blue origin
It’s been more than four months since the failed launch of the Blue Origin New Shepard rocket. No humans were on board as it was conducting a scientific research mission in orbit, but the failure has since grounded the New Shepard Fleet.
The rocket’s single main engine failed as it throttled back after a period of maximum dynamic pressure at about 1 minute into flight and at an altitude of about 9 km. At that point, a massive fire broke out in the BE-3 engine, and New Shepard his capsule’s solid rocket motor-driven escape system fired as intended, pulling the capsule away from the exploding rocket. The capsule experienced high G-forces during this return, but appeared to have landed safely.
Three days after the accident on the New Shepherd 23 mission, bipartisan leaders of the House Space and Aviation Subcommittee wrote to the Federal Aviation Administration calling for a thorough investigation. In his interview with Ars later that month, the chairman of the subcommittee, U.S. Congressman Don Beyer (D-Va.), urged Blue Origin to be transparent.
“I’m a huge proponent of transparency and I hope the FAA resolves this fairly quickly,” Beyer said. I recommend it because it builds trust.It doesn’t have to happen overnight, but it’s great to keep people updated on the progress they’re making.”
The company does not heed this advice. Founded by Jeff Bezos over 20 years ago, Blue Origin has been mostly opaque during its existence, rarely giving a glimpse of what it does through a carefully choreographed public relations campaign. Bezos himself rarely speaks to space journalists about the company’s activities. This continues in the New Shepard-23 investigation. To date, Blue Origin has not publicly said anything about the failure, its investigation, or next steps.
According to an application filed with the Federal Communications Commission last week, Blue Origin may be targeting the period from April 1 to June 1 this year for its next New Shepherd flight. However, a company spokeswoman said the date is not tied to a specific launch and should not be read too much. We are continuing to cover our launches,” said a spokesperson.
Another question is whether this is an unmanned mission or a manned mission. At the time of the accident, Blue Origin was flying two different New Shepard systems. RSS HG Wells The capsule was flying a science mission with Booster 3, but the new RSS first step I was flying a manned mission with Booster 4.
Launching a failed mission in September, Booster 3 was the company’s oldest operational rocket, debuting in December 2017. With some modifications from Booster 3, it’s certified as a human-rated rocket.
Blue Origin could choose to launch a crewed mission on Booster 4, an unmanned test flight on a rocket, or debut a new booster with changes made as a result of knowledge gained from the New Shepard 23 accident investigation. rice field. The company did not respond to questions about which rocket will be flown next and whether people will be on board.
