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Time of India
4 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
Mark Rocket: Who is Mark Rocket? The Christchurch entrepreneur who just became the first New Zealander in space
ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT With a name like Rocket, it was only a matter of time. On Sunday, Christchurch aerospace entrepreneur Mark Rocket lived up to his name, becoming the first New Zealander to fly to 55-year-old soared aboard Virgin Galactic 's Galactic 07 mission, a suborbital flight launched from Spaceport America in New Mexico. As the spacecraft arced above Earth, reaching an altitude of about 88 kilometres, Rocket joined a rare group of civilians who have witnessed the planet from the edge of space and returned safely.'I've been dreaming of this for a long time,' Rocket said after the flight. 'It was surreal. The Earth looked incredible from up there.'Born Mark Stevens, he legally changed his name to Mark Rocket in 2003 to reflect his passion for space. He was an early investor and the first customer of Rocket Lab, New Zealand's prominent space launch company, although he is no longer co-founded Kea Aerospace , a Christchurch-based company developing solar-powered aircraft to collect high-altitude data. He is also the current president of the Aerospace New Zealand industry group, which supports the country's growing space sector.'This flight isn't just about me,' Rocket said. 'It's about inspiring others in Aotearoa to dream bigger, reach higher, and see space as part of our future.'The Virgin Galactic flight lasted around 90 minutes from takeoff to landing. Rocket was joined on board by passengers from the US, Ukraine, and Austria, as well as two Virgin Galactic crew spacecraft, VSS Unity , was carried into the sky by a mothership before being released to fire its rocket engine and soar into space. It was Unity's final flight, and it is now being retired after completing seven commercial said he had been training for the experience since 2022 and felt honored to represent New Zealand. 'The view, the weightlessness — it was all incredible,' he said. 'I feel extremely grateful.'Prime Minister Christopher Luxon congratulated Rocket, calling the flight 'a proud moment for New Zealand's science and technology sector.''It's only the beginning,' Rocket said. 'There's so much more we can achieve.'
Time of India
5 hours ago
- Science
- Time of India
Who is Mark Rocket? The Christchurch entrepreneur who just became the first New Zealander in space
With a name like Rocket, it was only a matter of time. On Sunday, Christchurch aerospace entrepreneur Mark Rocket lived up to his name, becoming the first New Zealander to fly to space. The 55-year-old soared aboard Virgin Galactic 's Galactic 07 mission, a suborbital flight launched from Spaceport America in New Mexico. As the spacecraft arced above Earth, reaching an altitude of about 88 kilometres, Rocket joined a rare group of civilians who have witnessed the planet from the edge of space and returned safely. 'I've been dreaming of this for a long time,' Rocket said after the flight. 'It was surreal. The Earth looked incredible from up there.' Born Mark Stevens, he legally changed his name to Mark Rocket in 2003 to reflect his passion for space. He was an early investor and the first customer of Rocket Lab, New Zealand's prominent space launch company, although he is no longer involved. Rocket co-founded Kea Aerospace , a Christchurch-based company developing solar-powered aircraft to collect high-altitude data. He is also the current president of the Aerospace New Zealand industry group, which supports the country's growing space sector. Live Events 'This flight isn't just about me,' Rocket said. 'It's about inspiring others in Aotearoa to dream bigger, reach higher, and see space as part of our future.' The Virgin Galactic flight lasted around 90 minutes from takeoff to landing. Rocket was joined on board by passengers from the US, Ukraine, and Austria, as well as two Virgin Galactic crew members. The spacecraft, VSS Unity , was carried into the sky by a mothership before being released to fire its rocket engine and soar into space. It was Unity's final flight, and it is now being retired after completing seven commercial missions. Rocket said he had been training for the experience since 2022 and felt honored to represent New Zealand. 'The view, the weightlessness — it was all incredible,' he said. 'I feel extremely grateful.' Prime Minister Christopher Luxon congratulated Rocket, calling the flight 'a proud moment for New Zealand's science and technology sector.' 'It's only the beginning,' Rocket said. 'There's so much more we can achieve.'
