{{Short description|2024 private crewed sub-orbital spaceflight}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}} {{infobox spaceflight | name = Blue Origin NS-25 | mission_type = Sub-orbital human spaceflight | mission_duration = {{time interval|May 19, 2024, 14:35:09|May 19, 2024, 14:45:02|show=hms|sep=,}} | suborbital_apogee = {{cvt|107|km}} | spacecraft = RSS ''First Step'' | manufacturer = Blue Origin | crew_size = 6 | crew_members = {{Unbulleted list|Mason Angel|Sylvain Chiron|Ed Dwight|Kenneth Hess|Carol Schaller|Gopichand Thotakura}} | launch_date = {{ltime|May 19, 2024|14|35|09|CDT|net=no}}<ref name=FlightStats /> | launch_rocket = New Shepard (NS4) | launch_site = Corn Ranch, LS-1 | launch_contractor = Blue Origin | landing_date = {{ltime|May 19, 2024|14|45|02|CDT|unlink=yes|net=no}}<ref name=FlightStats /> | landing_site = Corn Ranch | insignia = Blue Origin NS-25 patch.png | insignia_caption = Blue Origin NS-25 mission patch | programme = '''New Shepard flights''' | previous_mission = Blue Origin NS-24 | next_mission = Blue Origin NS-26 }}
'''Blue Origin NS-25''' was a sub-orbital spaceflight mission, operated by Blue Origin, which was launched on May 19, 2024, using the New Shepard rocket.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=New Shepard's 25th Mission Includes America's First Black Astronaut Candidate |url=https://www.blueorigin.com/news/new-shepard-ns-25-mission-announcement |access-date=2024-04-04 |website=Blue Origin |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |author1=Wall |first=Mike |date=2024-04-04 |title=Blue Origin will launch Ed Dwight, the 1st-ever Black astronaut candidate, to space on next New Shepard rocket flight |url=https://www.space.com/blue-origin-seventh-human-spaceflight-crew-announced |access-date=2024-04-04 |website=Space.com}}</ref>
NS-25 was the first New Shepard flight to carry humans since NS-22 in August 2022. The New Shepard fleet was grounded following a September 2022 engine failure on a cargo mission. The vehicle resumed flight in December 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Foust |first=Jeff |author-link=Jeff Foust |date=2024-04-05 |title=Blue Origin to resume crewed New Shepard flights |url=https://spacenews.com/blue-origin-to-resume-crewed-new-shepard-flights/ |access-date=2024-04-08 |website=SpaceNews |language=en-US}}</ref>
NS-25 carried six passengers to a maximum altitude of {{cvt|107|km}}.<ref name=FlightStats>{{cite tweet |author=Blue Origin |author-link=Blue Origin |user=blueorigin |number=1792221180046291418 |title=Key stats from today’s mission: The Crew Capsule reached an apogee of 347,464 ft AGL / 351,111 ft MSL (106 km AGL / 107 km MSL) The booster reached an apogee of 347,105 ft AGL / 350,752 ft MSL (106 km AGL / 107 km MSL) Official launch time was 9:35:09 AM CDT / 14:35:09 UTC. Capsule landing occurred at 9:45:02 AM CDT / 14:45:02 UTC. The mission elapsed time was 9 min 53 sec; the max ascent velocity was 2,236 mph / 3,599 km/h. |access-date=January 28, 2025}}</ref> At T+03:12, the passengers experienced weightlessness, and at T+03:31, the capsule passed the Kármán line.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-05-19 |title=Replay: New Shepard Mission NS-25 Webcast |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0H-I-jMhoA |access-date=2024-05-19 |website=YouTube}}</ref> The booster landed seven minutes after launch, while the capsule, deploying only two of its three parachutes, touched down ten minutes after liftoff. Launch commentators assured that the capsule is designed to land safely with only two parachutes.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wall |first=Mike |date=2024-05-19 |title=Blue Origin launches 1st crewed spaceflight since August 2022 (video) |url=https://www.space.com/blue-origin-ns-25-space-tourism-mission |access-date=2024-05-19 |website=Space.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Davis |first=Wes |date=2024-05-19 |title=All the news about Blue Origin's first crewed flight since 2022 |url=https://www.theverge.com/2024/5/19/24160127/blue-origin-ns-25-new-shepard-6th-crewed-launch |access-date=2024-05-19 |website=The Verge}}</ref>
== Passengers == {{Spaceflight crew|crew=|crew3_up={{flagicon|US}} Ed Dwight|position1=Tourist|crew1_up={{flagicon|US}} Mason Angel |flights1_up=First|position2=Tourist|crew2_up={{flagicon|France}} Sylvain Chiron |flights2_up=First|position3=Tourist|terminology=Passenger|position4=Tourist|flights3_up=First|crew4_up={{flagicon|US}} Kenneth Hess|flights4_up=First|position5=Tourist|crew5_up={{flagicon|US}} Carol Schaller|flights5_up=First|position6=Tourist|crew6_up={{flagicon|IND}} Gopichand Thotakura|flights6_up=First}}
Ed Dwight is often cited as the first African-American astronaut candidate. He made it to the second round of a 1961 Air Force program from which NASA selected astronauts, but was not selected. When he eventually flew as a space tourist on the Blue Origin suborbital flight at age {{ayd|1933|9|9|2024|5|19}}, he became the oldest person to reach space.<ref>''We Could Not Fail: The First African Americans in the Space Program'', Chapter 5, University of Texas Press, Austin, TX, 2015, pp. 86-104</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Wattles |first=Jackie |last2=Chakraborty |first2=Deblina |date=2024-05-19 |title=Blue Origin launches six tourists to the edge of space after nearly two-year hiatus |url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/19/world/blue-origin-rocket-ns-25-mission-scn/index.html |access-date=2024-05-19 |website=CNN}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Blue Origin}} {{Space tourism}} {{Ed Dwight}}
Category:Suborbital space tourism flights Category:2024 in spaceflight Category:Suborbital human spaceflights Category:2024 in Texas Category:New Shepard human spaceflights