[Music]
and touchdown this is blue origins new
Shepard passenger rocket it's designed
to take up to six space tourists for
short anti-gravity experiences at the
Karman line that's the boundary between
Earth's atmosphere and outer space this
is the company's twelfth Test flight and
its 11th successful landing this is the
third version of the vehicle but other
new Shepard Rockets have been launched
into space and back this particular
rocket now holds the record for the new
Shepard rocket with the most trips to
space six but all those test flights
have been without passengers as Blue
Origin is still making sure the vehicle
is ready for them the company originally
said it would be ready to carry its
first crew in 2019 but is slowed those
plans as tests continue the fourth
version of the rocket the one that's
meant to hold people hasn't flown since
May as the company has been completing
more safety tests most recent tests have
included a crash test dummy nicknamed
mannequin Skywalker it's equipped with
sensors that measure how future
customers could be affected by the
flight Blue Origin was founded in 2000
by billionaire Jeff Bezos with the
mission of lowering the costs of an
increasing access to space travel it
plans to accomplish this by leaning into
reusability traditional rockets are a
one-time-only kind of deal but new
Shepard was designed with a vertical
takeoff vertical landing system that
allows the company to reuse parts of the
rocket with minimal refurbishment here's
how it works
new Shepard is made up of two main
components the rocket and the capsule
the rocket propels the vehicle and the
capsule holds the crew when it takes off
it reaches a height of 62 miles or 100
kilometres at this point the capsule
separates from the rocket both pieces
will return to Earth the rocket using
its engines to propel itself back down
and the capsule using parachutes even
though new Shepard hasn't carried any
people yet the vehicle has been used to
carry various payloads for companies
universities and NASA this launch
includes a NASA space garbage recycling
experiment playfully named Oscar a
Columbia University students experiment
studying the effects of weightlessness
on cells and even the winning entries of
an art in space contest hosted by the
band Ok Go for middle and high school
students with a likely 2020 date for the
first manned launch Blue Origin has yet
to start selling tickets to the public
or announce a price point for now the
company's focus is on making sure the
new Shepherd is safe and ready for
humankind's next giant leap and
touchdown just beautiful
you