‘That’s Our Planet’: Blue Origin Astronaut Cries Upon Seeing Earth From Space; Watch

Blue Origin has shared a thrilling video from its recently launched NS-28 mission. Taking to X, the company posted a video compilation of the mission from preparation to landing and the emotions that ran through the six tourists.

The NS-28 mission spacecraft lifted off atop the New Shepard rocket at 9 pm on November 23 with entrepreneurs Marc and Sharon Hagle, entrepreneur JD Russel, aviator Hank Wolfond, MIT engineer Emily Calandrelli and Austin Litteral from the financial services industry.

With two women among the crew members, Blue Origin set the record of launching the 100th woman to space. For Calandrelli particularly, the experience was quite overwhelming when she saw Earth from space for the first time.

In the video shared on X, Calandrelli was heard saying, “this is space, that’s our planet” over and over again, showcasing the impact the overview effect has on a person.

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“We got to weightlessness, I immediately turned upside down and looked at the planet and then there was so much blackness. There was so much space. I didn’t expect to see so much space, and I kept saying that’s our planet! That’s our planet!” she said after her flight. “It was the same feeling I got when my kids were born, and I was like, ‘That’s my baby! That’s my baby!’ I had that same feeling where I’m seeing it for the first time, and it was beautiful,” she added.

Other crew members too were swept by the overview effect which makes people undergo a cognitive shift and changes the way they think about Earth and life.

“Seeing the world from up that high, where you don’t see the borders, you don’t see the divisions…it’s amazing,” said Wolfond in an interview after landing. With Friday’s launch, Blue Origin has now sent 49 humans to space after its third crewed flight of 2024.

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(Image: Blue Origin)