Page 3 - Spec Tech Vol 1 Issue 04

Jeff Bezos rocket malfunctions on trip to space

The New Shepard rocket and capsule system
developed by US billionaire Jeff Bezos has had
to abort a mission mid-flight over the Texas
desert. The rocket experienced what appeared
to be a propulsion failure about one minute
after leaving the launch pad. A motor pushed
the capsule clear, enabling it to make a soft
return to the ground with the aid of parachutes.
(Image Credit: Blue Origin)

New Shepard regularly carries people, but on this
occasion the only payload was a batch of zero-G
experiments.
The incident occurred at an altitude of just over
28,000ft (8.5km) while the vehicles were moving
upwards at 700mph (1,120km/h).
Dr Erika Wagner, a senior director at Mr Bezos's
Blue Origin space company, was doing the
in-flight webcast commentary. "It appears that
we've experienced an anomaly with today's
flight," she said shortly after the separation of the
capsule from the rocket booster. "This wasn't
planned and we don't have any details yet."

This was the 23rd mission of New Shepard since
its introduction in 2015. Flight Profile of the New Shepherd (Image Credit: Blue Origin)

In July 2021, on the system's 16th outing, it started carrying
people on short hops above the atmosphere. The crew on
that occasion included Jeff Bezos himself and his brother,
Mark. Flight 18 gained international attention when it carried
the Star Trek movie actor William Shatner aloft. Monday's
mission was un-crewed. The capsule was carrying 36
payloads from academia, research institutions, and students
from across the globe - largely paid for by the US space
agency Nasa.

These experiments were aiming to exploit the particular
conditions of weightlessness experienced at the top of the
capsule's routine apogee of a little over 62 miles (100km).

Had people been on board during the abort, they would have
experienced a sharp jolt at the moment of separation but
should have been none the worse for their experience on
landing.
(Image Credit: Blue Origin)
The Federal Aviation Administration, which licenses commercial spaceflight in the US, said it would be
investigating Monday's incident.
"Before the New Shepard vehicle can return to flight, the FAA will determine whether any system, process
or procedure related to the mishap affected public safety. This is standard practice for all mishap
investigations," its statement read.

Space Explorer 2022 3