Daughter of America's First Astronaut Calls It "Unreal"... Blue Origin's Third Space Trip

Blue Origin's spacecraft 'New Shepard' is taking off around 10 a.m. (Eastern Time) on the 11th (local time) from the launch site near Van Horn, Texas, USA. (Photo by CNN)

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] Blue Origin, the space exploration company founded by American billionaire Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, has successfully completed its third manned space tourism flight.

According to CNN on the 11th (local time), Blue Origin's spacecraft 'New Shepard,' carrying six civilian passengers, took off around 10 a.m. (Eastern Time) from Launch Site One near Van Horn, Texas.

New Shepard ascended to an altitude of 66.5 miles (approximately 107 km), the boundary commonly referred to as the edge of space, before landing in the West Texas desert. The total flight time was 10 minutes and 13 seconds.

The trip included Michael Strahan, host of ABC's popular program 'Good Morning America,' and Laura Shepard Churchley, daughter of Alan Shepard, the first American astronaut, who was invited as a free passenger.

Four paying customers took the trip, filling all six seats for the first time: Dylan Taylor, CEO of space exploration company Voyager Space; inventor Evan Dick; Lane Bess, founder of investment and marketing firm Bess Ventures; and his son Cameron Bess.

After landing, Churchley told Bezos that unlike her father, who had to work strapped in his seat throughout the flight, she enjoyed the space travel time floating in zero gravity.

Strahan also described the flight experience as "unreal" and "beyond expectations," expressing a desire to do it again. Bezos responded, "Next time, you'll have to pay."

Blue Origin's New Shepard surpassed the 80 km altitude defined by NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as the boundary of space, reaching 107 km.

The dome-shaped manned capsule, mounted atop the booster, separates from the rocket at a certain altitude, allowing passengers to unbuckle their seat belts and experience near-zero gravity for 3 to 4 minutes. Large windows designed at each seat offer simultaneous views of Earth and outer space.

The Washington Post evaluated this year as the year with the highest number of civilian manned spaceflights worldwide, totaling 13.

Through three spaceflights, Blue Origin has sent 14 civilians, including Bezos, into space. British company Virgin Galactic, founded by billionaire Richard Branson, also succeeded in two spaceflights this year, including Branson’s own first space tourism flight in July.

SpaceX, owned by the world's richest person Elon Musk, successfully completed the 'Inspiration 4' mission, sending four civilians into space for three days, and Russia sent an actress and a film producer to the International Space Station (ISS).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.