Daily Mirror
26-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Sir Richard Branson's wife saved him from 'wardrobe malfunction' in full Crystal Palace kit
Back in the day when shirt sponsorship of football clubs cost thousands not millions, Virgin tycoon Sir Richard Branson planned to strip off on live television to reveal a full Crystal Palace kit - but it nearly ended in disaster Flying baron Sir Richard Branson is tipping Crystal Palace to win the FA Cup and lift the first trophy in their history. The Eagles fan and billionaire tycoon, who sponsored Palace for just £10,000 in the season when they reached the Cup final 35 years ago, fancies Oliver Glasner 's side to beat Aston Villa in the semi-final - and go all the way. Branson, the third oldest person to fly in space on his Virgin Galactic rocket VSS Unity four years ago, believes Glasner's side are out of this world. And he told the Grumpy Old Men of Football podcast: 'Good luck to Palace in the semi-final - I think it's their year.' The Virgin tycoon revealed: 'We've come a long way since the time we sponsored Crystal Palace in the 1990 FA Cup Final. 'Back then we had one second-hand 747 that flew out of Gatwick, and Palace were our local football club. We sponsored the club for £10,000 and they put 'Fly Virgin' on their shirts. Despite being an unfancied team they ended up in the FA Cup Final against Manchester United with the help of two wonderful strikers in Ian Wright and Mark Bright. 'It was the best ten grand we ever spent. Next year the price went up to millions and we quietly withdrew!' Branson was once saved by his wife from the ultimate wardrobe malfunction when he planned to show off Palace's kit on live TV and she spotted a potentially embarrassing 'imposter' in the nick of time. He revealed: 'I was appearing on ITV before the game and I intended to enter in my normal clothes and then strip off to reveal the full Crystal Palace kit underneath. As I was leaving for ITV, my wife Joan asked what I was looking so pleased about, so I told her my plan to strip off on television and then gave her a sneak preview. 'Joan replied, 'By the way Richard, your willy is hanging out of your Crystal Palace shorts'. If it wasn't for Joan pointing out my wardrobe malfunction, I would have made a right proper p***k of myself.' The 1990 final was a six-goal thriller, with Wright - racing back to fitness from a broken leg - scoring twice in a 3-3 draw against Manchester United. Lee Martin's goal in the replay gave United a 1-0 win, handing Sir Alex Ferguson his first trophy as United manager - just months after he was perceived to be on the brink of the sack until Mark Robins' winner at Nottingham Forest in the third round. This time, Palace wore an unfamiliar change strip of banana-and-chocolate stripes.
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
These 5 Celebrities Reached Space Before Katy Perry and Gayle King
"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." Despite public backlash, Katy Perry, Gayle King, and the history-making NS-31 crew are still savoring their short but powerful excursion to space. The pop star and TV host were among the six-person team to rocket into the skies Tuesday with Blue Origin, the space exploration company founded by Jeff Bezos. The roughly 10-minute mission marked the first time a Blue Origin mission featured an all-female crew. Other passengers included film producer Kerianne Flynn, activist and astronaut Amanda Nguyen, aerospace engineer Aisha Bowe, and Bezos' fiancée, Lauren Sánchez. 'I think this experience has shown me you never know how much love is inside of you—how much love you have to give and how loved you are—until the day of launch,' said Perry, who traveled with a photo and flower in honor of her 4-year-old daughter, Daisy. Unlike true astronauts, the group didn't fly into deep space—only about 62 miles and just past the Kárnán Line, which is considered the boundary separating Earth's atmosphere. Still, they ventured further from their planetary home than most can brag. However, Perry and King aren't the only high-profile celebrities to take a high-speed detour. Here are five others who can say they've made it to didn't expect Jeff Bezos to start Blue Origin without scheduling a flight himself? Sure enough, the multi-billionaire took his own New Shepard rocket for a spin in July 2021. Bezos, 61, and his fellow passengers—his brother Mark among them—paid tribute to past pioneers of exploration. They took goggles worn by Amelia Earhart and a piece of canvas from Wilbur and Orville Wright's plane aboard the craft. After landing, Bezos compared the Blue Origin program to his founding of e-commerce giant Amazon. 'What we're doing is the first step of something big. And I know what that feels like,' he Bezos and Blue Origin accelerated the space tourism craze, Richard Branson kicked it off with his company Virgin Galactic. The brand achieved suborbital space flight for the first time in December 2018, with its VSS Unity craft. Branson, 74, went for a ride himself in July 2021—just days before Bezos—and soon opened ticket sales to the public. 'The mission statement that I wrote inside my spacesuit was to turn the dream of space travel into a reality for my grandchildren... and for many people who are alive today, for everybody,' Branson said. The dream is a costly one, though: Virgin Galactic tickets are going for $600,000 according to the company website. Read More About Richard BransonIt only makes sense that William Shatner—who played Captain James T. Kirk on Star Trek—ventured to the 'final frontier' in real life. Shatner became the oldest person to go to space at age 90 when he traveled with Blue Origin in 2021. But instead of reveling in his unique accomplishment, the actor compared seeing the darkness of space to a funeral. 