In the footsteps of his father. Laura Shepard Churchley, the daughter of the first American in space, will board a Blue Origin rocket on Saturday December 11 in Texas with five other passengers. This 74-year-old woman will cross the final frontier, sixty years after her father, Alan’s historic theft Shepard.
“Funny enough for me to say that a genuine Shepard is going to fly in a New Shepard. [le nom du véhicule spatial]“, Laura Shepard Churchley said in a video of Blue Origin at the time of the theft announcement. “I am very proud of my father’s legacy.” Alan Shepard performed a 15-minute space flight on May 5, 1961, 23 days after the historic flight of Soviet Yuri Gagarin, who was the first human in space.
“I’m very proud of my father’s legacy. I believe he would say the same thing as my children: go for it! ”
Laura Shepard Churchley is ready to reach space and continue to inspire the next generation of space explorers. pic.twitter.com/vcnScFFaLp
– Blue Origin (@blueorigin) December 7, 2021
It will be the third manned flight for the space company of billionaire Jeff Bezos, who himself made the trip during the first launch in July. This is the first time that the capsule of the New Shepard rocket, aptly named after Alan Shepard, will be at full capacity. Previous flights had so far only counted four passengers.
Also on board will be an American celebrity, TV presenter and former professional football player Michael Strahan, and four passengers who paid for the trip: businessmen Dylan Taylor and Evan Dick, as well as a entrepreneur and his 23-year-old son Lane and Cameron Bess. The price of the ticket is not known.
They will only stay in space for a very short time, with Blue Origin’s suborbital flights lasting only about 11 minutes in total, from launch to landing. The rocket takes off vertically and, at about 75 km altitude, the capsule separates from the launcher, continuing its trajectory until reaching more than 100 km – the Karman line, which marks the beginning of space according to the international convention.
Passengers can detach from their seats, float for a few moments in zero gravity, and admire the curvature of the Earth through very large portholes. The launcher automatically returns to land on a runway, while the capsule begins a free fall to return to Earth, before being braked by parachutes, then retro rockets.