Blue Origin Reveals Date, First Two Crew For October Suborbital Space Flight

Blue Origin’s second suborbital space flight will take off on October 12 from the aerospace company’s Launch Site One in West Texas. The trip, which is currently scheduled to take off at 9:30 a.m. EST, will carry a crew of four, including former NASA engineer Dr Chris Boshuizen and health technology chief Glen de Vries.

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From 2008 to 2012, Boshuizen was a space mission architect at NASA’s Ames Research Center. He co-invented NASA Phonesat, a free-flight orbital satellite built from an ordinary smartphone, and created Singularity University, a school to study the consequences of accelerating technological development.

While at NASA, he also co-founded Planet Labs in 2010, the first company to commercially use nanosatellites to provide daily global mapping of Earth from space. To date, the company has launched more than 450 satellites. In addition, Boshuizen has organized several international space conferences for young people interested in space.

“This is the realization of my biggest childhood dream,” Boshuizen said in a statement. “Most importantly, I see this flight as an opportunity to inspire students to pursue careers in STEM and to catalyze the next generation of space explorers. After all, our future of living in space is in their very capable hands. “

Chris Boshuizen (left) and Glen de Vries. (Blue origin)

Meanwhile, de Vries, an instrument-rated private pilot, administrator of Carnegie Mellon University and author of “The Patient Equation,” co-founded Medidata Solutions in 1999, which powered the software for more than 25,000 trials. clinics with over seven million patients in every treatment area, from vaccines to cancers and rare diseases. The company was acquired by Dassault Systèmes in 2019, where de Vries now serves as vice president of life and health sciences.

“I have spent my entire career working to extend the lives of people. However, with limited materials and energy on Earth, expanding our reach into space can help humanity continue to thrive,” said de Vries. “Additionally, astronauts can feel the big picture, gaining a new perspective on the fragility and value of our planet, these resources and our civilization. Play a role in advancing the space industry and one day making these resources and understanding available to everyone is an incredible opportunity. “

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The other two space flight crew members will be announced in the coming days.

Actor William Shatner, best known for his portrayal of USS Enterprise Captain James T. Kirk in the Star Trek TV series and films, speaks on MEGACON’s opening day at the Orange County Convention Center. (Paul Hennessy / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Sources told TMZ on Friday that Captain James T. Kirk himself, William Shatner, was due to join the flight, which would make the 90-year-old “Star Trek” veteran the oldest to be launched. in the space. Representatives for Shatner and Blue Origin did not immediately return FOX Business’s requests for comment.

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The October trip comes after the company’s first successful suborbital space flight in July.

In this photo provided by Blue Origin, from left to right: Mark Bezos, brother of Jeff Bezos; Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and space travel company Blue Origin; Oliver Daemen, from the Netherlands; and Wally Funk, Texas aviation pioneer, pose fo (Blue origin via AP)

Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos was joined on the flight by his brother Mark, 82-year-old aerospace pioneer Wally Funk, and Oliver Daemen, 18, who replaced a winner of the mystery auction that paid $ 28 million for a seat. The flight lasted almost 11 minutes and reached 66.5 miles in altitude.