The 11th mission for Blue Origin’s [1] New Shepard suborbital launch vehicle is slated for takeoff Thursday morning. The craft will be carrying 38 (!) experimental payloads from NASA, students and research organizations around the world. You’ll be able to watch the launch live tomorrow at about 6 AM Pacific time.
New Shepard, though a very different beast from the Falcon 9 and Heavy launch vehicles created by its rival SpaceX, is arguably a better platform for short-duration experiments that need to be exposed to launch stresses and microgravity. Launching satellites — that’s a job for Falcons and Deltas, or perhaps Blue Origin’s impending New Glenn[2], and they’re welcome to it. But researchers around the country are clamoring for spots on suborbital flights and Blue Origin is happy to provide them.
Tomorrow’s launch will be carrying several dozen payloads, some of which have been waiting years for their chance to board a rocket. Here are a few examples of what will be tested during the short flight:
- Evolved Medical Microgravity Suction Device[3]: As more people go into space, we have to be prepared for more and graver injuries. Lots of standard medical tools won’t work properly in microgravity, so it’s necessary to redesign and test them under those conditions. This one is about providing suction, as you might guess, which can be used for lung injuries, drawing blood and other situations that call for negative air pressure.
This little guy will be doing microgravity test prints using metal...
- 3D printing with metal in microgravity[4]: Simply everyone knows we can 3D-print stuff in space. But just as on Earth, you can’t always make your spare parts