On Friday , Blue Origin launched their same New Shepard rocket booster that it launched into quad two months ago . seem like the commercial-grade distance slipstream for recyclable rockets is on — SpaceX is flashier with liberal trajectories , but Blue Origin keeps come through the race to first .
The originalNew Shepardflight in November boosted the rocket to 329,839 feet altitude ( 100.5 kilometre ) , andlanded it vertically back at their mental testing fieldin Texas . This carried it above above the Karman line , the official definition of the hazy boundary between the Earth ’s atm and space , make it the first rocket to jaunt to space and return to land vertically back on Earth .
At the fourth dimension , SpaceX ’s Elon Musk gave Blue Origin ’s Jeff Bezos heartache ( mixed with felicitation ) that getting to distance was n’t the same as orbital spacefaring . He legitimately emphasized that what he was doing with SpaceX and the Falcon 9 was in a totally dissimilar year . SpaceX pulled off its own first post - mission erect landing a calendar month later , delivering a Falcon 9 rocket engine to Cape Canaveral in Florida .
We totally agree with Musk — Blue Origin is sock around the bunny slope while SpaceX is skip through power on smutty ball field destruction traps — but it ’s delightful to see so much forward motion on the same conception . To convey the winter imagination to the snapping full stop , at least both companies are push their single technology and techniques for reusable rockets , not veil in the lodge whining about how it ’s cold and inconceivable outside .
New Shepard landing place in November 2015 . Image credit : Blue Origin
We ’ve report SpaceX go itsrecovered Falcon 9 through its post - flight checkup , but have n’t heard a peep from Blue Origin until today . Apparently New Shepard performed almost exactly to modeled predictions , create refurbishment straightforward . engine driver replaced gang abridgement chute and pyro light , ran checkups , and advance the software .
In its 2nd flight , New Shepard reached an apogee of 333,582 feet ( 101.7 klick ) . It ’s landing this time was a niggling dissimilar . Part of the computer software upgrade was reprioritizing how the Eruca vesicaria sativa place touchdown . The arugula no longer shoot for for the center of the pad at all costs . Instead although it targets the center , it will down anywhere convenient . In more technological terms , it prioritized the vertical altitude over longitudinal alteration , meaning that it does n’t make last - minute yaw compensating for low-spirited - altitude gusts just before landing .
The same New Shepard rocket engine introduction and landing again in January 2016 . figure of speech credit : Blue Origin
UnlikeMusk ’s plan to put his land Falcon 9 in a museum(or at least never vaporize it again ) , Bezos is already planning on launching and land this same rocket again and again and again all year long . Ina statement accompanying the TV spillage , he also write that this twelvemonth will see more examination of Blue Origin ’s BE-4 locomotive engine .
This is the good space race ever . Between Blue Origin ’s tourism and SpaceX ’s payloads , reclaimable rockets are going to become a everyday reality . It ’s going to be an unbelievable day when erect landings are on par with the ( admittedly always excellent ) excitement of a launch where we debate if they ’re fresh enough to cover . The futurity is spellbinding .
Update : Blue Origin released an lovely video recording of just how excited their team was with each landing place . activated engineer are also excellent !
[ Blue Origin ]
Top effigy : Blue Origin ’s New Shepard debut on January 22 , 2016 after previously launch and landing in November 2015 . Image quotation : Blue Origin / Mika McKinnon .
get in touch with the author at[email protected]or be her at@MikaMcKinnon .
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