WKTaylor
Well-known member
- Sep 24, 2001
- 4,094
Blue Origin suffered an anomaly during an uncrewed space mission today (Sept. 12) but managed to recover its capsule successfully, officials said during a live broadcast.
The company's uncrewed New Shepard capsule activated its emergency escape system today after a problem occurred with the New Shepard booster a little before the mission reached an altitude of 30,000 feet (9,000 meters). The escape system worked as planned, jetting the capsule away from trouble and allowing it to descend safely to Earth under parachutes. What happened to the booster is unknown, but it presumably was destroyed.
New Shepard lifted off today from Blue Origin's West Texas launch site at 10:27 a.m. EDT (1427 GMT) after being delayed nearly an hour for reasons the company has not disclosed. Officials have not yet said what caused the issue during launch, which may take some time to investigate. "More information to come as it is available," Blue Origin wrote in a tweet(opens in new tab).
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Interesting video. Right after max-Q during engine power-up... it appeared that a catastrophic failure occurred at the base shroud close-to/related-to the engine. Possible pump or fuel/O2 plumbing failure? NOTE: after the 'anomaly and capsule escape/separation' the launch commentator went silent for about a minute. There was obvious relief in the commentator's voice when the escape and recovery of the capsule went 'perfectly'... success in worst-case failure scenario.
Regards, Wil Taylor
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