Blue Origin completes 28th space mission

Today, Blue Origin successfully completed its ninth manned spaceflight and the 28th flight for the New Shepard program. The astronaut crew included: Emily Calandrelli, Sharon Hagle, Marc Hagle, Austin Litteral, James (JD) Russell and Henry (Hank) Wolfond. Sharon and Marc Hagle were both flying for the second time. Including today’s crew, New Shepard has now flown 47 people into space (three people have already flown twice).

“It is always moving to see an astronaut crew return from space changed by their experience on New Shepard,” said Phil Joyce, senior vice president of New Shepard. “This mission highlights the importance of STEAM and inspires the next generation, and we welcomed back two returning astronauts. A big thank you to all of our customers for the opportunity to make this experience possible and for advancing our mission to build a road to space for the benefit of the Earth.”

If you are interested in flying on New Shepard as an astronaut or flying a payload on a future mission, visit BlueOrigin.com. You can also purchase commemorative items from today’s mission in the Blue Origin Shop.

In case you missed it, check out a full replay of today’s flight below.

NS-28 is ready to take off

November 21, 2024

New Shepard will launch tomorrow, November 22nd, from Launch Site One. The launch window opens at 9:30 a.m. CST / 3:30 p.m. UTC. The webcast at BlueOrigin.com/live begins at T-30 minutes.

New Shepard’s manned NS-28 mission is scheduled to launch on Friday, November 22nd

November 18, 2024

Blue Origin announced today that its ninth human flight, NS-28, will launch from Launch Site One in West Texas on Friday, November 22nd. The launch window opens at 9:30 a.m. CST / 3:30 p.m. UTC. The webcast on BlueOrigin.com begins at T-30 minutes.

Additionally, Blue Origin has released the NS-28 mission patch. Embedded symbols include:

• The color pink and the girl in the signature pink jumpsuit represent Emily Calandrelli.
• The center line in the “2” represents Sharon and Marc Hagle’s second flight on New Shepard.
• The stars represent Austin Litteral’s vision for people among the stars.
• The people below represent JD Russell’s hope for generations of people to expand their understanding of the world.
• The wolf in the window of the crew capsule represents Hank Wolfond.

For more information about the crew, see our previous blog post below.

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New Shepard’s 28th mission includes Emily Calandrelli and two returning customers

November 15, 2024

Blue Origin today announced the six people flying on its NS-28 mission. The crew includes: Emily Calandrelli, Sharon Hagle, Marc Hagle, Austin Litteral, James (JD) Russell and Henry (Hank) Wolfond. Sharon and Marc Hagle are both flying on New Shepard for the second time.

This mission will be the ninth manned flight for the New Shepard program and the 28th in its history. To date, the program has flown 43 people across the Kármán Line, the internationally recognized boundary of space.

Meet the crew

Emily Calandrelli

Emily is an MIT engineer, Emmy-nominated TV host, and #1 NYTimes bestselling author known to her nearly three million followers as @TheSpaceGal. With the premiere of “Xploration Outer Space” (2014-present), she became the first American to be the sole host of a nationally televised science series. Through her activism, she helped draft a bill to improve the TSA’s treatment of breastfeeding mothers and launched a campaign to improve parental leave in the aerospace industry. Emily is the host of Emily’s Wonder Lab on Netflix, Emily’s Science Lab on YouTube and the author of nine books. Emily wants to inspire young people, especially little girls, to see themselves in STEM fields.

Sharon Hagle

Sharon is the founder of SpaceKids Global, a nonprofit organization she founded in 2015 whose mission is to inspire elementary school students to excel in STEAM education and ensure that girls are equally represented. SpaceKids hosts several annual challenges designed to inspire children to pursue careers in the space industry, including national essay competitions, sending science projects to the International Space Station and a partnership with Girl Scouts. SpaceKids also participates in the Club for the Future’s Postcards to Space program. To date, Sharon has reached over 867,000 students worldwide. Sharon and her husband Marc flew into space for the first time on NS-20 on March 31, 2022, becoming the first married couple to launch on a commercial spacecraft.

Marc Hagle

Marc is President and CEO of Tricor International, a residential and commercial real estate development company. Under his leadership, the company has developed and owns more than 17 million square feet of real estate throughout the United States, including shopping centers, warehouses, medical facilities, recreational facilities, drug stores and office projects. Marc and his wife Sharon are enthusiastic philanthropists for numerous charities in the arts, sciences, health and education. Marc flew into space for the first time with NS-20 on March 31, 2022.

Austin Literal

Austin works as a risk management professional in the financial services industry. He is a husband and father of two daughters. Austin spends his free time hiking in state parks with his family and cheering on local sports teams. This trip will fulfill a childhood dream of becoming an astronaut, as he grew up with photos of NASA shuttle launches in his bedroom. Austin’s headquarters is sponsored by Whatnot, the largest livestream shopping platform in North America, the UK and Europe. Austin won his seat in the Whatnot to the Moon lottery.

James (JD) Russell

JD is a serial entrepreneur and founder of InfoHOA, a leading provider of technology-based community management solutions. He was born into a military family at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, AZ and received the Civil Air Patrol’s Billy Mitchell Award. Before beginning his entrepreneurial career, JD served as a federal law enforcement marine, fish and game warden. He founded the Victoria Russell Foundation to honor the memory of his late daughter. Dedicated to promoting children’s education and supporting families of first responders, the Foundation proudly partners with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to instill a love of reading in children by giving free books to children.

Henry (Hank) Wolfond

Henry is Chairman and CEO of Bayshore Capital in Toronto, Canada. A lifelong aviator, Henry holds a fixed-wing pilot’s license and a commercial helicopter pilot’s license. He also works as a commercial pilot on charter, medevac and organ harvesting flights. Henry is Chair of the Confronting Antisemitism Committee of the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto and currently sits on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee (CJPAC), the Toronto General and Western Hospital Foundation (UHN Foundation), and the Board of Governors for Hillel Ontario. Henry is also co-founder of the Autism Acceptance Project.

The flight date will be announced shortly.

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