In 'Delightful Surprise,' Blue Origins Rocket Lands After Escape Test

Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos' space firm, launched its New Shepard rocket and successfully landed it in the Texas desert Wednesday. The Verge notes that the company "fully expected" the rocket to break up, explode, or crash-land during the flight, the purpose of which was to test New Shepard's escape system. When the escape system is initiated, a rocket motor under the crew capsule ignites, then carries the capsule away from the rest of the rocket in case of a major failure during flight. That successfully happened during Wednesday's launch, then the crew capsule was gently lowered to the ground via its parachutes. Blue Origin thought the forceful motor ignition would cause the rocket booster to crash, but it didn't. Wednesday was the fifth time the New Shepard has been launched, and the rocket will now head to a museum after Blue Origin throws it a party. (More Blue Origin stories.)