Kent-based Blue Origin reveals crew for ninth human flight to space

Kent-based Blue Origin plans to launch its ninth human flight into space on Friday, Nov. 22 from its West Texas site.

The launch window opens at 7:30 a.m. for New Shepard’s 28th flight, according to a Nov. 18 Blue Origin email. New Shepard has flown 43 people into space since its first flight in 2021, with its most recent flight completed on Aug. 29.

The flight lasts about 10 minutes traveling approximately 62 miles into space and reaching speeds of up t0 2,238 mph.

Blue Origin opened in 2020 in Kent. The company is owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

Blue Origin announced its six member crew Nov. 15. The company charges people to be part of the crew and does not reveal its prices. Some crew members are sponsored by others.

The crew members for this flight, with bios provided by Blue Origin, are:

• Emily Calandrelli

Calandrelli is an Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) engineer, Emmy-nominated TV host and number one New York Times best-selling author known as @TheSpaceGal to her nearly three million followers. With the premiere of Xploration Outer Space (2014-present), she became the first American woman to be the sole host of a nationally broadcast science series. Through her activism, she helped write a bill to improve the TSA’s treatment of breastfeeding mothers and started a campaign which improved parental leave in the aerospace industry. Host of Netflix’s Emily’s Wonder Lab, Emily’s Science Lab on YouTube, and author of nine books, she works to inspire young people, particularly little girls, to see themselves in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math).

• Sharon Hagle

Sharon Hagle is the founder of SpaceKids Global, a nonprofit she created in 2015 whose mission is to inspire elementary students to excel in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) education, ensuring girls are equally represented. SpaceKids hosts several annual challenges designed to inspire kids to pursue careers in the space industry, including national essay competitions, sending science projects to the International Space Station, and a partnership with Girl Scouts. SpaceKids also participates in Club for the Future’s Postcards to Space program. To date, Sharon Hagle has reached over 867,000 students globally. Sharon Hagle and her husband, Marc Hagle, first flew to space on NS-20 on March 31, 2022, becoming the first married couple to launch on a commercial space vehicle.

• Marc Hagle

Marc Hagle is president and CEO of Tricor International, Winter Park, Florida-based residential and commercial property development corporation. Under his direction, the company has developed and owned more than 17 million square feet of properties across the United States, including shopping centers, warehouses, medical facilities, recreational facilities, drug stores and office projects. Marc Hagle and his wife, Sharon Hagle, are avid philanthropists for numerous arts, sciences, health, and education-related charities.

• Austin Litteral

Litteral works as a risk management professional in the financial services industry. He’s a husband and a father of two daughters. Austin spends his free time hiking in state parks with his family and cheering for the local sports teams. This trip will fulfill a childhood dream of becoming an astronaut, having grown up with photos of NASA shuttle launches in his bedroom. Litteral’s seat is sponsored by California-based Whatnot, the largest livestream shopping platform in North America, the United Kingdom and Europe. He won his seat as part of the Whatnot to the Moon giveaway.

• James (J.D.) Russell

Russell is a serial entrepreneur and founder of InfoHOA, a leader in technology-based community management solutions based in Maryland. He was born into a military family at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona, and earned the Billy Mitchell Award in the Civil Air Patrol. Before starting his entrepreneur career, Russell served as a federal law enforcement Marine, Fish and Wildlife game warden. He founded the Victoria Russell Foundation to honor the memory of his deceased daughter. The foundation is dedicated to supporting children’s education and assistance to families of first responders, and is a proud partner with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to bring the love of reading to children by gifting books free of charge to children.

• Henry (Hank) Wolfond

Wolfond is chairman and CEO of Bayshore Capital in Toronto, Canada. A lifelong aviator, Wolfond holds an airline transport pilots license for fixed wing aircraft and a commercial pilots license for helicopters. He moonlights as a professional pilot on charter, medevac, and organ retrieval flights. He is the chair of the Confronting Antisemitism Committee of the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto and currently serves on the boards of the Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee, the Toronto General and Western Hospital Foundation and on the Board of Governors for Hillel Ontario. He is also a co-founder of the Autism Acceptance Project.

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