Blue Origin targets August 4 to launch its NS-22 mission with 1st Egyptian and Portuguese

Blue Origin's sixth crewed mission will lift off on August 4 with six new passengers for a joyride, the company announced on July 29. Named New Shepard 22 (NS-22), the mission will mark the company's third of the year and 22nd overall sub-orbital flight when it launches from Launch Site One in West Texas. According to Blue Origin, the launch window opens at 8:30 am CDT (7 pm IST) for the crew of six which includes the first astronauts from Egypt and Portugal.

Additionally, the Jeff Bezos-led firm also released its mission patch which is related to each of the crew members. The NS-22 mission team includes Coby Cotton, co-founder of YouTube channel Dude Perfect along with Sara Sabry, Vanessa O’Brien, Mário Ferreira, Clint Kelly III and Steve Young. 

As for the mission patch, it has the last name of each passenger written over it along with a few symbols. The pyramids on the patch represent the heritage of Sabry, who would emerge as her country's first person to visit Space. The Mariana Trench on the lower half of the patch represents O’Brien’s feat of reaching Challenger Deep, Earth’s deepest point.  After her flight, she would set the Guinness World Record of achieving extremes on land, sea and air as she has also climbed Mount Everest. 

(Blue Origin NS-22 mission crew; Image: Blue Origin)

Moreover, the crew capsule in the patch has been depicted as a basketball symbolising every trick shot of Dude Perfect, the YouTube channel which has over 58 million followers. The patch also features a Magellan ship representing Ferreira’s Portuguese heritage whereas the fish beneath the ship symbolises Young’s passion for fishing. Besides, the stagecoach represents Clint Kelly III’s aspirations for humanity’s reach into outer space. 

More about the NS-22 mission crew

Ferreira, who would become the first astronaut from Portugal, is an entrepreneur and President of Pluris Investments Group, which includes more than 40 companies spanning tourism, media, real estate, insurance, and renewable energy. He was also decorated by the President of Portugal, Jorge Sampaio, with the title of "Comendador" in 2003. 

Sabry, on the other hand, is a mechanical and biomedical engineer by profession and she was also Egypt's first female analogue astronaut in 2021 after completing a two-week-long simulated lunar mission. While Blue Origin did not reveal the launch cost per astronaut, it revealed that Sabry's seat is sponsored by Space For Humanity.

Moreover, O'Brien is a British-American explorer who is set to make a Guinness World Record called the Explorers' Extreme Trifecta for her historic feat. The fifth passenger Kelly has managed research and technology programs primarily focussed on computer science and robotics whereas Young, the former CEO of Young's Communications LLC (Y-COM), is currently associated with the Space Coast Coastal Conservation Association (CCA). 

Image: Blue Origin