'It was among the strongest feelings of grief I have ever encountered,' he told Variety. 'The contrast between the vicious coldness of space and the warm nurturing of Earth below filled me with overwhelming sadness.' Astronauts call this noticeable cognitive shift caused by seeing Earth from above the 'Overview Effect.' Read More About William ShatnerFormer New York Giants linebacker Michael Strahan went on a, well, giant adventure to space on his Blue Origin flight in December 2021. He was an 'honorary guest' and didn't have to pay for his voyage. Strahan, 53, flew at speeds surpassing 2,200 mph. 'It's such... almost like an out-of-body experience. It's hard to even believe it happened,' he told colleague Amy Robach after returning to terra firma. Joining the Good Morning America host among the six-person crew was Laura Shepard Churchley, the daughter of Apollo 14 astronaut Alan Shepard. Alan is also the namesake for Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket. Read More About Michael StrahanEngineer, TV host, and TikTok personality Emily Calandrelli lived up to her nickname 'The Space Girl' when she traveled on her own Blue Origin flight in November 2024. In doing so, she achieved a milestone as the 100th woman to reach space. But while many women lauded the bravery of Calandrelli, host of the educational series Emily's Wonder Lab on Netflix, footage of her journey also sparked derogatory comments from online trolls. 'I refuse to give much time to the small men on the internet. I feel experiences in my soul,' Calandrelli said in response. 'I will not apologize or feel weird about my reaction. It's wholly mine and I love it.' You Might Also Like Nicole Richie's Surprising Adoption Story The Story of Gypsy Rose Blanchard and Her Mother Queen Camilla's Life in Photos
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
What is the Kármán line that Blue Origin's newest astronauts crossed?
(NEXSTAR) – Blue Origin successfully launched six women over the Kármán line on Monday morning, marking the first all-female spaceflight since Soviet-era cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova flew into space on a solo mission in 1963. The astronauts — recording artist Katy Perry, journalists Gayle King and Lauren Sánchez, former NASA scientist Aisha Bowe, civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen and movie producer Kerianne Flynn — experienced several minutes of weightlessness during the trip, which touched down about 11 minutes after launch from West Texas. Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket propelled the women almost 66 miles into the atmosphere, according to Blue Origin. That means they soared well over the Kármán line, a boundary located 100 kilometers (about 62 miles) above the Earth. What to know about the all-female Blue Origin space launch The Kármán line is recognized as the boundary between Earth's atmosphere and space by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, a Swiss-based governing body and record-keeping organization. For years, Blue Origin has also maintained that the Kármán Line is the threshold that separates Earth's atmosphere from space. In 2021, Blue Origin made this opinion known when Virgin Group founder Richard Branson successfully rocketed to an altitude of approximately 282,000 feet, or over 53 miles, on a Virgin Galactic space plane called the VSS Unity. At the time, Blue Origin further suggested that Branson and his fellow astronauts would need 'asterisks' next to their names. 'From the beginning, New Shepard was designed to fly above the Kármán line so none of our astronauts have an asterisk next to their name,' the company wrote on X (then Twitter). 'For 96% of the world's population, space begins 100 km up at the internationally recognized Kármán line.' The boundary between Earth and 'space,' meanwhile, is not clearly defined. Astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell has proposed the boundary should be lower, at around 80 kilometers up, arguing that satellites can survive certain elliptical orbits that dip to this height. But NASA heliophysicist Doug Rowland said it's tough to demarcate where 'space' begins, because Earth's atmosphere doesn't necessarily stop at any single point, but instead 'just gets less and less dense the higher you go.' The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) further pointed out that a spacecraft would have to travel 600 miles above Earth to escape the planet's atmosphere completely — meaning that the International Space Station (orbiting between 205 and 270 miles up) wouldn't even be considered as being in proper 'space,' either. 'When you go to where the Space Station is — only a couple hundred miles above the Earth — there's still enough air there to slow the Space Station down. And if you didn't re-boost it with rockets, it would come back to Earth based on the air drag,' Rowland said. Commercial space companies are ready for the next stage of lunar exploration Terminology aside, Blue Origin and its newest astronauts certainly consider their trip to space (however it's defined) a success. 'I will never be the same,' crew member and aerospace engineer Aisha Bowe said after landing. 'I never really thought I could go to space — although I really wanted to go — and today just confirmed that dreams are real,' she added. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
