Enlarge / Sir Richard Branson takes off his shirt to don a T-shirt that says “Future Astronaut Training Program” that was given to him by Virgin Galactic Test Pilot Mark “Forger” Stucky as Air and Space Museum Director Ellen Stofan looks on. (credit: JIM WATSON / AFP / Getty Images) Amazon founder Jeff Bezos said on Monday […]
Enlarge / Jeff Bezos speaking at the unveiling of the Blue Origin New Shepard system during the Space Symposium on Wednesday, April 5, 2017. (credit: Matthew Staver/Bloomberg via Getty Images) Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has revealed on Instagram that he plans to fly on Blue Origin’s first human spaceflight next month. “I want to go […]
Enlarge / Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VA) speaks outside the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union headquarters in Birmingham, Alabama, on Friday, March 26, 2021. (credit: Andi Rice / Bloomberg / Getty Images) Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders inserted himself into the debate about NASA’s Artemis Program on Monday. The independent and two-time presidential candidate did so […]
Blue Origin’s New Shepard launch system takes flight. (credit: Blue Origin) On Wednesday morning, Blue Origin unsealed the high bid for its auction of a spaceflight seat. The bid of $1.4 million soon rose to $2 million. As of this writing, it is at $2.4 million. The auction is for one seat on the first flight […]
Enlarge / Committee Chair Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., listens to former US Sen. Bill Nelson, President Biden’s nominee to be the next administrator of NASA, on April 21, 2021. (credit: NASA) On Wednesday, a US senator added an amendment to unrelated science legislation that would impose significant restrictions on NASA and its plans to return […]
Enlarge / Blue Origin’s New Shepard vehicle is a capsule with a view. (credit: Blue Origin) On Wednesday, Blue Origin officially announced that its first crewed flight to space is targeted for July 20, suggesting that its extended period of test flights is finally coming to an end. Rather than simply placing a seat on […]
Enlarge / Jeff Bezos, founder of Blue Origin, speaks during the 32nd Space Symposium in 2016. A few months later, the company would formally announce development of the huge New Glenn rocket. (credit: Matthew Staver/Bloomberg via Getty Images) In the fall of 2017, shortly after he became chief executive officer of Blue Origin, Bob Smith […]
Expand / / A BE-4 rocket engine extends evaluations in West Texas. (charge: Blue Origin) Blue Origin seems to have solved any improvement problems linked to the turbopumps in its own strong BE-4 rocket engine. United Launch Alliance chief executive Tory Bruno stated Friday that the issue has been”sorted out,” and the full scale, flight-configured […]