UPDATE: The NS-20 flight successfully took flight and landed shortly after 10:10 a.m. EDT on Thursday.

The crew of the New Shepard 20 space flight has had to wait more than a week for the best weather conditions to launch into the Earth’s atmosphere. But for those who have waited decades for the chance to go to space, what’s the issue with waiting eight more days?

On Thursday morning, at approximately 9:20 EDT, UNC professor Jim Kitchen and five other civilian passengers will take off in a Blue Origin rocket for a 10-12 minute flight to the edge of space. The launch was green-lit on Wednesday after completing the Launch Readiness Evaluation in West Texas. It is the fourth flight carrying humans by the commercial space flight company owned by former Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos.

Kitchen was selected from a pool of paying applicants and told Chapelboro earlier this month he’s dreamed of seeing outer space since he was a little boy.

The civilian astronauts of NS-20 flight, including UNC professor Jim Kitchen (third from left.) (Photo via Blue Origin.)

Jim Kitchen during Blue Origin training for his NS-20 space flight. (Photo via Blue Origin.)

Also on the flight are the philanthropist husband and wife duo Sharon and Marc Hagle, angel investor Marty Allen, President of Commercial Space Technologies Dr. George Nield and Blue Origin Chief Architect Gary Lai.

The six astronauts will be loaded into the top capsule of the rocket on Thursday morning and the broadcast from Blue Origin will go live at 8:20 a.m. EDT — approximately one hour before lift-off.

The brief flight will send the group to an altitude of 66 miles above the Earth, which reportedly provides a few minutes of weightlessness. The capsule will then parachute back into the desert while the rocket booster will be remotely returned to the ground for re-use.

To watch the live-stream of the NS-20 flight, visit the Blue Origin website or the company’s YouTube channel. Updates can also be found on Blue Origin’s Twitter page.

 

Featured photo via Blue Origin.

Editor’s Note: Kitchen is a co-owner of the Chapel Hill Media Group, which consists of 97.9 The Hill and Chapelboro.com.

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