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Here's Jeff Bezos' initial entry into the space race. This suborbital flight in the video below is an unmanned test flight.

Blue Origin is working on a much larger heavy-lift orbital rocket called New Glenn as well. This one is bigger than Falcon Heavy, it's dimensions are similar to NASA's old Saturn 5. New Glenn is scheduled to fly for the first time in 2020. An interesting fact is that New Glenn is entirely self-funded with no money from the US government. Jeff Bezos has invested $2.5 billion of his own money in New Glenn. (He doesn't like being stranded here among all these... Earthlings.)



This one in the video is a little sub-orbital space tourism rocket (with a shape that I'm sure MR will love). It's entirely reusable, the little booster makes a vertical science-fiction-style propulsive landing like the Falcon 9, and I believe that this is the 4th or 5th time this booster has flown. (I expect that they are using it to perfect the propulsive landing technology that they will use in their bigger New Glenn.) These launch from the west Texas desert. The crew capsule separates (it has big picture windows) falls back and lands using parachutes. (I guess that they thought that propulsive landing was too risky to use with people.)

The rocket engine plume is almost transparent compared to the Falcon 9's fiery one, because this vehicle is powered by liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen and that burns a lot cleaner. They combine to form water vapor, it's eco-friendly!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNRs2gMyLLk

(Apr 5, 2018 11:45 PM)Yazata Wrote: [ -> ]An interesting fact is that New Glenn is entirely self-funded with no money from the US government.

That is interesting. Good on him.

Quote:This one in the video is a little sub-orbital space tourism rocket (with a shape that I'm sure MR will love).

LOL!

Quote:It's entirely reusable, the little booster makes a vertical science-fiction-style propulsive landing like the Falcon 9, and I believe that this is the 4th or 5th time this booster has flown. (I expect that they are using it to perfect the propulsive landing technology that they will use in their bigger New Glenn.) These launch from the west Texas desert. The crew capsule separates (it has big picture windows) falls back and lands using parachutes. (I guess that they thought that propulsive landing was too risky to use with people.)

The rocket engine plume is almost transparent compared to the Falcon 9's fiery one, because this vehicle is powered by liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen and that burns a lot cleaner. They combine to form water vapor, it's eco-friendly!

Don't know which is the smarter strategy. Three smaller boosters, where if one failed to be recovered it would be a smaller loss, or one big booster, where failure to recover might be a lot more cost prohibitive.
Love the clear plume landing. It's like watching sci-fi from the 50s. Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't Space-X have plans to use the same/similar fuel?
Would probably be worth the risk to ride a powered landing.

(Apr 5, 2018 11:45 PM)Yazata Wrote: [ -> ]The rocket engine plume is almost transparent compared to the Falcon 9's fiery one, because this vehicle is powered by liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen and that burns a lot cleaner. They combine to form water vapor, it's eco-friendly!

During the close-up stages where it could still be seen, almost reminded me of the flame of an oxy-acetylene cutting torch adjusted to a neutral flame setting. (Hubby and his occasional metal "sculpture" projects trying to spatter my feet with hot slag when a fishing buddy or in-law isn't available to assist him.)

~

Blue Origin's little New Shepherd sub-orbital rocket flew again yesterday (the 8th test of this kind of rocket and capsule, though not the 8th flight of these particular ones) and officially reached the Karman line, the 100km internationally recognized boundary of outer space. The booster fell back and landed successfully (a SpaceX-style propulsive landing). The (empty) crew capsule landed under parachutes. Apparently they are going to try to fly people in this around the end of the year.

http://www.spaceflightinsider.com/organi...pard-test/

A replay of the livestream is towards the top of the link below. There were delays so the scroll forward to about 37 or 38 minutes (the narrator has lots of interesting information, including a view of the New Glenn launch pad under construction at Cape Canaveral in anticipation of launches in 2020, if you want to wait half an hour):

https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/28/17295...livestream