and Lane Bess’ hope for peace for all
• The Southern Cross represents Elaine Hyde’s Australian and Singaporean heritage
• The Roman numeral II along the bottom edge represents Lane’s second flight
• The winding road on the mountain leading to the crew capsule represents the road to space each of the crew’s astronauts have taken

As the mission designation indicates, this will be the 30th overall launch for New Shepard, a fully reusable suborbital rocket system built for human flight from the start. Its flight typically lasts about 11 minutes during which astronauts experience several minutes of weightlessness as they ascend beyond the Karman line at roughly 100 km or 62 miles.

The crew capsule can accommodate six passengers and has expansive windows for passengers to observe awesome and sometimes life-changing views of our home planet.

Although not all agree on it, the Karman line is often considered the boundary of space, where the Earth’s atmosphere ends and space begins.

FMI:  www.blueorigin.com/