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When Jeff Bezos, the billionaire founder of Blue Origin, launched into space on his company’s New Shepard suborbital rocket on Tuesday, July 20, and his three teammates will draw on just over a dozen hours of flight training.
Bezos, his brother Mark, Mercury 13 aviator Wally Funk and 18-year-old physics student Oliver Daemen are scheduled to complete the first crewed flight aboard New Shepard on Tuesday, July 20. From takeoff to landing, the suborbital flight is expected to last 11 minutes and give the quartet at least three minutes of weightlessness before returning to Earth.
The flight crew, all first-time space pilots, received 14 hours of training over two days to comply with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations, said Blue Origin Flight Director Steve Lanius , during a press conference on Sunday July 18. This training started on Sunday and is expected to end today, he added.
You can watch the historic launch of Blue Origin’s first astronaut here and on BlueOrigin.com. The webcast will begin at 7:30 a.m. EDT (11:30 GMT), with a launch scheduled for 9:00 a.m. EDT (1:00 p.m. GMT).
Related: How to watch Blue Origin launch Jeff Bezos into space on July 20
Live Updates: Blue Origin’s first astronaut launch updates
“Our training is comprehensive and prepares the crew for everything they need to know about the vehicle,” said Lanius.
The Blue Origin crew, who will spend 11 minutes in flight, received training in the use of the capsule for nominal, “off-nominal” and emergency procedures, including common problems for which professional astronauts are required. trained, such as responding to a fire, using an emergency mask and exiting the spaceship in a hurry on the pad.
“The training ends with mission rehearsals covering five different scenarios and a final exam,” Lanius added. Final approval and the “go” for the launch were to take place for this crew on Monday July 19th.
Other than Mercury 13 aviator Wally Funk, crew members have little direct flight experience to prepare for space flight. By comparison, a typical NASA astronaut (who is often drawn from a pool of candidates with extensive professional experience in isolated or hazardous environments) receives two years of “candidate astronaut” training before being certified for a future flight. spatial.
Related: Wally Funk, pilot of ‘Mercury 13’, carrying 60 years of history in space on the Blue Origin flight
Once assigned to a flight, a NASA astronaut typically trains from a few months to several years for his mission, depending on its duration and complexity. For example, a typical ISS crew spends about two years training to prepare for six months in space.
But there are other aspects of the NASA experience that Blue Origin space tourists will have in part, such as bonding with their teammates in an “astronaut village.” This to a small extent mimics the tight spaces and training in which professional astronauts get to know their teammates before going into space.
A Blue Origin trainer – nicknamed “Crew Member Seven” because a full complement of New Shepard tourists will be six per flight – will help tourists feel comfortable with the experience during their orientation, said Ariane Cornell , Director of Astronauts and Astronauts at Blue Origin. orbital sales, at the same press conference.
Related: Blue Origin launch with Jeff Bezos: everything you need to know
“There is the class component, [and] they will also be working in a simulator that we have in our astronaut training center, ”she said.
“Then they’ll also go to the pad. We want to make sure our astronauts feel acclimatized, not only with the capsule itself, but with the facilities at our launch site One, as well as with all of it. ‘team. “
Speaking of the ground crew, training has also taken place for ground procedures, as Blue Origin has learned how to use New Shepard in space during 15 previous unmanned missions, some of which carried payloads. in space, Blue Origin CEO Robert Smith said at the press conference.
He stressed that the capacity on the ground is crucial as the flight crew is made up only of non-professional astronauts.
“We have learned how to make a vehicle safe enough to be ready to put our own loved ones in it and send them into space,” he said. “These abilities will be applied to everything we do.”
Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
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