Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin is set to blast its third private crew to space on Saturday, this time including the daughter of the first American astronaut.

The spaceflight will last roughly 11 minutes, launching from the company's base in Texas and soaring to just beyond the internationally-recognized boundary of space, 62 miles (100 kilometers) high.

The six-member crew will unbuckle and enjoy a few minutes' weightlessness before the spaceship returns to Earth for a gentle parachute landing in the desert.

The launch date was pushed back because of high winds, but is now set for 8:45 am local time (1445 GMT) on Saturday.

Laura Shepard Churchley, whose father Alan Shepard became the first American to travel to space in 1961, will be flying as a guest of Blue Origin.

The company's suborbital rocket is in fact named "New Shepard" in honor of the pioneering astronaut.

Michael Strahan, an American football Hall of Famer turned TV personality, is also a guest, while there are four paying customers: space industry executive and philanthropist Dylan Taylor, investor Evan Dick, Bess Ventures founder Lane Bess, and Cameron Bess.

Lane and Cameron Bess will become the first parent-child pair to fly in space. Ticket prices have not been disclosed.

"It's kind of fun for me to say an original Shepard will fly on the New Shepard," Shepard Churchley, who runs a foundation that promotes science and raises funds for college students, said in a video. "I'm very proud of my father's legacy."

Alan Shepard performed a 15-minute suborbital space flight on May 5, 1961, just under a month after the Soviet Union's Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space, orbiting the planet.

Shepard, who died in 1998, went on to be the fifth of twelve men to have set foot on the Moon.

Previous Blue Origin flights have flown the company's billionaire founder Bezos as well as Star Trek actor William Shatner to space.

Bezos, who made his fortune with Amazon envisages a future in which humanity disperses throughout the solar system, living and working in giant space colonies with artificial gravity.

This, he says, would leave Earth as a pristine tourism destination much like national parks today.

The year 2021 has been significant for the space tourism sector, with Virgin Galactic also flying its founder Richard Branson to the final frontier, and Elon Musk's SpaceX sending four private citizens on a three-day orbital mission for charity.

The industry's predicted growth means that, starting from next year, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said Friday it will stop awarding astronaut wings badges to commercial space travelers, though it will continue to recognize them on its website.

"The Astronaut Wings program, created in 2004, served its original purpose to bring additional attention to this exciting endeavor," said FAA Associate Administrator Wayne Monteith, in a statement.

ia/crs

AMAZON.COM

Related Links
Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Blue Origin flight with Alan Shephard daughter delayed by weather
Washington (AFP) Dec 8, 2021
A Blue Origin flight due to include the daughter of the first American to travel to space has been delayed by two days because of forecasts of bad weather, the company said Wednesday. The flight was originally scheduled for Thursday but because of winds forecast for both that day and Friday it will now aim to lift off on Saturday at 8:45 am (1445 GMT) from West Texas. Laura Shepard Churchley, whose father Alan Shepard became the first American to travel to space in 1961, will be one of six passe ... read more