Topics Covered: Awareness in space.
What is the New Shephard rocket system?
Context:
Amazon founder and billionaire Jeff Bezos’s space company called Blue Origin recently concluded the online auction for the first seat on New Shephard, a rocket system meant to take tourists to space.
- The winning bidder will get to fly aboard New Shephard along with Bezos and his brother, when it takes its first human flight on July 20, which marks the 52nd anniversary of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin’s moon landing.
Background:
Over 7,600 people registered from 159 countries to bid for this seat, which ultimately went for a winning bid of $28 million.
What is New Shephard, the rocket system?
- It is a rocket system meant to take tourists to space successfully.
- The system is built by Blue Origin.
- New Shephard has been named after astronaut Alan Shephard, the first American to go to space.
- It offers flights to space over 100 km above the Earth and accommodation for payloads.
- The system is a fully reusable, vertical takeoff and vertical landing space vehicle.
Scientific objectives of the mission:
It is a rocket system that has been designed to take astronauts and research payloads past the Karman line – the internationally recognised boundary of space.
- The idea is to provide easier and more cost-effective access to space meant for purposes such as academic research, corporate technology development and entrepreneurial ventures among others.
InstaLinks:
Prelims Link:
- About New Shepherd Rocket system.
- Objectives.
- Significance.
- What is Karman Line?
Sources: Indian Express.
