Blue Origin has sent its reusable New Shepard rocket on another suborbital lob, this time simulating lunar gravity for capsule payloads.
The rocket launched this week following delays due to thick clouds and vehicle avionics issues. Liftoff occurred at 1600 UTC, and the capsule reached 105 km above sea level before returning to Earth. One of the capsule’s three parachutes failed to deploy correctly, although this did not affect the landing.
The 29th New Shepard flight was the 14th payload mission for the suborbital rocket, carrying 30 payloads from NASA, commercial companies, and research institutions. Twenty-nine payloads were loaded into the capsule, and one was attached to the booster.
The capsule’s reaction control system spun the vehicle for about two minutes to simulate lunar gravity.
The spin reached approximately 11 revolutions per minute, which simulated one-sixth of Earth’s gravity at the midpoint of the crew capsule lockers.
Phil Joyce, Senior Vice President at Blue Origin, said: “New Shepard’s ability to provide a lunar gravity environment is an extremely unique and valuable capability as researchers set their sights on a return to the Moon.
“This enables researchers to test lunar technologies at a fraction of the cost, rapidly iterate, and test again in a significantly compressed time frame.”
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Demand for simulated lunar gravity is increasing, although a launch on New Shepard is not strictly necessary, depending on the requirements of the payloads. Companies such as ZeroG fl