Jeff Bezos’ rocket company, Blue Origin, recently experienced a launch failure. Luckily, no one was in the rocket, and no lives were lost. It was the first time that the company faced such an accident.
The Blue Origin rocket was launched in Texas. After being airborne for only about a minute, bright flames started shooting out of the engine area. The emergency abort system leaped into action, and the top capsule was ejected into the air, slowly and safely parachuting onto a remote desert floor. According to the federal aviation administration, the rocket crashed, but there were no injuries or casualties on-site.
The commentators went silent during the rocket launch, as they witnessed the failure and destruction. Shortly after, they made an announcement saying, “It appears that we have experienced an anomaly with today’s flight; this wasn’t planned.”
An hour later, the company tweeted, “Booster failure on today’s uncrewed flight, escape system performed as designed.”
Although the new rocket was mainly used for experiments, they use the same missiles to send people for short rides into space. The aircraft and the launch operation are under investigation, awaiting a decision, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The agency is in charge of public safety during commercial rocket launches. The rocket was at an altitude of 28,000 feet, traveling at the speed of 700 mph when it exploded and the capsule was ejected.
The capsule reached a maximum altitude of 37,000 feet, and there were around thirty-six experiments on board, including projects by students. There is no video footage of the rocket exploding. However, there is a video of the launch and the capsule landing as provided by the Washington Examiner on YouTube.
It was the 23rd rocket launch of the space program, and it was the first time a failure took place. Billionaire Jeff Bezos has not said anything about this incident, and public opinion is that this was a waste of money, as it could have been used in a better way, and that the failure could have cost human lives. In a world of social media, public opinion gets out and spreads around really fast.
Blue Origin’s most recent flight with customers was last month. It was a 10-minute flight around space, and although the ticket prices are not yet confirmed, they are rumored to be very high. Famous actor William Shatner was also reportedly one of the people on board during the 10-minute space flight. The tweet by the company is the last time they officially said anything.
The incident caused no damage or injuries, but raised eyebrows about what could have happened if people were on board. The public is demanding answers from the company and the people responsible for the accident. There are still a few decisions to be made by the authorities and the company.
Blue Origin’s rockets have been grounded pending an investigation by the FAA.