On August 29, 2024, Blue Origin sent six space tourists beyond the Karman line – to the conditional border with space. The NS-26 mission was the eighth expedition with tourists in the company’s business. The New Shepard rocket launched from the Blue Origin site at 8:00 local time (16:00 Moscow time). During the flight, an altitude of 104 km was reached. One of the tourists on board was Karsen Kitchen, who became the youngest woman to fly so high into space.
Image Source: Blue Origin
Carsen Kitchen is 21 years old. It is known that she is undergoing an internship at Blue Origin and is also studying in college. In March 2022, Carsen’s father, Jim Kitchen, used the company’s services to fly beyond the Karman line (flight NS-20). It is not specified under what conditions his daughter flew. Blue Origin also does not disclose ticket prices for its suborbital attraction. Note that at Virgin Galactic the cost of a ticket for similar services is $600 thousand per seat.
It seems that there is an unspoken competition between Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic to see who will send the most “firsts” to the boundaries of space. Strictly speaking, Carsen Kitchen did not become the youngest woman to fly into space. In August 2023, she became 18-year-old Anastasia Mayers, whom the Virgin Galactic ship, along with two other crew members, lifted to an altitude of 88.5 km. Technically, Myers did not overcome the landmark 100 km altitude, but NASA and the US Air Force, for example, consider the 80 km mark to be the limit of space.
NS-26 mission composition
The youngest person to go on a suborbital tourist flight was 18-year-old Dutch student Oliver Daemen. It was delivered to the Karman line in June 2021 by a Blue Origin capsule. Bezos’ company also provided a service to the oldest traveler. In July 2021, a New Shepard rocket lifted 82-year-old aviation pioneer Mary Wallace “Wally” Funk into space. This is a perfect illustration of the thesis that space can be accessible to anyone.