New Shepard Completes Mission with NASA Precision Lunar Landing Technology Onboard
October 13, 2020 | Blue OriginEstimated reading time: 1 minute
Blue Origin successfully completed the 13th New Shepard mission to space and back, and the seventh consecutive flight for this particular vehicle, a record.
There were 12 payloads onboard including the Deorbit, Descent, and Landing Sensor Demonstration under the NASA Tipping Point partnership. The lunar landing sensor demo was the first payload to be mounted on the exterior of a New Shepard booster and tested technology designed to achieve high accuracy landing. This will enable long-term lunar exploration, as well as future Mars missions.
“Today's flight was inspiring. Using New Shepard to simulate landing on the Moon is an exciting precursor to what the Artemis program will bring to America,” said Bob Smith, CEO, Blue Origin. “Thanks to NASA for partnering with us, and congrats to the Blue Origin team on taking another step toward returning to the Moon to stay.”
Key Mission Stats
- 7th consecutive successful flight to space and back for this New Shepard vehicle (a record – previous booster completed 5 consecutive successful flights before retirement).
- 13th consecutive successful crew capsule landing (every flight in program).
- The crew capsule reached an apogee of 346,964 ft above ground level (AGL) / 350,611 ft mean sea level (MSL) (105 km AGL/106 km MSL).
- The booster reached an apogee of 346,563 ft AGL /350,210 ft MSL (105 km AGL/106 km MSL).
- The mission elapsed time was 10 min 9 sec and the max ascent velocity was 2,232 mph/3,592 km/h.
- The mission carried tens of thousands of postcards from Blue Origin’s nonprofit, Club for the Future, some of which include a NASA Artemis stamp.
All mission crew supporting this launch exercised strict social distancing and safety measures to mitigate COVID-19 risks to personnel, customers, and surrounding communities.
Suggested Items
Orbex Secures Patent for 'Petal Fold' Reusable Rocket Technology
03/29/2024 | OrbexOrbex has successfully patented its REFLIGHT reusable rocket technology following patent approval in several European markets, based on the patent grant by the European Patent Office, as well as in the United States.
NASA Uses ORNL Supercomputers to Plan Smooth Landing on Mars
03/26/2024 | Oak Ridge National LaboratoryA U.S. mission to land astronauts on the surface of Mars will be unlike any other extraterrestrial landing ever undertaken by NASA.
RTX's Raytheon Completes First Flight Test for New AMRAAM-ER Variant
03/05/2024 | RTXRaytheon, an RTX business, and Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace, with support from the Norwegian Ministry of Defense (MoD) and Armed Forces, successfully completed a flight test of an updated AMRAAM®-Extended Range missile variant from a National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS).
Reliable Robotics Demonstrates Flexibility of Autonomous Flight System in an Operational Mission for the U.S. Air Force
02/15/2024 | BUSINESS WIREReliable Robotics, a leader in autonomous aircraft systems, today announced that it has completed a demonstration for the Department of the Air Force's AFWERX Autonomy Prime branch. In conjunction with the Air Combat Command branch of the U.S. Air Force's AGILE FLAG exercise, Reliable demonstrated its autonomous flight system for intra-theater military logistics.
Lockheed Martin, Red 6 Announce Augmented Reality Integration Progress For TF-50
02/12/2024 | Lockheed MartinLockheed Martin and Red 6 announced a recently completed a groundbreaking effort to integrate the latest Red 6 augmented reality (AR) training technology with a TF-50 simulator