New Glenn Rocket Takes Off with Big Plans for Mars

Blue Origin, the space company owned by Jeff Bezos, has just launched its New Glenn rocket. This is a big deal because it's the first time they're doing a mission for NASA. The rocket, which is as tall as a 32-story building, took off from Florida. It was carrying two satellites heading to Mars. The launch didn't go as planned at first. There were delays because of bad weather and a geomagnetic storm. But finally, the rocket blasted off, with its seven engines roaring to life. The first stage of the rocket is supposed to come back to Earth and land on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean. But in January, this didn't work because of an engine problem. The main goal of this mission is to study Mars. The two satellites, named Blue and Gold, will spend 22 months traveling to Mars. Then, they'll spend 11 months studying how the sun's solar winds affect Mars' magnetic field and atmosphere. There's also a payload from Viasat, a satellite company. It will stay attached to the rocket's upper stage to test in-space communications. This mission was supposed to happen last year, but it was delayed. Blue Origin has been working on this rocket for a long time. It's designed to carry people and cargo into space. The rocket is named after John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth. Blue Origin has spent billions developing New Glenn. They want to compete with SpaceX, which has launched nearly 280 missions in the past two years. SpaceX is also working on a new rocket called Starship, which will be the most powerful rocket in the world. NASA paid about $55 million for this mission. Blue Origin is also working on other projects, like a moon lander for NASA's Artemis program and a space station.