Latest news with #spaceflight
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Local man fulfills dream, travels to space and back
CLEVELAND, Ohio (WJW) – The seven seconds where the capsule was surrounded by nothing but flames during liftoff felt like an eternity to Paul Jeris. Other than that, his trip to outer space on Saturday was exactly what he expected it to be like and everything he'd dreamed of. 'You know, it's not cheap but it was worth every penny,' Jeris said. As Fox 8 previously reported, Jeris got the call a few weeks ago that his time on the Blue Origin waiting list had come to an end and he'd be going to space. 'Once-in-a-lifetime:' When you can see all three Goodyear Blimps together over NE Ohio The flight on the New Shepard rocket system happened Saturday morning after several days of training in Texas. (You can view FOX 8's coverage of the launch in the video player below.) Jeris and five others traveled just outside Earth's atmosphere for a few minutes and then came back down safely. Despite being in a rocket blasting off to space, he told Fox 8 he stayed mostly calm. 'Honestly, I thought the level of apprehension would be an eight or a nine, but it was really only a three because it's out of your control,' he said. 77-year-old woman hit while crossing street When Jeris emerged from the capsule back on land, he held up his arms to form the O-H-I-O movements, which he said was part of his plan all along. 'I'm a Put-In-Bay guy. You know, we're the Buckeyes. You know, your celebration moment – we're from Ohio man,' he explained. While he isn't comparing himself to Neil Armstrong anytime soon, Jeris said he was honored to represent Ohio and join the long list of Ohioans who've been to space. 'I'm creeping in steps of giants, Okay? But the Karman line is the Karman line, you can say what it is. The Karman line is 62 miles,' Jeris said. 'I became lucky number 700 to cross the Karman line.' His next goal is to go into orbit one day. Jeris, who previously told Fox 8 that he was always fascinated by rockets, especially growing up with a father who worked at NASA Glenn Research Center, said he'd go up again in a heartbeat. He thanked everyone at Put-In-Bay who supported him through this journey. Jeris also joked that he now has photos to prove that the Earth is round. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
a day ago
- General
- Yahoo
When 8 Days Became 9 Months, Stranded NASA Astronauts Wondered If They'd Ever ‘Make it Back' to Earth
NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore were unexpectedly stuck in space from June 2024 to March 2025 Both astronauts considered the possibility that they may not return home to Earth, but they didn't verbalize the thought because of their astronaut training "If we weren't able to dock, would we be able to make it back? We didn't know," Wilmore said in a new BBC interviewStuck in space for months, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore weren't sure if they would ever return home. Last June, the NASA astronauts' eight-day test flight took an unexpected turn, leaving them stranded in space for nine months. During that time, the pair had to consider a future in which they would never see their families again — a possibility that they both found themselves contemplating. Never coming home 'definitely went through our minds,' Wilmore, 62, told the BBC two months after they returned to Earth on March 18. It was a particularly worrisome thought, Wilmore said, before the duo docked safely at the International Space Station — which is where they spent nearly all of their time in space. "Docking,' the father of two told the BBC, 'was imperative. If we weren't able to dock, would we be able to make it back? We didn't know.' Both Wilmore and Williams, 59, told the British outlet that, despite thinking the worst, they did not state their worries out loud thanks to their training, which tells them to prioritize finding solutions. 'You sort of read each other's mind and know where we're going with all the failures,' Williams told the BBC. 'These were not expected.' But, she continued, 'at the same time, you know, we're like, what do we have? What can we do?' Through it all, however, the pair 'knew nobody was going to just let us down,' Williams told the BBC. The astronauts, she added, 'knew everybody had our back and was looking out for us.' Shortly after completing their long-awaited journey from the ISS to Earth, the astronauts recounted their time in space. Wilmore revealed that prior to takeoff, he had prepared his daughters, Daryn and Logan, for the possibility that he would be in space for longer than the intended eight days. "Did I think about not being there for my daughter's high school year? Of course," he told Fox News' America's Newsroom in March. 