Blue Origin completes NS-33 mission and 13th human space flight

On Sunday, Blue Origin launched its New Shepard crewed flight NS-33 from Launch Site One in West Texas. This was the 13th human flight and the 33rd overall in the history of the New Shepard.

The latest crew that reached the Karman line is a group of six: Carl Kuehner, Leland Larson, Freddie Rescigno, Jr., Owolabi Salis, and James Sitkin. With these new passengers, the company has now flown 70 people on this brief journey to space.

The most recent New Shepard flight was conducted on May 31, when the rocket company hosted six passengers to space boundary including:

• K-12 STEM teacher Aymette Medina Jorge
• Radiologist and explorer Dr. Gretchen Green,
• Former Panamanian ambassador to the United States, Jaime Alemán
• Entrepreneur Jesse Williams
• Aerospace executive Mark Rocket
• Entrepreneur Paul Jeris

The initial launch attempt was planned for June 21 but was scrubbed due to the bad weather at the launch site. The next launch opportunity on June 22 was also missed for the same reason. However, the launch window on this day was perfect to fly the mission.

After clearing the launch tower, the New Shepard made its way to space. Within 2 minutes and 23 seconds in the flight, the New Shepard performed main engine cutoff, and at 2:40 minutes, Blue Origin confirmed crew capsule separation.

In the next minute, the rocket kept on spinning until it achieved apogee. Afterward, the rocket and the capsule started descending to the landing zone.

After firing its final burn, the New Shepard booster performed a touchdown at about 7:25 minutes into the mission. This event was followed by the capsule performing a parachute deployment sequence. Blue Origin wrapped up the NS-33 mission with the capsule safely landing back on Earth at 10:15 minutes into the mission.