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Paul Jeris Launched Into Space
Paul Jeris, aka Put-in-Bay Paul, was launched into space the morning of Saturday, May 31st, at 9:40 a.m. and became the first person from Put-in-Bay and the 700th human to cross the International Kármán Line, an internationally recognized boundary defining the edge of space, set at an altitude of 100 kilometers (62 miles) above sea level.
Paul was on the 32nd overall mission of Blue Origin’s New Shepard suborbital vehicle, known as NS-32, when it lifted off into the cloudless bule sky from the company’s Launch Site One in West Texas. The mission marks the 12th human flight for the New Shepard program.
Onboard with Paul, were five others, Aymette Medina Jorge, a U.S.-based STEM advocate; Dr. Gretchen Green, a radiologist and lifelong space enthusiast; Jaime Alemán, a former ambassador to the U.S. and lifelong adventurer, having visited all 193 U.N.-recognized countries; Jesse Williams, a businessman and mountaineer, who has summited six of the seven highest peaks on Earth, including Mt. Everest; and Mark Rocket, an aerospace entrepreneur set to become the first New Zealander to reach space.
The entire mission, from blast off to the relanding of the passenger capsule in the remote Texas desert lasted just under 10 minutes. During the trip, they reached a speed in excess of 2,200 miles per hour. The passengers were able to unbuckle and experience the weightless environment of space for a few moments before buckling back in the seats for the return to earth. Never in Paul’s trips to about 150 countries has compared to his trip to the edge of space.
Blue Origin is a private spaceflight company started by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos in 2000. It was the first company in the world to successfully land a reusable rocket on a landing pad. It uses New Shepard to launch payloads and space tourists on brief flights.
Blue Origin is aiming for a launch window that opens at 9:30 a.m. EDT (1330 GMT) on Saturday. A livestream of the New Shepard launch was available on Blue Origin’s website 30 minutes before liftoff, and it could be seen live on YouTube. The webcast included commentary, mission updates and information about the crew members flying on NS-32.
Mr. Ed’s opened its doors at 8:30 a.m. for a “Shoot Paul Into Space” launch party. Around 100 people saw the live-streaming of the launch on the big screens, while enjoying food specials from Cameo Pizza and drink specials from Mr. Ed’s bar.
For those of you who don’t know Paul, he has been around the island area for many years working and involving himself in the island community. His first venture on the Put-in-Bay was owning a couple Island Club homes and taking over the management of properties at the Island Club. He added a taxi company to his businesses along with obtaining numerous real estate holdings. He also helped develop websites for promoting the island which resulted in putinbay.com with its webcams on top of Perry’s Monument and other locations on the island. Paul is also on the board of directors at the Put-in-Bay Chamber of Commerce. Paul’s father worked for NASA, and Paul has been following spacecraft launches his entire life.
Remember, if you see Paul and want to congratulate him, please be careful. He just might still be radioactive.
The previous piece is published in this month’s Put-in-Bay Gazette. The Gazette has been producing incredible independent Put-in-Bay island news for over 40 years. If you have any interest at all in what is happening on South Bass Island, we urge you strongly to subscribe to the Put-in-Bay Gazette. One-year online subscriptions are only $15, and print subscriptions are available as well. To subscribe please click here.