'We've trained them to be resilient — my daughters, my family, we talk about these things. We talk about the fact that there's no given, this is a test flight. We don't know what's going to happen. We might not be back in eight days or whatever the plan was.' But Wilmore did not let the 'personal side of it' — as he phrased it — 'interfere with what I'm called to do at the moment.' After their spacecraft, a Boeing Starliner, ran into mechanical issues following the June 2024 launch, Williams and Wilmore's return was delayed and, after weeks of troubleshooting, the spacecraft was sent back without them. Last December, NASA stated that it planned to bring the astronauts back to Earth 'no earlier than late March," which the agency later followed through on. Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human-interest stories. While stuck in space, the astronauts celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas, voted in the 2024 U.S. election and spoke with the media. During a press conference from space in early March, Williams even described her time at the ISS as 'fun.' 'Every day is interesting because we're up in space and it's a lot of fun,' she said at the time. "The hardest part is having the folks on the ground have to not know exactly when we're coming back.' Read the original article on People
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Meet the crew of Blue Origin's NS-32 space tourism mission launching on May 31
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Blue Origin's next suborbital flight is scheduled to launch on Saturday (May 31), carrying a diverse crew of educators, entrepreneurs and adventurers united by a shared passion for space and discovery. The NS-32 suborital mission, which will be Blue Origin's 12th human flight to date, is expected to lift off from Launch Site One in West Texas during a window that opens at 9:30 a.m. EDT (1330 GMT). Blue Origin will stream the launch live, beginning 30 mins prior to launch; will air the webcast if, as expected, the company makes it available. The suborbital flight aboard Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket, lasting approximately 11 minutes, will carry six civilians with varied professional and personal achievements, highlighting the increasing accessibility of space tourism. Here's some information about the six people who will fly on the NS-32 mission, which Blue Origin provided in a mission update. As a STEM educator from Galveston, Texas, Amy Medina Jorge has led over 60 student-driven space experiments, including biometric sensor tests and in-flight 3D printing on zero-G flights. Born in Puerto Rico, she advocates for Hispanic representation in STEM fields and was honored with the 2023 AIAA and Challenger Center Trailblazing STEM Educator Award. Her seat is sponsored by Farmacias Similares, a Mexican company focused on social impact and accessible healthcare across Latin America. A radiologist with over 20 years of clinical experience specializing in women's imaging, Dr. Gretchen Green is also a lifelong space enthusiast. Her journey began with Space Camp in 1986, where she later returned as a Crew Trainer and eventually chaired the Space Camp Alumni Association. She currently serves on the board of the U.S. Space & Rocket Center Education Foundation. As a nationally recognized expert witness and entrepreneur, Green founded The Expert Resource to help doctors build expert witness practices. Green is also a certified life coach who has biked across the U.S., reached the North Pole, and holds degrees from Harvard, Yale and Brown. A Panamanian attorney and former ambassador to the U.S., Jaime Alemán is also a seasoned traveler, having visited all 193 United Nations-recognized countries, both the North and South Poles — and now he's headed to space. Alemán holds degrees from Notre Dame and Duke Law School and is a senior partner at Alemán, Cordero, Galindo & Lee — a law firm he co-founded in 1985. He also serves on the board of one of Panama's largest private banks and holds board positions with Special Olympics International, Duke Law School and the Woodrow Wilson Center's Latin America Program. Canadian entrepreneur Jesse Williams has launched multiple ventures, including eDirect Software, Car History Group and Just Think Media. An avid cyclist and mountaineer, Williams has summited six of the seven highest peaks on Earth, including Mt. Everest. Several symbols on the NS-32 mission patch — bike gears and Mt. Everest — represent his adventurous spirit. The CEO of Kea Aerospace and president of Aerospace New Zealand, Mark