Table of Contents
Why in news?
- New Shepard, the rocket system built by Blue Origin, completed its seventh test launch after it took off from a test facility in Texas which is designed to carry space tourists on short “sub-orbital” trips.
- This launch is referred to as NS-13. There were 12 payloads onboard including the Deorbit, Descent and the Landing Sensor Demonstration under the NASA Tipping Point partnership.
- Note: There were no passengers on board this test launch.
About New Shepard…
- New Shepard has been named after astronaut Mercury Alan Shepard, the first American to go to space.
- It is meant to provide easier and more cost-effective access to space meant for purposes such as academic research, corporate technology development and entrepreneurial ventures among others.
- Rear Admiral Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr. was an American astronaut, naval aviator, test pilot, and businessman. In 1961, he became the first American to travel into space, and in 1971, he walked on the Moon.
What is New Shepard’s objective?
- New Shepard is a rocket system that has been designed to take astronauts and research payloads past the Karman line.
- It offers flights to space over 100 km above the Earth and accommodation for payloads.
Karman Line
- It is the internationally recognized boundary of space.
- The Karman line is the altitude where space begins.
- It is 100 km (about 62 miles) high.
- It commonly represents the border between the Earth’s atmosphere and outer space.
How does New Shepard work?
- The rocket system consists of two parts, the cabin/capsule and the rocket/the booster.
- The cabin can accommodate experiments from small mini payloads up to 100 kg.
How does New Shepard work?
- The cabin/capsule is designed for six people and sits atop a 60-feet tall rocket and separates from it before crossing the Karman line.
- After separating from the booster, the capsule free falls in space, while the booster performs an autonomously controlled vertical landing back to Earth.
- The capsule, on the other hand, lands back with the help of parachutes.
- Effectively, both vehicles come back to the Earth.
“Splice” Payload
- The payload it was carrying for Nasa is called Splice, which stands for Safe and Precise Landing – Integrated Capabilities Evolution.
- It consists of two sensor systems, a computer and advanced algorithms.
- The purpose of sending it up on New Shepard was to test how the different elements of the payload work together.
About Blue Origins
- Blue Origins is a aerospace company owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos headquartered in Kent, Washington. Founded in 2000.
- The company aims to make access to space cheaper and more reliable through reusable launch vehicles.
- Its competitor company is SpaceX.
About SpaceX
- SpaceX is California-based aerospace company founded in 2002 with the goal to build affordable rockets and enable the colonisation of Mars.
- The manufacturer also aimed to reduce space transportation costs.
- In 2008 it launched the first privately-funded liquid-propellant rocket to reach orbit and later became the first private company to launch an object into orbit around the sun.
Blue Origins and NASA
- Blue Origin is part of a team that was awarded a Nasa contract to start developing a lander capable of returning humans to the lunar surface for the first time since 1972.
- In 2018, Blue Origin was one of the ten companies selected by NASA to conduct studies and advance technologies to collect, process and use space-based resources for missions to the Moon and Mars.
Blue Origins and NASA
- In 2019, both signed an agreement that gives Blue Origin permission to use NASA’s historic test stand, as a part of a growing number of partnerships between the space agency and the commercial space industry.
NASA’s Artemis Program
- Under the Artemis program, NASA plans to land the first woman and next man on the Moon by 2024, using innovative technologies to explore more of the lunar surface than ever before.
- “We will collaborate with our commercial and international partners and establish sustainable exploration by the end of the decade. Then, we will use what we learn on and around the Moon to take the next giant leap – sending astronauts to Mars.”
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