Blue Origin NS-18 was a sub-orbital spaceflight mission operated by Blue Origin that launched on 13 October 2021.[1] The mission was the eighteenth flight of the company's New Shepard integrated launch vehicle and spacecraft. It was the second crewed New Shepard launch. The flight, carrying four people including actor William Shatner, launched from Blue Origin's sub-orbital launch site in West Texas aboard the fourth flight of New Shepard booster NS4 and the spacecraft RSS First Step, both having previously flown on NS-14, NS-15, and NS-16 earlier in the year.
| Mission type | Crewed sub-orbital spaceflight |
|---|---|
| Operator | Blue Origin |
| Mission duration | 10 minutes, 17 seconds |
| Apogee | 107 km (66 mi) |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft | RSS First Step |
| Manufacturer | Blue Origin |
| Crew | |
| Crew size | 4 |
| Members |
|
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 13 October 2021, 14:49:51 UTC |
| Rocket | New Shepard (NS4) |
| Launch site | Corn Ranch, LS-1 |
| Contractor | Blue Origin |
| End of mission | |
| Landing date | 13 October 2021, 14:59 UTC |
| Landing site | Corn Ranch |
 Blue Origin NS-18 mission patch | |
At 90, Shatner became the oldest person to fly into space, surpassing the record of 82 which had been held by Wally Funk for three months since her flight on Blue Origin NS-16.[2][3][4] Per Blue Origin, Shatner was a guest of the company on the flight and did not have to pay for the trip.[5]
While in space, Shatner experienced the overview effect and articulated it live on camera in a post-flight conversation with Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos.[6]
Crew
editThe crew of four include Blue Origin's vice president of mission and flight operations Audrey Powers, former NASA engineer and third Australian-born person in space Chris Boshuizen, vice chair for life sciences and healthcare at the French software company Dassault Systèmes Glen de Vries, and Canadian actor William Shatner.
| Position | Crew | |
|---|---|---|
| Tourist |  Audrey PowersFirst spaceflight | |
| Tourist |  Chris BoshuizenFirst spaceflight | |
| Tourist | Glen de Vries Only spaceflight | |
| Tourist |  William ShatnerFirst spaceflight | |
Songs for Space
editChris Boshuizen, who is also a musician, carried a Star Trek-themed USB drive which contained 400 songs submitted to him via a Reddit thread along with him on the trip.[7][8][9] The USB drive was later auctioned off for charity supporting Musack, raising $8,448 USD.[10] A Soundcloud playlist of all of the songs contained on the drive was created for posterity. [11]
References
edit
- ^ "New Shepard NS-18: Mission Updates". Blue Origin. 12 October 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
- ^ "William Shatner and Blue Origin's Audrey Powers to fly on New Shepard's 18th mission". Blue Origin. 4 October 2021. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
- ^ "Blue Origin announces next customers to fly on New Shepard's upcoming human flight on October 12". Blue Origin. 27 September 2021. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
- ^ Grush, Loren (4 October 2021). "Blue Origin is officially sending William Shatner to space". The Verge. Archived from the original on 4 October 2021. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
- ^ Maidenberg, Micah (13 October 2021). "Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin Launches William Shatner to Space in Its Second Human Flight". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
- ^ "William Shatner, TV's Capt. Kirk, blasts into space". AP NEWS. 13 October 2021. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
- ^ cboshuizen (6 October 2021). "Want to send your song to space?". r/WeAreTheMusicMakers. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
- ^ "I took your songs to space! – Dr Chrispy Official". Retrieved 20 May 2024.
- ^ Blue Origin (13 October 2021). Replay: New Shepard Mission NS-18 Webcast. Retrieved 20 May 2024 – via YouTube.
- ^ "Blue Origin NS-18 (2HF) Flown USB Drive | RR Auction". www.rrauction.com. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
- ^ "Songs for Space - Blue Origin NS-18 13-Oct-2021". SoundCloud. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
External links
edit- Weitering, Hanneke (13 October 2021). "Blue Origin will launch William Shatner into space today! Here's how to watch it live". Space.com. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
- McDonald, Hamish; Holman, Julia; Bennett, Gillian (11 October 2021). "'I've seen the good, the bad and the ugly': The Australian engineer joining William Shatner in space". ABC News. Retrieved 1 December 2021.