Kent-based Blue Origin completed its 10th human spaceflight on Tuesday, Feb. 25 and the 30th flight for the New Shepard rocket program.
The six-member crew spent about 10 minutes traveling approximately 62 miles into space after lift off from Launch Site One in West Texas before touchdown in Texas.
New Shepard has flown 52 people into space, including repeat astronauts, according to a Feb. 28 Blue Origin email. The company’s first human spaceflight was July 20, 2021. That flight included Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who opened Blue Origin in 2000 in Kent.
The crew on Tuesday’s flight included:
• Lane Bess, the principal and founder of Miami Beach, Florida-based Bess Ventures and Advisory that supports technology firms. He has led and built some of the world’s largest cybersecurity companies. This was his second flight on New Shepard.
• Jesús Calleja, a Spanish TV host, mountaineer, pilot, and lifelong adventurer.
• Elaine Chia Hyde, an entrepreneur, physicist and pilot. She is the founder of Chicago Star, a news and media company, and Eastside Enterprises, a research and development company focused on AI-assisted media products.
• Dr. Richard Scott, a reproductive endocrinologist, embryologist, professor, research scientist, philanthropist, entrepreneur, and avid pilot. He was a founding partner and CEO of IVIRMA Global, the world’s largest fertility care group with clinics and laboratories in 10 countries.
• Tushar Shah, a partner and the co-head of research at a quantitative hedge fund in New York City.
Blue Origin didn’t disclose the name of the sixth crew member. Photos of the crew showed a man with the name R. Wilson on his flight suit.
The company charges people to be part of the crew and does not reveal its prices. Some crew members are sponsored by others.
“There’s nothing like seeing the diversity among our crews, and this mission brought together people from all over the world—scientists, doctors, entrepreneurs, and adventurers,” said Phil Joyce, New Shepard senior vice president. “It’s always inspiring to hear their unique perspectives about the life-changing impact of seeing Earth from space. Huge thanks to our customers for supporting our mission to build a road to space for the benefit of Earth.”
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