Blue Origin blasts off

Alan Boyle — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 00:15:13 GMT

An FAA spokesman in Oklahoma City confirmed that Blue Origin's rocket test went off at about 6:30 a.m. CT today, and lasted one or two minutes:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15704996/

Blue Origin blasts off

Alan Boyle — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 00:19:12 GMT

Blue Origin Kremlinologists might want to keep a watch on the Van Horn Advocate, which could have more details on the launch later in the week:

http://www.vanhornadvocate.com

Blue Origin blasts off

Jack Kennedy — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 02:25:51 GMT

Great development. Let us hope the test was 104% successful. Competition among the business leaders of commercial space will help spur the adventure and the commercialization of space in the decade ahead. Let us hope they make all ten tests this year. Go New Shepard!

Blue Origin blasts off

Frank Stratford — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 04:10:43 GMT

This a great step forward for private space efforts and on behalf of all of us at MarsDrive I want to congratulate Jeff and his team on the progress they have made. I look forward to even more progress from this entire sector in the years ahead.

Blue Origin blasts off

Working Foraliving, Roma, TX — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 13:19:38 GMT

Perhaps the goose stepping Border Patrol and ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) could supplement The Big Fence with a couple of Bezos' hypergolic-fueled, pesticide-tipped enchiladas aimed at the tens of thousands who daily violate the Rio Bravo del Norte for American taxpayer-paid WIC cheese, food stamps, free education, free medical care, free housing and who rob/rape/murder/pillage, and who pay no taxes while driving illegally without responsibility and insurance. Mr. Rogers, it is NOT a wonderful day in our neighborhood.

Blue Origin blasts off

Harvey Jansen, Tempe,Arizona — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 19:07:08 GMT

To the Blue Origin Gang - KUDOS!! This is the beginning of a new era in space flight and all of us at JASC wish to congratulate you on a successful first flight.

Blue Origin blasts off

Craig — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 19:27:56 GMT

Doesn't anyone get why these things are kept in such secrecy? Does Blue Origin have a DoD channel like NASA does to keep people from knowing what they are seeing while in space? It seems the further we supposedly get to civilian space travel the more secret details about the whole thing becomes.

Blue Origin blasts off

Wade Whitlock, Aberdeen, MD — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 18:15:22 GMT

Sorry, Alan. This was about as informative as a North Korean news flash! Anonymous flight controllers said? An FAA spokesman said? How about the Dear Leader steps before the cameras? Let's see Bezos do something like Spaceship One's first flights - in the open and publicly. To paraphrase Her Majesty, "We are not impressed!" Especially considering what has already come out of Texas.

Blue Origin blasts off

Mark Ventura, Huntington Beach, CA — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 18:30:58 GMT

Based on the FAA documents released by Blue, it is suggestive that the vehicle they are developing is a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) hydrogen peroxide kerosene rocket. In comparison with other VTOL projects, like DC-X and Armadillo, it is unlikey that they ran a VTOL test this soon. This was probably a small sounding rocket flight to demo some propulsion technology and operations. A good start. Getting something up in the air is an important first step.

Blue Origin blasts off

Alan Boyle — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 19:00:53 GMT

There are other bits and pieces emerging about the Blue Origin launch... I've heard that this first full-fledged test launch was preceded by static engine firings (of course), but I'm not clear on whether there had been tethered tests (a la Armadillo).

Blue Origin staff members and their families reportedly were brought in on Thursday for the launch, and did a lot of sightseeing (Carlsbad Caverns, etc.) while they were waiting.

The winds were pretty stiff (30 mph) when I first wrote about this on Thursday, and apparently that as well as technical problems kept the test vehicle on the ground until Monday. Here's a Seattle Times article that provides a few more details:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/
nationworld/2003425384_rocket14m.html

The test vehicle reportedly went to an altitude of 500 to 1,000 feet and came back down. FAA spokesman Hank Price told me "everything went fine" in terms of flight safety, but any other details would have to come from Blue Origin.

Here's a comment from L. Hill from Van Horn, which apparently has been attached to a different Log item. I'm reproducing it here because it adds so much to the information pool:

"The only accommodations in Van Horn, Texas are the motels and hotels that exist. This past weekend, Nov. 10, 11, 12, Bezos launched his first test flight Monday morning at 7:30 central standard time and NO one was allowed to watch anything. Even the security guards had to remain at the gate at the highway entrance. So there is not much to see. The test flight lasted about a minute and only went up about 800 feet, according to sources. Bezos and his people only come to town when they are doing something major and booked every hotel in town, and no media was told anything...so, if you plan to come to Van Horn, book rooms ahead of time if you know something is up. Bezos and his people have little to do with the townsfolk of Van Horn."

I suppose there'll have to be a new term for Blue Origin Kremlinology (Blueology?), and I would designate L. Hill as a charter Blueologist. Thanks to all for keeping us posted.

Blue Origin blasts off

Frank Glover — Sat, 18 Nov 2006 18:13:32 GMT

While it's true that Blue Origin is sort of the 'Area 51' of commercial space, they're within their rights. There's nothing new about corporate secrecy, wether it's in fashion, new car designs, or the next computer operating system. It's not inherently sinister.

Not everyone is as open as, say, Armadillo Aerospace. Nor must they be. It's likely a matter of personal operating philosophy, invenstment requirements, or both. Even Burt Rutan doesn't get specific, until the hardware is actually ready for rollout.

But am I curious too? Darn straight...

Blue Origin blasts off

metalbass — Sun, 19 Nov 2006 07:13:21 GMT

Glad to see Reusable Launch Vehicle Technology

Blue Origin blasts off

Mikael Franzen, Dublin, Ireland — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 01:59:56 GMT

Secretive behavior and general public shyness makes the whole thing pretty fascinating.. Well, I'm pretty curious as well.

Blue Origin blasts off

Bruce, Oaxaca, Mexico — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 13:48:47 GMT

Personally I think Bezos is right to keep quiet until he has something substantial to show off. The X-prize attracted a lot of flim-flam con artists (De Vinci Project, anyone?). Good for him.

Blue Origin blasts off

Geohager,cheyenne,WY — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 02:06:02 GMT

199 years ago at Kitty Hawk the first Airplane flew,50 years later we broke the sound barrier.Can you imagine where we will be in another 100 years.Motels in Space!

Blue Origin blasts off

Nabil, Salt Lake City, Utah — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 06:14:52 GMT

I don't want to sound like a party pooper here but what we have here is a new packaging for an old, old product. Chemical propulsion is not the future of space exploration considering that it takes days to get the moon with a chemical rocket, nearly a year to get to Mars, over 10 years to reach Pluto at the edge of our solar system. Forget about travel to the nearest stars. What we need is a thinking revolution and design radical new propulsion systems that can achieve speeds high enough to cut down the astronomical cost of space exploration.

Blue Origin blasts off

rüya tabiri — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 04:21:36 GMT

Glad to see Reusable Launch Vehicle Technology

Blue Origin blasts off

Sohbet — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 15:24:34 GMT

Glad to see Reusable Launch Vehicle Technology