Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’ space venture, conducted a suborbital space trip after a 21-month hiatus, fulfilling a 60-year-old dream of Black aerospace pioneer Ed Dwight. The 90-year-old retired military test pilot participated in Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket ship flight, becoming the oldest person to go into space. Dwight was initially passed over for astronaut duty, sparking debates about racial politics and height limitations. His trip was sponsored by Space for Humanity and the Jaison and Jamie Robinson Foundation, marking a long-awaited achievement for Dwight.
Blue Origin’s history of commemorating past achievements continued with Dwight’s flight. Previously, the company included Wally Funk, a member of the “Mercury 13” group, in one of its crewed spaceflights. Funk became the world’s oldest spaceflier at 82, a record that was later broken by William Shatner and now surpassed by Dwight. Alongside Dwight, other passengers on NS-25 included a diverse group of individuals who are presumed to have paid their own way. The flight marked the 25th mission of the New Shepard program, with 37 people having taken trips from Blue Origin’s Launch Site One in West Texas.
NS-25 followed the standard New Shepard flight model, with the crew capsule reaching a maximum height above the Karman Line that defines outer space. After a few minutes of zero-gravity and gazing out through the capsule’s windows, the spacefliers underwent a parachute-assisted landing in the Texas rangeland. Despite a parachute inflation issue during descent, the mission was successful. The booster also successfully landed autonomously nearby. The flight lasted around 10 minutes from launch to landing, showcasing the capabilities of the New Shepard system.
In addition to the human passengers, NS-25 carried postcards from students as part of Blue Origin’s educational program. The astronauts also brought their own set of postcards on the flight. This was the first crewed New Shepard mission since August 2022, after the company took more than 20 corrective actions following a launch anomaly during an uncrewed mission. Blue Origin’s focus extends beyond suborbital flights, as the company is developing an orbital-class New Glenn rocket, a lunar lander for NASA, a multi-mission platform called Blue Ring, a commercial space station named Orbital Reef, and advanced programs related to lunar materials and solar power transmission using laser technology.