Rocket is set to become the first New Zealander to reach space. Christchurch-based Kea, which was founded in 2018, focuses on developing sustainable aerospace technology aimed at advancing high-altitude flight and environmental monitoring. Rocket was also a seed investor of Rocket Lab, co-directing the company from 2007 to 2011. The kea parrot on the mission patch symbolizes his homeland of New Zealand. Related stories: — New Shepard: Rocket for space tourism — Katy Perry and Gayle King launch to space with 4 others on historic all-female Blue Origin rocket flight — Blue Origin launches Michael Strahan and crew of 5 on record-setting suborbital spaceflight A seasoned real estate businessman and global traveler, Paul Jeris' passion for space was sparked early by his father, a NASA engineer. Growing up on Florida's Space Coast, he spent summers watching historic launches of the Apollo, space shuttle, Mariner, Voyager and Viking missions. A dedicated explorer, Jeris has traveled to over 149 countries with the goal of visiting every nation on Earth. But his ultimate dream has always been to journey into space and witness the planet's beauty from above. He also gives back to the travel community by serving on several local and regional tourism boards.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Blue Origin launches 1st New Zealander to reach space, 5 others on latest New Shepard suborbital flight (video)
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Three world travelers, two Space Camp alums and an aerospace executive whose last name aptly matched their shared adventure traveled into space and back today (May 31), becoming the latest six people to fly with Blue Origin, the spaceflight company founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos. Mark Rocket joined Jaime Alemán, Jesse Williams, Paul Jeris, Gretchen Green and Amy Medina Jorge on board the RSS First Step — Blue Origin's first of two human-rated New Shepard capsules — for a trip above the Kármán Line, the 62-mile-high (100-kilometer) internationally recognized boundary between Earth and space. For about three minutes, the six NS-32 crewmates experienced weightlessness and had an astronaut's-eye view of the planet. "It was perfection," said Green soon after returning to Earth. "There are not a lot of times in your life when most of the time you're just doing your best, struggling through the hard times, enjoying the good ones, but there are very few things in life that were true perfection. And when I looked out at space and back down to the Earth, [it] was perfect." The New Shepard launch vehicle — which included the capsule and a propulsion module, both of which are reusable — lifted off today at 8:39 a.m. CDT (9:39 a.m. EDT or 1339 GMT) from Blue Origin's Launch Site One near Van Horn in West Texas. About two and a half minutes into the flight, the booster cut off its engine and then separated, allowing the capsule to continue its coast upward into space and for it to return to Earth to make a propulsive, vertical landing on a concrete pad not far from where it launched. The six NS-32 passengers, self-dubbed "The Pathfinders," meanwhile, reached an apogee, or maximum altitude, of 340,290 feet (104 km) above the ground, qualifying Rocket, Alemán, Williams, Jeris, Green and Jorge for Blue Origin-issued astronaut wings and their entry in the Association of Space Explorers' Registry of Worldwide Space Travelers. The RSS First Step then descended back to Earth, using parachutes and a last-second jet of compressed air to make a soft touchdown about 10 minutes after it left Earth. Blue Origin personnel were soon on hand to inspect the vehicle, open the hatch and welcome the NS-32 crewmates home. Mark Rocket became the first New Zealander to reach space on the mission. His connection to aerospace goes beyond his apt name and today's flight; he's currently the CEO of Kea Aerospace and previously helped lead Rocket Lab, a competing space launch company to Blue Origin that sends most of its rockets up from New Zealand. Alemán, Williams and Jeris each traveled the world extensively before briefly leaving the planet today. An attorney from Panama, Alemán is now the first person to have visited all 193 countries recognized by the United Nations, traveled to the North and South Poles, and now, have been into space. "It was such an incredible ride," said Alemán. "Very moving, very spiritual, even better than I ever imagined. For me, as someone who has been traveling — thank you to the gods — all my life, it is like a cherry on top of a cake." For Williams, an entrepreneur from Canada, Saturday's flight continued his record of achieving high altitudes; he has summitted