Overview
- Liftoff from Blue Origin’s West Texas site is targeted for Dec. 18, with a livestream starting at 8:50 a.m. EST ahead of a launch window that opens at 9:30 a.m. EST.
- The NS-37 crew comprises Michaela (Michi) Benthaus, Joey Hyde, Hans Koenigsmann, Neal Milch, Adonis Pouroulis, and Jason Stansell.
- New Shepard’s suborbital mission lasts about 10 to 12 minutes and offers a few minutes of weightlessness before capsule landing.
- Benthaus, an ESA aerospace and mechatronics engineer who has used a wheelchair since a 2018 spinal cord injury, wrote that she is beyond excited and hopes the mission broadens inclusion.
- Advocates and researchers see the flight as a milestone that could help validate approaches for flying people with paraplegia, building on parabolic-flight campaigns and ESA studies.