San Francisco: A day after getting delayed due to unfavourable weather, Blue Origin’s second human flight to space, with Star Trek-fame William Shatner onboard, is all set for launch Wednesday, the company said.
“#NewShepard is go for launch! The mission team has completed the Flight Readiness Evaluation prior to #NS18. This is our final meeting with the engineers and Mission Control team to ensure all systems are go for launch,” the company said on Twitter.
“Forecasted winds at launch have subsided and weather currently looks good for Wednesday,” it added.
The lift-off is now targeted for 9 a.m. CDT (7.30 p.m. India time) from Blue Origin’s Launch Site One in Texas.
“Due to forecasted winds on Tuesday, October 12, Blue Origin’s mission operations team has made the decision to delay the launch of NS-18 and is now targeting Wednesday, October 13,” read a statement on Blue Origin’s website Tuesday.
Today’s launch will be New Shepard’s 18th mission, and the second crewed flight to space.
The NS-18 will carry four astronauts to space and back.
Shatner, who will be the oldest man ever to travel to space, will be joined by former NASA engineer Chris Boshuizen, Glen de Vries, a co-founder of software company Medidata, and Audrey Powers, Vice President of missions and flight operations.
On July 20, Blue Origin successfully carried its first human flight which included Jeff Bezos, his brother Mark Bezos, aviation pioneer Wally Funk, and Blue Origin’s first customer, Oliver Daemen.
In a mission, which lasted 10 minutes and 10 seconds, the fully automated and reusable New Shepard rocket flew beyond the Karman line, 100 km above the ground and the internationally recognised boundary of space.
The five-storey tall New Shepard rocket, named after the first American in space Alan Shepard, is designed to launch a crew capsule with seats for six roughly 340,000 feet into the sky toward the edge of space.
The booster is topped by a gumdrop-shaped Crew Capsule with space for six passengers inside and large windows.
After reaching the Karman line, the capsule detaches from the booster, allowing those inside to view the curvature of the earth and experience weightlessness.
The booster and capsule then land separately, with the capsule landing in the west Texas desert with the help of parachutes.
