Blue Origin
Blue Origin announces 28th New Shepard (NS-28) human spaceflight
Blue Origin has announced the 28th New Shepard (NS-28) human passenger spaceflight including six passengers. The crew consists of both new and second-time passengers.
This will be the 9th human flight for the New Shepard rocket program and the 28th overall mission. As of today, Blue Origin has flown 43 passengers above the Karman line, the boundary of space.
The company has yet to announce a flight date for NS-28 but the passenger details are available below:
- Emily Calanderlli
- Sharon Hagle
- Marc Hagle
- Austin Litteral
- James (J.D.) Russel
- Henry (Hank) Wolfond
Blue Origin New Shepard 28 (NS-28) flight crew (Source – Blue Origin)
Emily Calandrelli
Emily is an MIT engineer, Emmy-nominated TV host, and #1 NYTimes best-selling author known as @TheSpaceGal to her nearly three million followers. With the premiere of Xploration Outer Space (2014-present), she became the first American woman to be the sole host of a nationally broadcast science series.
Through activism, she helped write a bill to improve the TSA’s treatment of breastfeeding mothers and started a campaign that improved parental leave in the aerospace industry. Host of Netflix’s Emily’s Wonder Lab, Emily’s Science Lab on YouTube, and author of nine books, Emily works to inspire young people, particularly little girls, to see themselves in STEM.
Sharon Hagle
Sharon founded SpaceKids Global, a nonprofit she created in 2015 whose mission is to inspire elementary students to excel in STEAM education, ensuring girls are equally represented. SpaceKids hosts several annual challenges designed to inspire kids to pursue careers in the space industry, including national essay competitions, sending science projects to the International Space Station, and a partnership with Girl Scouts.
SpaceKids also participates in the Club for the Future’s Postcards to Space program. To date, Sharon has reached over 867,000 students globally. Sharon and her husband, Marc, flew to space on NS-20 on March 31, 2022, becoming the first married couple to launch on a commercial space vehicle.
Marc Hagle
Marc is president and CEO of Tricor International, a residential and commercial property development corporation.
Under his direction, the company has developed and owned more than 17 million square feet of properties across the United States, including shopping centers, warehouses, medical facilities, recreational facilities, drug stores, and office projects.
Marc and his wife, Sharon, are avid philanthropists for numerous arts, sciences, health, and education-related charities. Marc first flew to space on NS-20 on March 31, 2022.
Austin Litteral
Austin works as a risk management professional in the financial services industry. He’s a husband and a father of two daughters. Austin spends his free time hiking in state parks with his family and cheering for the local sports teams.
This trip will fulfill a childhood dream of becoming an astronaut, having grown up with photos of NASA shuttle launches in his bedroom. Austin’s seat is sponsored by Whatnot, the largest livestream shopping platform in North America, the United Kingdom, and Europe. Austin won his seat as part of the Whatnot to the Moon giveaway.
James (J.D.) Russell
J.D. is a serial entrepreneur and founder of InfoHOA, a leader in technology-based community management solutions. He was born into a military family at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, AZ, and earned the Billy Mitchell Award in the Civil Air Patrol.
Before starting his entrepreneurial career, J.D. served as a federal law enforcement Marine, Fish, and Wildlife Game Warden. He founded the Victoria Russell Foundation to honor the memory of his deceased daughter.
The foundation is dedicated to supporting children’s education and assistance to families of first responders and is a proud partner with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to bring the love of reading to children by gifting books free of charge to children.
Henry (Hank) Wolfond
Henry is Chairman and CEO of Bayshore Capital in Toronto, Canada. A lifelong aviator, Henry holds an Airline Transport Pilots license for fixed-wing aircraft and a Commercial Pilots License for Helicopters. He moonlights as a professional pilot on charter, medevac, and organ retrieval flights.
Henry is the Chair of the Confronting Antisemitism Committee of the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto and currently serves on the boards of the Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee (CJPAC), the Toronto General and Western Hospital Foundation (UHN Foundation), and the Board of Governors for Hillel Ontario. Henry is also a co-founder of the Autism Acceptance Project.
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