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Blue Origin completes 29th New Shepard mission, simulates lunar gravity

VAN HORN, Texas — Blue Origin completed its 29th New Shepard flight and 14th payload mission today which was to simulate lunar gravity.

The payloads experienced roughly two minutes of lunar gravity forces. The New Shepard crew capsule used its reaction control system to spin up to approximately 11 revolutions per minute, simulating one-sixth Earth gravity at the midpoint of the crew capsule lockers.

The NS-29 booster touches down. (Blue Origin photo)

“New Shepard’s ability to provide a lunar gravity environment is an extremely unique and valuable capability as researchers set their sights on a return to the Moon,” said Phil Joyce, senior vice president, New Shepard. “This enables researchers to test lunar technologies at a fraction of the cost, rapidly iterate, and test again in a significantly compressed timeframe.”

The flight, which was postponed from Jan. 28, carried 30 payloads from NASA, research institutions, and commercial companies, bringing the number of payloads flown on New Shepard to more than 175.

Blue Origin has a rocket engine manufacturing facility in Huntsville’s Cummings Research Park.

The mission, which lifted off at 10 a.m. from Launch Site One in West Texas, tested six broad lunar technology areas: In-situ resource utilization, dust mitigation, advanced habitation systems, sensors and instrumentation, small spacecraft technologies, and entry descent and landing.

Proving out these technologies at lower cost is another step toward Blue Origin’s mission to lower the cost of access to space for the benefit of Earth. It also enables NASA and other lunar surface technology providers to test innovations critical to achieving Artemis program goals and exploring the Moon’s surface.

Club for the Future, Blue Origin’s nonprofit, flew thousands of postcards as part of its Postcards to Space program. Each postcard will be returned to its creator stamped “Flown to Space.” The club has a digital method to create and send postcards, which can be found here.

Key Mission Statistics

  • Official Launch Time: 10 a.m. CST / 16:00:00 UTC
  • Booster Apogee: 341,700 ft AGL / 345,347 ft MSL (104 km AGL / 105 km MSL)
  • Crew Capsule Apogee: 341,944 ft AGL / 345,591 ft MSL (104 km AGL / 105 km MSL)
  • Crew Capsule Landing Time: 10:10:06 a.m. CST / 16:10:06 UTC
  • Mission Elapsed Time: 10 minutes, 6 seconds

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