Meet the crew of NS18! Blue Origin shares a new photo of the four astronauts preparing to launch into space tomorrow, including Star Trek legend William Shatner, 90, who jokes 'aren't we adorbs?'
Blue Origin has shared a new photo of the four 'astronauts' that will launch to the edge of space tomorrow, including Star Trek legend William Shatner, aged 90.
Shatner retweeted the picture, in which the four members of the crew look like they are preparing for an away mission, joking 'aren't we adorbs'.
The crew were originally set to launch today, but high winds around the Blue Origin facility in West Texas led to the launch being pushed back to tomorrow.
The four person crew on the suborbital flight includes Shatner, Chris Boshuizen, Glen de Vries and Audrey Powers, who are all waiting at the astronaut village.
The flight will take off from Launch Site One in West Texas on a Blue Origin New Shepard rocket at 08:30 ET (13:30 BST) Wednesday, flying up to 65 miles where the crew will experience three minutes of weightlessness before descending to Earth.
Of the delay to the launch, Shatner said he was 'deeply disappointed' as he has another day to wait, but added that it is 'really worth it.'
From left to right: Chris Boshuizen, William Shatner, Audrey Powers and Glen de Vries will travel to the edge of space tomorrow with Blue Origin
The four person crew on the suborbital flight includes Shatner, Chris Boshuizen, Glen de Vries and Audrey Powers, who are all waiting at the astronaut village
When Shatner passes the 50 mile altitude mark, he will become the oldest person to go to space, taking the record from Wally Funk, 82, who launched on the first Blue Origin crewed mission earlier this year on a flight with Jeff Bezos.
Shatner shot to fame when he took on the role of James T Kirk in the original Star Trek series in 1966.
This was four years after Alan Shephard - who the rocket he'll travel in is named after - became the first American in space, and three years before Neil Armstrong walked on the surface of the moon.
'I plan to be looking out the window with my nose pressed against the window. The only thing I don't want to see is a little gremlin looking back at me,' Shatner said referring to his role on Twilight Zone's 'Nightmare at 20,000 feet.'
Along for the ride is Powers, Blue Origin's vice president of mission and flight operations, who spent years watching missions soar into space.
'It was a very generous offer for me to represent all of my colleagues at Blue that have been working on this program for a very long time,' Powers said in an interview with Good Morning America on Monday.
'They offered me the opportunity to represent all of those great people and sit in the seat. I could not be more overwhelmed by the opportunity.'
She joined Blue Origin in 2013 and oversees New Shepard flight operations, vehicle maintenance, and launch, landing and ground support infrastructure.
The other two passengers are 'paying customers,' and while the actual cost of their tickets hasn't been revealed, it is thought to be at least $200,000 (£147,000).
William Shatner (pictured second from left) shared the crew photo on Twitter, joking in the caption: 'Aren't we all adorbs!'
Shatner and the crew spoke to Good Morning America (GMA) on Monday about the delay and excitement to be a part of history
The New Shephard will travel beyond the 100km (62 mile) Karman line, defined internationally as the 'edge of space', where the crew will experience weightless for a few minutes before parachuting in the capsule back to the Texas desert
The New Shepard is made up of a rocket and nose cone, where there is room for up to six passengers to travel up to 65 miles above the Earth
de Vries (left), Shatner (middle) and Powers (right) are pictured as they conduct training ahead of the mission
The paying passengers are Boshuizen, co-founder of Planet Labs and partner at venture capital firm DCVC and de Vries, co-founder of Medidata.
Boshuizen, who has an estimated net worth approaching $30 million, was also the Space Mission Architect at NASA's Ames Research Center between 2008 and 2012.
During this time he invented the Phonesat, which is a satellite built from a smartphone.
'I've worked in space industry my entire life and I am excited the door is finally opening,' Boshuizen said during the interview with GMA.
The flight will take off from Launch Site One in West Texas on a Blue Origin New Shepard rocket at 08:30 ET (13:30 BST) Wednesday, flying up to 65 miles where the crew will experience three minutes of weightlessness before descending to Earth
This will be the second crewed flight for Blue Origin. The last (pictured) took Jeff Bezos, his brother Mark Bezos, Oliver Daemen and Wally Funk to the edge of space on July 20
The Canadian actor shot to fame when he took on the role of James T Kirk in the original Star Trek series in 1966. Pictured here in the 1988 movie Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
The mission follows Blue Origin's first crewed flight on July 20, which saw the firm's founder Jeff Bezos (2nd from right), his brother Mark (2nd from left), Dutch teenager Oliver Daemen (left) and test pilot, Wally Funk (right), head into space
'I think we will look back at this day 50 years from now and go this was the year the human race started going to space.'
de Vries said the spot on the New Shepard is a 'dream come true.'
'This is how innovation happens,' he told Holmes.
'I lived in it healthcare and life sciences when you think about an industry being created and the opportunity for us to fuel that industry, as Chris was saying this is the beginning of a new time for space.
'We are on the beginning of a curve that is just going to blast off.'
The mission follows Blue Origin's first crewed flight on July 20, which saw the firm's founder Jeff Bezos, his brother Mark, Dutch teenager Oliver Daemen and test pilot, Wally Funk, head into space.
At the time, Funk was the oldest person to ever fly to space at 82 years old, but when Shatner goes up, he will beat that by eight years.
At 18 years old, Daemen became the youngest person, first teenager, and first person born in the 21st century to travel to space.
Oliver's father, Joes Daemen, who founded private equity firm Somerset Capital Partners, bought the seat aboard the flight for over $20 million at auction.
The New Shephard will travel beyond the 100km (62 mile) Karman line, defined internationally as the 'edge of space'.
Once there, the crew will remain weightless for a few minutes before parachuting in the capsule back to the Texas desert.
It is a reusable rocket, with the main engine returning to land at Launch Site One after getting the capsule to space.
Blue Origin may be on top of the world this week, but the company was recently dragged through the mud by more than two dozen employees.
William Shatner (pictured) is one of four individuals set to fly aboard Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket on Wednesday – the mission was originally set for Tuesday, but poor weather caused a delay
Shatner (left) is famed for playing Captain James T Kirk in the original Star Trek series, and is pictured in the 1960s with his co-star Leonard Nimoy
They accused Bezos of creating a 'toxic' work environment where the company sacrificed safety to work at 'breakneck speed' in order to win the space race.
In an essay published last month, Alexandra Abrams, the former head of Blue Origin Employee Communications, along with 20 employees said the priority was to 'make progress for Jeff' as he competed with Elon Musk and Richard Branson.
They claimed the most common question was: 'When will Elon or Branson fly?' and safety concerns were ignored as they would have 'slowed progress'.
Along for the ride is Audrey Powers, Blue Origin's vice president of mission and flight operations, who has spent years watching missions soar into space and now has the opportunity to take the journey herself
According to GMA, there are only two paying customers on this journey: Chris Boshuizen (left) co-founder of Planet Labs and partner at venture capital firm DCVC and Glen de Vries (right), co-founder of Medidata
More accusations surfaced Monday from a 2019 memo written by a mid-level employee, The Washington Post reported.
'Our current culture is toxic to our success and many can see it spreading throughout the company.'
The problems at the spaceflight company were 'systemic,' according to the memo, which was obtained by The Washington Post and verified by two former employees familiar with the matter, and 'the loss of trust in Blue's leadership is common.'
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