What Blue Origin is Up To

[Yazata]

Here's some photos of Blue's New Glenn rocket production facility under construction at Kennedy Space Center

https://twitter.com/Seth_Kurk/status/119...9303280640

[Yazata]

Here's Blue's new mission control center at Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral. Very stylish!

https://twitter.com/blueorigin/status/12...4745230336

[C C]

Here's Blue's new mission control center at Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral. Very stylish!

https://twitter.com/blueorigin/status/12...4745230336

I don't know why it reminds me of the inside of a fast-food joint, especially as it approaches what resembles a big menu board.

[Yazata]

How the other half lives...

Here's an aerial photograph of Blue's rocket factory on Cape Canaveral's Kennedy Space Center grounds as of June 2020, taken from page 5 of this document that Blue's architectural firm filed.

https://permitting.sjrwmd.com/apps/idcpl...EG_7117214

In addition to this, Blue is also building an impressively large new launch pad at Cape Canaveral for their New Glenn rocket.

I guess that there are lots of advantages to placing your factory at Cape Canaveral, but downside as well, since it kind of requires the federal government to sign off on everything you propose to do. Texas' old-west laissez-faire sensibility is far less... controlling... leaving Elon a much freer hand at Boca. Blue is the other big player in new space, but as envisioned by Jeff Bezos its secrecy and style kind of resemble an old space company like Boeing. No wild and crazy space ship building out in a dusty droid junkyard on Tatooine, that's for sure.

Rumor (that may be all it is) has it that Blue is experiencing some difficulties with their new BE-4 rocket engine. This engine is intended not only for Blue's under-development reusable New Glenn rocket, it's been chosen by ULA to power their new Vulcan rocket as well. So any delays and hold ups with the engine will impact ULA too.

[Image: EihlhzRWkAEtehn?format=jpg&name=large]

[Yazata]

And here's a photo by Jack Beyer showing Blue's Corn Ranch test site in west Texas. This is where the test stands are where they perform rocket engine tests, and it's where they launch their suborbital New Shephard rocket.

[Image: EgXVu8JX0AESQB7?format=jpg&name=small]

Speaking of New Shephard, Blue hasn't forgotten it, even though it's been a year since they launched one. Word then was that they were completing a new one intended to launch humans. But...

A New Shephard launch is scheduled for tomorrow at 15:00 UTC, 11:00 AM EDT, 8:00 AM PDT tomorrow, but it won't have humans aboard. It will be interesting though, since its reusable booster will be flying a landing control system and sensor suite designed for NASA and intended for Moon and Mars landers.

https://twitter.com/blueorigin/status/13...0044098562

https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-...chnologies

This flight should be livestreamed here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O97dPDkUGg4

Edit: New Shephard launch for this morning has been scrubbed, due to "a technical issue". They say "new launch target forthcoming." (When Jeff can arrange a truckload of Viagra to be shipped to the ranch.)

https://twitter.com/blueorigin/status/13...3768027136

New Shephard (MR's fantasy)

[Image: BlueOrigin_NewShepard_Launch.jpg]

[Syne]

New Shephard (MR's fantasy)

[Image: BlueOrigin_NewShepard_Launch.jpg]

Man, that would wreck an orifice.

[Yazata]

Blue successfully flew their little suborbital rocket from Corn Ranch Texas this morning. It's the 13th flight of a New Shephard (on Oct 13th!) but it stlll didn't have any humans aboard. (You don't want to tempt the 13 thing too much, I guess.)

The main test objective with this one is that the landing of the reusable booster was controlled by a new NASA landing control sensor suite and descent and landing computer that NASA are designing for lunar landers. They appear to have worked and the landing seemingly went well. The goal seems to be to enable vehicles to land on unprepared natural surfaces and not just prepared landing pads.

Launch

https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/stat...1421195265

Booster landing

https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/stat...3689788416

It's kind of interesting as well to see Blue's independent solutions to the problems of flying a rocket backwards, what kind of aerodynamic surfaces they use (not grid fins) and their different landing leg ideas. Blue remains the only company apart from SpaceX to successfully land a rocket booster. (NASA landed the Apollo landers on the Moon and in the 1960's too, but those weren't boosters, it was 1/6 G and it was vacuum, no aerodynamics.)

The New Shephard crew capsule separated successfully and crossed the 100 km Karman line, then descended and landed under parachutes in the west Texas desert. (Corn Ranch is in the Big Bend country east of El Paso.) Had humans been aboard, they would have survived in good shape. (I want to see people fly in this thing!)

[Image: EihnDy6XsAQCciv?format=jpg&name=large]

[Yazata]

Blue is planning to launch their 14th suborbital flight from Corn Ranch in West Texas (the Big Bend country) tomorrow Jan 14. They are targeting 9:45 AM CST (7:45 AM PST where I am, 10:45 AM EST and 15:45 UTC for you Brits) It isn't known for certain, but speculation is that this will be the first flight of their 4th booster, the first one intended for human flights. The capsule will be a test flight of capsule upgrades for human passengers. This flight will be unmanned though. As with all of the New Shephard flights, it will be up past the Karman line and back, with a propulsive landing for the booster and a parachute landing for the capsule. I'm hoping that a flight with people aboard comes soon. It will be exciting to finally see people flying in this.

https://twitter.com/blueorigin/status/13...0427673607

https://www.blueorigin.com/news/new-shep...=ns14_0114

There will be a live-stream here

https://www.blueorigin.com/

Blue Origin drone photo of Corn Ranch with the rocket vertical

[Image: ns_drone_m8_sq.jpg]

[Yazata]

Blue's livestream has started.

Completely successful! Rocket soared over the Karman line, capsule separated and both returned to Earth safely.

I want to fly on this!!!

The youtube chat was a total disaster area, filled with what seemed to be children insulting Blue and pretending to be supporters of SpaceX. (I doubt if any of them even know what Boca Chica is or what happened there yesterday.) If I was Elon or SX, I'd be hugely embarassed. I eventually turned the chat off, since I was getting very angry. Which is precisely what trolls want. I especially hate it when the trolling is being done in the name of something I care deeply about.

Ruined my experience of the launch.

I love SpaceX but I also want to see Blue Origin succeed and accomplish cool things of its own. The same for ULA, Virgin Galactic, Virgin Orbit, Stratolaunch, Rocketlab, Sierra nevada, Masten, Firefly and all the rest. The more cool things that are happening, the better!

[Zinjanthropos]

Blue's livestream has started.

Completely successful! Rocket soared over the Karman line, capsule separated and both returned to Earth safely.

I want to fly on this!!!

The youtube chat was a total disaster area, filled with what seemed to be children insulting Blue and pretending to be supporters of SpaceX. (I doubt if any of them even know what Boca Chica is or what happened there yesterday.) If I was Elon or SX, I'd be hugely embarassed. I eventually turned the chat off, since I was getting very angry. Which is precisely what trolls want. I especially hate it when the trolling is being done in the name of something I care deeply about.

Ruined my experience of the launch.

I love SpaceX but I also want to see Blue Origin succeed and accomplish cool things of its own. The same for ULA, Virgin Galactic, Virgin Orbit, Stratolaunch, Rocketlab, Sierra nevada, Masten, Firefly and all the rest. The more cool things that are happening, the better!

Love your passion Yaz. 

Cant remember what show I was watching but it was a doc about the first moon landing mission. They had a problem with the rocket's engine cones blasting apart during the test fire. Not sure if was unburned gas collecting underneath or turbulence but they finally figured it out and I'm wondering if today they are still made much like the way those NASA engineers redesigned them?