Sam Amico
It’s safe to say Jeff Bezos would like a do-over.
Videos by Rare
But hey, at least no one was hurt when a Blue Origin rocket crashed on Monday. Bezos’ space travel company attempted its first launch.
On the bright side, again, there were no astronauts on the rocket and the capsule parachuted to safety, Blue Origin reps say.
The New Shepard rocket was barely a minute into the flight when flames began shooting out from the line engine. Then the emergency abort system came on, with the capsule parachuting back to a remote spot in the desert. The rocket took off in West Texas. It was traveling 700 mph at an altitude of around 28,000 feet. This was the 23rd flight for New Shepard, which was named after the first American in Space, Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard. It was the ninth flight for this rocket-capsule pair. It is dedicated to flying experiments.
Blue Origin Explodes
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the rocket won’t return to flight until after an investigation, per CNN.
“The anomaly that occurred triggered the capsule escape system,” the FAA said in a statement. “The capsule landed safely and the booster impacted within the designated hazard area.”
Commentary at the time of the explosion went silent but eventually announced what had occurred.
“It appears we’ve experienced an anomaly with today’s flight. This wasn’t planned. Booster failure on today’s uncrewed flight. Escape system performed as designed,” the Kent, Washington-based company tweeted an hour. All together, Blue Origin has officially carried a total of 31 people on 10 minute flights.
Bezos, 58, is the founder and CEO of Amazon. He has yet to comment on the rocket mishap. He recently made headlines after several Twitter users were mocking the CEO after posting a photo of himself eating a Mcdonald’s hamburger, reminiscing on his first job.
