Among the many sights at EAA AirVenture 2017 is the New Shepard rocket developed by commercial space company Blue Origin. The rocket has launched several times. On Nov. 23, 2015, New Shepard became the first rocket to ascend above the Kármán Line—100 km or 62 miles above the Earth's sea level, commonly considered the boundary between the Earth's atmosphere and outer space—and successfully return to Earth to make a vertical landing. The booster repeated the feat five more times the following year, demonstrating the re-use of a rocket for the first time.
In addition, the company will exhibit a 1:1 scale mockup of its astronaut crew capsule developed for use with the New Shepard. Show attendees will be able to climb inside the six-seat capsule, recline in flight-ready seats and experience a simulated mission with real footage taken during the rocket’s previous flights. The crew module features the largest windows in spacecraft history, occupying more than one third of the capsule’s surface areas. The display will be one of the main attractions this year on Boeing Plaza during this 65th annual fly-in convention.
“We are very excited to come to EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2017 and showcase our reusable New Shepard rocket and crew capsule so everyone can experience what it's like to be an astronaut,” said Blue Origin president Rob Meyerson. “We hope to inspire the explorers of tomorrow, the ones who will help us achieve Blue Origin’s goal of millions of people living and working in space.”
In honor of EAA’s Space Day on July 28, the company will give away branded items to the first 1,000 visitors to its exhibit.