Blue Origin NS-26

Blue Origin NS-26
Mission type	Crewed sub-orbital spaceflight
Mission duration	10 minutes, 8 seconds
Apogee	105.3 km (65.4 mi)
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	RSS First Step
Manufacturer	Blue Origin
Crew
Crew size	6
Members	Ephraim Rabin; Nicolina Elrick; Eugene Grin; Rob Ferl; Karsen Kitchen; Eiman Jahangir;
Start of mission
Launch date	29 August 2024, 13:07:03 UTC
Rocket	New Shepard (NS4)
Launch site	Corn Ranch, LS-1
Contractor	Blue Origin
End of mission
Landing date	29 August 2024, 13:17:11 UTC
Landing site	Corn Ranch
	; Blue Origin NS-26 mission patch New Shepard crewed flights ← Blue Origin NS-25 TBD → New Shepard flights ← Blue Origin NS-25 Blue Origin NS-27 →

Blue Origin NS-26 was a sub-orbital spaceflight mission, operated by Blue Origin, launched on August 29, 2024, using the New Shepard rocket.^[2]^[3]^[4]^[1]

Crew

Prime crew
Position	Crew
Tourist	Nicolina Elrick First spaceflight
Scientist	Rob Ferl First spaceflight
Tourist	Eugene Grin First spaceflight
Tourist	Eiman Jahangir First spaceflight
Tourist	Karsen Kitchen First spaceflight
Tourist	Ephraim Rabin First spaceflight

The flight's crew included NASA-funded scientist Rob Ferl who is a professor at the University of Florida. During the flight, he performed experiments studying the change of gene expression in one type of plant when the plant was exposed to microgravity and other different phases of flight. Professor Ferl was the first NASA-funded researcher flying aboard New Shepard (or indeed aboard any of the commercial suborbital space vehicles of the 21st century). His flight and experiments were funded by NASA's Flight Opportunities program.^[1]

Nicolina Elrick (British citizen) became the first ethnic Singaporean to reach space.

Eiman Jahangir's flight was sponsored by the cryptocurrency spaceflight accelerator organization MoonDAO.^[1]

Karsen Kitchen became the youngest woman and youngest American to cross the Kármán line (100 km) at 21 years old.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Foust, Jeff (August 29, 2024). "Blue Origin flies NASA-funded scientist and space tourists on New Shepard suborbital flight". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2024-08-29.
^ "Blue Origin Announces Crew for New Shepard's 26th Mission". Blue Origin. Retrieved 2024-07-25.
^ Argueta, Brenda (2024-07-24). "Next crew announced for Blue Origin. Here's who's going to space". WKMG. Retrieved 2024-07-25.
^ Foust, Jeff (2024-08-23). "Blue Origin sets date for next New Shepard flight after completing parachute investigation". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2024-08-24.

[spacenews29082024-1] Foust, Jeff (August 29, 2024). "Blue Origin flies NASA-funded scientist and space tourists on New Shepard suborbital flight". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2024-08-29.

[2] "Blue Origin Announces Crew for New Shepard's 26th Mission". Blue Origin. Retrieved 2024-07-25.

[3] Argueta, Brenda (2024-07-24). "Next crew announced for Blue Origin. Here's who's going to space". WKMG. Retrieved 2024-07-25.

[4] Foust, Jeff (2024-08-23). "Blue Origin sets date for next New Shepard flight after completing parachute investigation". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2024-08-24.

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v t e Blue Origin
Vehicles	Charon^† Goddard^† PM2^‡ New Shepard Propulsion modules Tail 1 ^‡ Tail 2 ^† Tail 3 ^‡ Tail 4 Tail 5 Capsules Jules Verne ^† H.G. Wells First Step Kármán line New Glenn ^* Blue Moon ^* Blue Ring ^* LPV LPV Jacklyn (ship)^† LPV1 Jacklyn (barge)
Rocket engines	BE-1 ^† BE-2 ^† BE-3 BE-4 BE-7 ^*
Notable spaceflights	NS-15 NS-16 NS-17 NS-18 NS-19 NS-20 NS-21 NS-22 NS-23^X NS-24 NS-25 NS-26 NS-27
Facilities	Headquarters Kent, Washington Corn Ranch Launch Complex 36 Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 9 Vandenberg
Key people	Jeff Bezos (founder) Robert Smith (CEO) Jeffrey Ashby (chief of mission assurance) Nicholas Patrick (human integration architect)
Related	Commercial astronaut Billionaire space race Blue Origin Federation, LLC v. United States
* – denotes unflown vehicles or engines † – denotes retired vehicles, engines, products ‡ – denotes destroyed vehicles ^X – denotes failed flight