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NS-33: Blue Origin Launches 6 Tourists To Space
June 29, 2025
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Blue Origin's New Shepard launch vehicle, a crew capsule-booster combo, carrying 6 space tourists lifted off at 1439 UTC on June 29, from the the company's Launch Site One in West Texas. The 10-minute NS-33 mission included a about 3 minutes minutes of weightlessness for the passengers aboard the gumdrop-shaped capsule (or RSS Kármán Line), at its apogee (highest point away from Earth.

Following liftoff, the propulsion module(or booster) Tail 5 returned less than 8 minutes later as planned near the launch site. Meanwhile RSS Kármán Line carried the passengers -- Allie and Carl Kuehner, Leland Larson, Freddie Rescigno, Jr., Owolabi Salis, and James Sitkin -- skywards, reaching an altitude of 105.2 kilometers above the ground, surpassing the Kármán Line, which is internationally recognized as the boundary between Earth and space at 100 km high.

For about three minutes as RSS Kármán Line reached its apogee, Kuehners, Larson, Rescigno, Salis and Sitkin experienced weightlessness and saw the curvature of the planet set against the stark blackness of space.

Carl Kuehner became Blue Origin's astronaut number 70, which based on prior precedent, was determined by the seat on board the New Shepard capsule that he assigned for the flight. He also became the 750th person in history to reach space, as recorded by the Association of Space Explorers' Registry of Space Travelers.

The six NS-33 passengers dubbed themselves "The Solstice 33," as they were originally scheduled to launch on the summer solstice (June 21) but were delayed by poor weather conditions.

Flying along with the NS-33 crew were more than 1,000 physical and digital postcards designed by students and the public, as collected by The Museum of Flight in Seattle and Parkcrest Elementary in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. The cards are part of an on going project by Blue Origin's non-profit organization Club For the Future.

About 10 minutes 14 seconds after liftoff, RSS Kármán Line returned the six NS-33 passengers to Earth via a parachute-slowed, air thruster-cushioned touchdown near the launch site, demonstrating the reusability of the New Shepard system, which is designed for vertical takeoff and vertical landing (VTVL).

NS-33 crew brought the total number of people who have flown on suborbital flights to 123, according to the Association of Space Explorers. Each NS-33 crew member had a unique background, including environmental advocacy, real estate development, philanthropy, entrepreneurship, and law.

The NS-33 mission patch included symbols representing each crew member’s unique journey. For example, the leaves symbolized Allie and Carl Kuehner’s commitment to environmental stewardship, while the scales of justice represented Jim Sitkin’s work in employment law. Each symbol was connected to the Crew Capsule by a thin green line, symbolizing the interconnectedness of their individual paths.

Sunday's mission marked Blue Origin's 13th human spaceflight and the 33rd flight overall for the New Shepard program.

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Jensen Huang Apologizes To Nvidia Staff Over Extramarital Affair With Chinese Spy

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang admitted to an extramarital affair with Alice Huang, a suspected Chinese spy, in a letter to staff on Sunday, prompting the company’s board to launch an independent investigation into potential national security breaches.

U.S. intelligence agencies determined that Alice Huang, an executive at a Singapore-based data center company and Nvidia customer, Megaspeed, was recruited by China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS). She allegedly engaged in a "honeypot" operation to influence Jensen Huang, who has advocated for looser AI chip export restrictions to China, and to help restricted Chinese firms acquire advanced Nvidia GPUs.

Megaspeed had reportedly purchased billions of dollars in Nvidia hardware and faced scrutiny regarding potential export control violations and whether advanced chips were being channeled into China.

In a memo titled "A message to our company," Huang stated, "I was unfaithful to my wife. My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did." He accepted full responsibility, apologized to his family and colleagues, and expressed his commitment to protecting Nvidia and U.S. national security.

Nvidia’s Board of Directors initiated an independent investigation, assisted by outside counsel, to determine if Huang was the target of a foreign intelligence effort and if any secrets were compromised. Despite the probe, the board expressed full confidence in his leadership, noting that routine customer interactions do not inherently involve sensitive information.

The State Department and Secretary of State Marco Rubio had previously warned top Trump officials about the relationship, leading to the public disclosure by The New York Times in late October.

The Chinese government dismissed the spying allegations as "groundless speculation" and "smears."

The U.S. House Select Committee on China requested that Huang appear before Congress to answer questions regarding potential security protocols, foreign adversary espionage risks, and U.S. export control compliance.

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Iron Gate: CENTCOM Announces Task Force To Disrupt Iran's Overland Supply Chain, As 'Minor' US Airstrikes Target Queshm Island

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) over the weekend, announced the establishment of Task Force Iron Gate, a coordination unit directed by Admiral Brad Cooper to disrupt Iran’s overland supply chains. The task force which will consist of about 20 civilian and military personnel is based in Tampa, Florida; and will work with other U.S. government agencies to monitor, detect, and prevent the movement of advanced weapons systems, dual-use technologies, sanctioned materials, and illegal revenue streams across Iran’s land borders and the Caspian Sea.

"The establishment of Task Force Iron Gate reinforces the success of our ironclad blockade against Iran at sea," said Cooper. "Strengthening CENTCOM's collaboration with U.S. interagency partners will further constrain Iran's ability to finance terrorism, rebuild weapons factories, and replenish their military."

This initiative expands U.S. pressure on Iran by targeting land-based transit routes, complementing maritime enforcement measures that CENTCOM claims have prevented Iran from exporting more than $25 billion in crude oil in recent months amid stalled US-Iran peace negotiaitions to formally end the war which started on February 28 with US-Israeli bombing of Iranian targets.

President Donald Trump confirmed the operational status of the unit in a Sunday post on Truth Social, writing that Task Force Iron Gate is "in full force and effect" alongside a broader naval blockade.

The formation of Task Force Iron Gate serves as an interagency coordination effort rather than a direct combat deployment, aiming to constrain Iran's ability to finance terrorism and rebuild military capabilities.

This move follows an eight-month naval blockade of Iranian ports along the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman, with the new task force specifically focusing on northern transit corridors that may be used to bypass maritime restrictions.

Trump confirmed on Friday that the U.S. carried out "minor" strikes on an Iranian air defense system on Qeshm Island, a crucial area for oil shipments. "....We do minor strikes..., but they built a little bit of an anti-aircraft device, and we knocked it out in about 15 minutes, maybe five," Trump told reportetrs Friday.

 

 

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