Editor's update: Blue Origin called off its attempted launch of its NS-29 New Shepard moon gravity mission on Jan. 28 due to bad weather and a rocket issue. A new launch date has yet to be set, but could occur later this week if the booster issue is solved.
Blue Origin will launch its first suborbital rocket launch of 2025 this week — and attempt a wild spin trick to mimic the moon's gravity during the flight — but if you want to see it live, you'll need to know when and where to tune in.
An uncrewed New Shepard rocket is now expected to launch the so-called NS-29 mission sometime during a window that runs through Jan. 31 from Blue Origin's Launch Site One in West Texas. The mission will launch 30 different experiments, most of them for NASA, aimed at testing moon-related technologies, Blue Origin officials said in a statement. You'll be able to watch Blue Origin's NS-29 lunar gravity launch on Space.com, courtesy of Blue Origin's livestream, which will begin about 15 minutes before liftoff.
What time is Blue Origin's NS-29 moon gravity launch?
Blue Origin was initially targeting Tuesday, Jan. 28, for its first New Shepard mission of the year. Liftoff was scheduled for 11:30 a.m. EST (1630 GMT), about 30 minutes later than Blue Origin's initially planned 11 a.m. ET launch time.
During the launch, Blue Origin flight controllers detected an avionics issue on the New Shepard booster, prompting the team to stand down for the day. Even without the technical glitch, a persistent, thick cloud layer was preventing the launch, Blue Origin commentators said.
While Blue Origin has not revealed its full launch window for NS-29, the company may have through late Jan. 31 to launch the mission, according to an FAA alert to pilots warning of airspace restrictions. We are awaiting Blue Origin to announce an official new launch time. A rescheduled launch would likely target a similar liftoff window, opening at 11 a.m. EST.
Can I watch the Blue Origin "moon gravity" launch online?
Yes, you'll be able to watch Blue Origin's NS-29 New Shepard launch online.
Blue Origin will provide a livestream of the New Shepard launch on its website BlueOrigin.com about 15 minutes before liftoff. A simulcast of that broadcast is expected to stream on Blue Origin's YouTube page, X account and on Space.com. You can also watch it directly from our YouTube channel here.
Do note that if Blue Origin shifts its launch time later in the day, the webcast start time will also shift accordingly.
What's flying on Blue Origin's NS-29 New Shepard launch?
Blue Origin is launching 30 different experiments on the New Shepard NS-29 mission, 29 of them aimed at testing technologies for the moon. The final payload will actually ride on the rocket's booster while the rest are tucked inside the return capsule.
Of the 29 payloads aboard New Shepard, 17 are NASA experiments meant to test a wide variety of instruments, anchors, dust conveyors and other devices that could be used on the lunar surface by future robots or astronauts.
"The flight is expected to provide approximately two minutes of simulated lunar gravity, allowing researchers to test and de-risk innovations that could address critical shortfalls for the Artemis program, planetary exploration, and commercial space missions," NASA officials wrote in a statement. NASA's Artemis program aims to return astronauts to the moon by 2027.
To do that, the New Shepard capsule will fire its reaction control system thrusters to spin up to about 11 revolutions per minute.
"This spin rate simulates one-sixth Earth gravity at the midpoint of the crew capsule lockers. In simulated lunar gravity, customers can accelerate their learning and technology readiness for lunar payloads at much lower cost." Blue Origin wrote in a mission overview.
Here's a look at some key experiments on the NS-29 New Shepard mission.
- Electrostatic Dust Lofting, NASA Kennedy Space Center: This experiment is aimed at examining how moon dust is electrically charged and raised when exposed to ultraviolet light.
- Fluidic Operations in Reduced Gravity Experiment, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory: This NASA FORGE experiment will study how to manage gases and liquids in space.
- Honey Bubble Excitation Experiment, Honeybee Robotics: This experiment, called H-Bee, will study how bubbles behave in thick liquids on the lunar surface.
- Soil Properties Assessment Resistance and Thermal Analysis, JPL: Sparta, as it's called, will test a toolkit for "geomechanical testing below the lunar surface" to see how lunar gravity may affect it.
- Lunar-g Combustion Investigation, NASA Glenn Research Center: Called LUCI for short, this experiment aims to learn how materials behave when they catch fire in lunar gravity.
- Film Evaporation MEMS Tunable Array Micropropulsion System (FEMTA), Purdue University: This FEMTA experiment will test a novel water-based microthruster that can be used for small satellites in a low-gravity environment like that of the moon.
- You can learn about more of the NASA's NS-29 New Shepard moon gravity experiments here.
Blue Origin's NS-29 will also carry thousands of postcards into space as part of its Club for the Future non-profit "to inspire and mobilize future generations to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, arts, and math," the company said.
How long is Blue Origin's NS-29 New Shepard launch?
If Blue Origin follows a typical New Shepard trajectory for its NS-29 flight, the mission should last about 10 or 11 minutes from liftoff to landing.
The mission will begin at launch time, with the New Shepard booster separating a few minutes into the flight. That booster is expected to return to Earth to make a vertical landing on a pad near its launch site at Blue Origin's Launch Site One.
The payload capsule, meanwhile, will continue upwards on a trajectory that should carrying above the 62-mile (100 kilometers) Kármán line, a boundary internationally recognized to mark the start of space. The capsule should make its own reentry and landing under parachutes near its launch site.
One major departure from Blue Origin's past New Shepard flights is the spin maneuver to create the effect of one-sixth Earth's gravity (simulating the gravity of the moon) during the NS-29 mission. That lunar gravity period should last about two minutes in all, Blue Origin officials have said.
What if Blue Origin can't launch the NS-29 New Shepard launch?
While Blue Origin is hoping its NS-29 New Shepard mission will launch on time, the company does have options if a larger delay occurs.
First, Blue Origin may have a wide window on Jan. 28 in which to launch the mission. In the past, the company has extended launches up to an hour or more beyond their initial target launch time and still lift off safely. And even if a Jan. 28 launch of New Shepard isn't possible, Blue Origin could always shift into the following days, perhaps as late as early February.
According to a Notice to Airmen alert from the Federal Aviation Administration, Blue Origin can launch New Shepard's "moon gravity" NS-29 mission anytime between Jan. 28 and late Jan. 31. The alert expires at 11 p.m. EST on Jan. 31 (0400 Feb. 1 GMT). That suggests Blue Origin has at least three days in which to attempt to launch the flight.
As always, any new launch date will depend on the exact reason Blue Origin has to stand down from its Jan. 28 attempt. Subsequent launch tries will depend on the nature of the delay, and whether Blue Origin is able to complete any necessary adjustments or fixes in time for the next attempt.
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