Updates Blue Origin New Shepard News and Updates

[MaverickSawyer]

There also seems to be some sort of retrorocket system in the capsule base.

 

[RGClark]

I think he was referring to the capsule landing. That was not nearly as jarring as I would have expected. Lots of canopy to slow descent.

Yes. Compare to this Soyuz landing:

Watch a Soyuz "Soft Landing" from Gentle Detachment to Brutal Controlled Crash.
Mika McKinnon
9/01/15 1:20pm
https://gizmodo.com/watch-a-soyuz-soft-landing-from-gentle-detachment-to-1726819539


Bob Clark

 

[Urwumpe]

Yes, the landing is very smooth compared to the "What happened?" - "Earth happened" landing of Soyuz. :rofl:

But that could also be caused by the rather low wind speeds during landing, wind is what makes Soyuz landings hard.

 

[Andy44]

Yes, the landing is very smooth compared to the "What happened?" - "Earth happened" landing of Soyuz. :rofl:

But that could also be caused by the rather low wind speeds during landing, wind is what makes Soyuz landings hard.

In Soviet Russia, Earth land on you!

 

[statickid]

I think it would be very surreal to come back from ISS and step out into a grassy field in the middle of nowhere. It seems like psychological "returned to Earth" would be much stronger than a water landing, where you basically still can't touch the ground and probably won't be exposed to a natural area for some time (aside from the ocean).

 

[Urwumpe]

I think it would be very surreal to come back from ISS and step out into a grassy field in the middle of nowhere. It seems like psychological "returned to Earth" would be much stronger than a water landing, where you basically still can't touch the ground and probably won't be exposed to a natural area for some time (aside from the ocean).

Imagine you return from space and land in a frozen lake... Soyuz 23 was the only space mission where the flight engineer was better qualified for the landing than for the mission (Former deep sea diver)....

 

[dman]

Mannequin Skywalker :rofl:

Back in early 1960's, Russian when testing capsules for VOSTOK launched
fully suited dummies into orbit.

The Dummy had a sign in the face piece of the helmet announcing that this was a dummy and not some space alien!

 

[GLS]

Back in early 1960's, Russian when testing capsules for VOSTOK launched
fully suited dummies into orbit.

The Dummy had a sign in the face piece of the helmet announcing that this was a dummy and not some space alien!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Ivanovich_(Vostok_programme)

Still, Blue Origin's dummy has a funnier name.

 

[MaverickSawyer]

Somehow missed this the other day... BE-4 has hotfired!

[ame="http://twitter.com/blueorigin/status/950365085091811330"]Blue Origin on Twitter: "Latest BE-4 engine test footage where we exceeded our Isp targets. We continue to exercise the deep throttling of our full scale 550,000 lbf… https://t.co/Ty8IjdEeK9"[/ame]

 

[MaverickSawyer]

Factory at the Cape looks largely complete:

Can't wait to see more.

 

[MaverickSawyer]

BE-4 has apparently been hotfiring quite a bit lately, and the latest test ranat 65% power for 114 seconds:

 

[Urwumpe]

Yeah, 65% because it was a mixture ratio sweep.

 

[Andy44]

Exciting to see.

 

[MaverickSawyer]

Two bits of news...

First:
Blue Origin switches engines for New Glenn second stage

Blue Origin quietly changed the design of its New Glenn rocket around the beginning of the year in order to hold to a 2020 first launch and increase the range of orbital missions the rocket can complete.

Although the company’s website still shows New Glenn with a second stage powered by a reignitable version of the BE-4 it is developing to power the main stage of both New Glenn and United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket, that configuration is now out of date.

A Blue Origin executive told SpaceNews the company is shelving development of a vacuum-optimized version of BE-4 and will instead use vacuum-optimized versions of flight-proven BE-3 engines for New Glenn’s second stage and optional third stage.

And second:
Wanted at Blue Origin: an astronaut experience manager to ‘help delight customers’

Jeff Bezos’ spaceflight company Blue Origin is inching ever closer to launching tourists into sub-orbital space. But before that happens, the venture wants to hire someone to make future trips to the vacuum a very high-class experience.

Blue Origin recently posted a job ad for an “Astronaut Experience Manager” on its website, a gig that’s unlike most you’ll find in the aerospace industry. Whoever is hired for the position will be less focused on the minutiae of engineering and more concentrated on creating a full, luxurious adventure for customers flying with the company.

 

[GLS]

Here we go
[ame="https://twitter.com/jeffbezos/status/989851170545029120"]https://twitter.com/jeffbezos/status/989851170545029120[/ame]

 

[Andy44]

A "launch window" for a suborbital hop, hmm...

 

[Notebook]

You mean its going to be a surprise-to orbit...?

N.

 

[GLS]

About 4.5h to go:
[ame="https://twitter.com/blueorigin/status/990338850508623872"]https://twitter.com/blueorigin/status/990338850508623872[/ame]

 

[Nicholas Kang]

[ame="https://twitter.com/blueorigin/status/990568038868045826"]Blue Origin on Twitter: "Thunderstorms earlier this morning in West Texas. New liftoff target is 10:15 a.m. CDT, 15:15 UTC for New Shepard’s 8th test flight. Livestream starts at T-15 minutes on https://t.co/XNq9WB3aZ2… https://t.co/6zsnMorWxE"[/ame]

 

[Fabri91]

You mean its going to be a surprise-to orbit...?

N.

The Shepard isn't capable of that. "Window" in this case probably refers to the arrangements that need to be made in any case to setup all the test equipment at the range, etc.