This is the video from this morning's flight of the Blue Origin New Shepard craft. There are a few things that are interesting in these flights with respect to the SpaceX Falcon 9 flights.
For example the rocket is taken from the vehicle building 30 minutes before lift off. That speaks to the "ready to go, whenever" mission that Blue Origin has for these (tourist trips to the edge of space). This is in contrast to the hours and days of preparation for an orbital launch.
There is a lot of discussion (advertising?) about what the experience will be riding in the capsule. Fundamentally, once the main engines cut off, and as long as there is negligible atmosphere, the capsule contents are in free fall. In the video between T+2:20 and T+5:20 that suggests 3 minutes of free fall time.
The landing of the capsule doesn't seem to match the verbal description. There is a 'retro fire' just before landing that cuts the impact speed according to the announcers, but it isn't visible on the video. And if it is really "short" in duration then its going to feel just like a collision at 20mph inside the capsule anyway. So I'm guessing that the retros didn't fire, but that is just a guess.
Can't wait too see the tests of the larger engine (which according to the company will give them orbital capability). Presumably with a bit more fuel it would make the entire rocket longer.
Like the previous videos, the retro rockets are the things that make the impact raise a huge cloud of dust. In previous HN threads people were commenting that the landing looked hard due to the size of the cloud.
The larger engine isn't going into this rocket. It's going to be a 1st stage engine for Vulcan and BO's orbital rocket; this BE3 engine is going to be the 2nd stage engine for BO's orbital rocket, and the 2nd stage will be about the size of New Shepard. Finally, methane fuel makes for a 1st stage with larger diameter than you're used to seeing.
The footage of the rocket going out of the vehicle building and being setup was shot a few hours earlier in the day. This is evident from the fast forward section of the video where the sky goes from dark to sunny in a few seconds.
For example the rocket is taken from the vehicle building 30 minutes before lift off. That speaks to the "ready to go, whenever" mission that Blue Origin has for these (tourist trips to the edge of space). This is in contrast to the hours and days of preparation for an orbital launch.
There is a lot of discussion (advertising?) about what the experience will be riding in the capsule. Fundamentally, once the main engines cut off, and as long as there is negligible atmosphere, the capsule contents are in free fall. In the video between T+2:20 and T+5:20 that suggests 3 minutes of free fall time.
The landing of the capsule doesn't seem to match the verbal description. There is a 'retro fire' just before landing that cuts the impact speed according to the announcers, but it isn't visible on the video. And if it is really "short" in duration then its going to feel just like a collision at 20mph inside the capsule anyway. So I'm guessing that the retros didn't fire, but that is just a guess.
Can't wait too see the tests of the larger engine (which according to the company will give them orbital capability). Presumably with a bit more fuel it would make the entire rocket longer.