Gopi Thotakura Named Among 6 Crew Members to fly on Blue Origin’s NS-25 MissionGopi Thotakura, an entrepreneur and seasoned pilot from Andhra Pradesh has been selected among 6 crew members for Blue Origin’s New Shepard-25 (NS-25) space tourism mission.
About the Mission:
i.This mission will be the 7th human flight for the New Shepard program and the 25th in its history.
ii.The NS-25 mission will lift off from Blue Origin’s West Texas site, United States of America (USA).
Other 5 Crew members include:
i.Mason Angel (USA); Sylvain Chiron (France); Kenneth L. Hess (USA); Carol Schaller (USA); and former USA Air Force Captain Ed Dwight.

• Ed Dwight was selected by then USA President John F. Kennedy in 1961 as America’s first Black astronaut candidate.

ii.During the flight, each astronaut will carry a postcard to space on behalf of Blue Origin’s foundation, Club for the Future.
About Gopi Thotakura:
i.He is now the 1st Indian space tourist and 2nd Indian to travel into space, following Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma of the Indian Army in 1984.
ii.He is the co-founder of Preserve Life Corp, a global center for holistic wellness and applied health located near Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, USA.
About New Shepard:
i.New Shepard, which is named after Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard, the first American to go to space, in a reusable suborbital rocket system.
ii.It is designed to take astronauts and research payloads past the Kármán line, the internationally recognized boundary of space.
iii.Blue Origin was founded by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.