Mt. Everest and five of the other six other highest mountains across the globe. Jeris spent his childhood watching rockets take off from Florida and then travelled to more than 149 countries as he waited his own chance to fly into space. Related stories: — Meet the crew of Blue Origin's NS-32 space tourism mission — New Shepard: Rocket for space tourism — Katy Perry and Gayle King launch to space with 4 others on historic all-female Blue Origin rocket flight Green and Jorge were cheered on during the flight from a launch viewing party at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, home to U.S. Space Camp. An experienced radiologist, Green was both an attendee and counselor at Space Camp prior to chairing the Space Camp Alumni Association, and she is now a member of the rocket center's education foundation board. As a high school and middle school teacher in Galveston, Texas, Jorge has brought students to Space Camp, as well as attended Space Academy for Educators herself. This was her second experience being weightless, having earlier conducted student-designed experiments aboard a parabolic flight. The NS-32 launch was Blue Origin's 12th human spaceflight since 2021 — bringing the total passenger count to 64 — and the company's 30th flight above the Kármán Line since 2015. This was the first launch since Bezos' fiancé Lauren Sánchez flew with an all-woman crew that included pop star Katy Perry and TV morning show host Gayle King in April.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Science
- Yahoo
1st New Zealander reaches space on Blue Origin flight
May 31 (UPI) -- Blue Origin's 12th human spaceflight carried the first New Zealander into space and back on Saturday morning in West Texas. The flight carried six passengers beyond the Karman Line, which is the internationally established boundary between space and Earth's atmosphere at an elevation of 62 miles, reported. Among the passengers was Mark Rocket, who is an aerospace executive from Christchurch, New Zealand, and is that nation's first citizen to reach space. Rocket changed his surname many years ago in honor of his passion for space travel, TVNZ1 reported on May 22. "Ever since I was a kid, I've always been fascinated by space technology and space travel," he said. "We live in a solar system, which is vast; a galaxy, which is vast; and this incredible universe, which is just hard to imagine." Rocvket's fascination with space led to a career in aerospace, and before the flight he said he was looking forward to experiencing "3Gs of rocket-powered flight up to space." Rocket is the president of Aerospace New Zealand and ownsKea Aerospace, which is developing a solar-powered, unmanned aircraft capable of reaching the stratosphere to collect high-resolution data of the Earth below it. Other crew members The flight also carried K-12 STEM teacher Aymette Medina Jorge, former Panamanian ambassador to the United States Jaime Aleman and radiologist GretchenGreen into space, according to Blue Origin. Also aboard the spaceflight were businessman Jesse Williams and entrepreneur Paul Jeris. The six passengers were weightless for about three minutes while getting a unique view of the world from space. Upon landing back on Earth, Green called the experience "perfection." "There are very few things in life that were true perfection," Green told "When I looked out at space and back down to the Earth, [it] was perfect." 32nd successful spaceflight The spaceflight was the 32nd for Jeff Bezos-owned Blue Origin and its New Shepard program and launched at 8:39 a.m. CDT from Blue Origin's Launch Site One about 30 miles north of Van Horn near the U.S.-Mexico border. The New Shepard launch vehicle included the capsule that carried its passengers and a booster rocket. The capsule and booster rocket are reusable. The booster rocket separated from the capsule about 2.5 minutes into the flight, which allowed the capsule to continue its ascent into space before returning to Earth. The autonomous capsule used a propulsive system to slow its descent while making a vertical landing on a concrete pad near where it launched. New Shepard is named after Alan Shepard, the first American in space in 1961 and 10 years year was the fifth person to walk on the moon. The program is intended the ferry humans and scientific payloads into space. "We thank our customers for trusting us to give them the opportunity to appreciate Earth's fragility from above," said Phil Joyce, senior vice president of New Shepard. Joyce said the experience "truly transforms those who embark on it." Blue Origin's New Shepard program has carried 64 people into space and back, including singer Katy Perry and CBS broadcast Gayle King.
