by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

The first three passenger flights of Blue Origin’s New Shepard have been long on symbolism. On the first one, Jeff Bezos invited Wally Funk, who in 1960 was one of 13 women who underwent the same medical checks as the Original Seven Mercury astronauts. NASA wasn’t accepting female pilots at the time, so Funk had to wait 51 years to reach space.

New Shepard’s second flight included starship Capt. James T. Kirk, or more precisely, the actor who played the “Star Trek” captain, William Shatner. The third flight had Laura Shepard Churchley, the daughter of America’s first astronaut to fly to space, who launched aboard a vehicle named after her father, Alan.

Schedule subject to change without notice. December 7 Launch Vehicle: Atlas 5 (United Launch Alliance)Payloads: STP-6 and several ridesharesLaunch Window: 4:04-6:04 a.m. EST (0904-1104 UTC)Launch Site: Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Fla.Webcast: www.nasa.gov The U.S. Space Force mission will launch the STPSat-6 satellite and several secondary payloads. STPSat 6 hosts NASA’s Laser Communications Relay Demonstration payload and the Space and Atmospheric Burst Reporting System-3 for the National Nuclear Security Administration. […]

New Shepard’s 19th mission will be the first to carry a full manifest of six astronauts to space.

KENT, Wash. (Blue Origin PR) — Blue Origin today announced the crew of its upcoming NS-19 flight on December 9 will include two honorary guests and four paying customers. Guests include Good Morning America co-anchor Michael Strahan and Laura Shepard Churchley, the eldest daughter of Alan Shepard, who was the first American to fly to space. The four customers include space industry executive and philanthropist Dylan Taylor, investor Evan Dick, Bess Ventures founder Lane Bess, and Cameron Bess. Lane and Cameron Bess will become the first parent-child pair to fly in space. 

• Fewer than 25 suborbital spaceflights have ever been conducted
• Most suborbital launches were conducted with vehicles retired decades ago
• No suborbital flight has ever carried a paying passenger
• There is no agreement on what even constitutes a suborbital spaceflight

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

When Richard Branson and three Virgin Galactic employees strap into their seats aboard SpaceShipTwo VSS Unity on Sunday, they will briefly go where not very many have gone before: suborbital space.

Of the 374 attempts to launch astronauts to space since Yuri Gagarin flew into Earth orbit 60 years ago, only 23 were suborbital flights. The majority of those launches were conducted during the 1960’s using vehicles that long ago became museum pieces. One ended with the loss of the spacecraft and its pilot. And two flights were unintentional ones involving vehicles being launched into Earth orbit.

HOSUTON (NASA PR) — In 1961, the United States and the Soviet Union found themselves in a race to put the first human being into space. The United States initiated Project Mercury in 1958 to put the first American into space and selected its first group of astronauts in 1959 to begin training for that mission. The Soviets kept their plans secret but began their own human spaceflight program and selected their own team of 20 cosmonauts in 1960.

The Soviets won the race in April 1961 when cosmonaut Yuri A. Gagarin completed a single orbit around the Earth aboard his Vostok capsule. On May 5, 1961, Alan B. Shepard became the first American in space during a suborbital flight aboard his Mercury capsule named Freedom 7. Three weeks later, based on the success of Shepard’s brief flight, President John F. Kennedy committed the United States to achieving a lunar landing before the end of the decade.

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

This week, the space community marked two triumphant achievements, and dutifully ignored a third space-related anniversary that marked the darkest depths of depravity to which human beings can sink.

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

Deadline reports Disney+ has canceled The Right Stuff, the poorly received television adaptation of Tom Wolfe’s classic book of the same name. Unless Warner Bros. Television, which produced the series, can convince another network to fund a second season, the woebegone show will become a historical footnote about a real historical era.

I managed to catch several episodes recently, and I was profoundly unimpressed. It made going to space a rather dull affair. What were the problems? Let me count the ways.

WASHINGTON, May 11, 2020 (Bill Posey/Charlie Crist PR) — As we pass the 59th Anniversary of the first American human space flight launch that saw Alan Shepard pilot the famous Freedom 7 capsule as part of the Mercury program, U.S. Representatives Bill Posey (R-Florida) and Charlie Crist (D-Florida) introduced bipartisan legislation to build on that important legacy and keep America first in space.

The American Space Commerce Act (H.R. 6783) supports American leadership in space by providing an incentive for American space firms to keep investing in America and launching from American soil.

NEW YORK (uniphi space agency PR) — Today,  uniphi space agency, a division of uniphi good LLC, is proud to announce the fifth annual National Astronaut Day, featuring an incredible line-up of Astronauts, musicians and entertainers, all participating in virtual, free, family-friendly events, activities and performances on Tuesday, May 5^th, 2020. 

This year, in addition to raising funds and awareness for seven charities, the campaign will include a social media campaign to thank the “Frontline Superstars” who have been working tirelessly during the global pandemic, a collaboration with Giving Tuesday Now, and specifically with Giving Tuesday Kids (GTKids), who will be actively participating in different Astronaut activities throughout the day.

Video Caption: A brief overview of how records for the longest spaceflight have advanced over the years.