Toggle light / dark theme

Blue Origin launches second crewed New Shepard mission

Posted in space travel

Blue Origin launched Star Trek actor William Shatner and three others into space on a brief suborbital flight on Oct. 13 the second crewed flight of the company’s New Shepard vehicle.

New Shepard lifted off from the company’s Launch Site One in West Texas at 10:49 a.m. Eastern. The vehicle reached an estimated peak altitude of 107 kilometers before the crew capsule, RSS First Step, landed 10 minutes and 15 seconds after liftoff. The booster landed under rocket power about three minutes earlier.

The vehicle carried four people, headlined by Shatner, best known for his role as James T. Kirk on the original Star Trek television series and later movies. At 90 Shatner is now the oldest person to fly to space, breaking the record set by 82-year-old Wally Funk on the first crewed New Shepard flight on July 20.

Leave a Reply