
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission.
Blue Origin's powerful New Glenn rocket had a very big day on Thursday (Nov. 13), and a new video lets us all relive part of it.
New Glenn launched for the second time ever on Thursday afternoon, successfully sending NASA's twin ESCAPADE Mars probes into the final frontier from Florida's Space Coast.
But that wasn't all. The two-stage rocket's huge first stage came back to Earth as planned, acing a landing on "Jacklyn," Blue Origin's drone ship, which was stationed about 375 miles (604 kilometers) offshore.
Previously, only one company had ever pulled off this dramatic maneuver — SpaceX, which has pioneered the recovery and reuse of orbital rockets.
Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos celebrated the New Glenn landing on X, posting several videos of the 188-foot-tall (57 meters) booster steering its way through the sky toward Jacklyn.
One video showed the landing itself, during which the booster sidled over to Jacklyn rather than drop directly onto it from above.
"We nominally target a few hundred feet away from Jacklyn to avoid a severe impact if engines fail to start or start slowly," Bezos wrote in the Friday morning (Nov. 14) X post that featured this video. "We’ll incrementally reduce that conservatism over time. We are all excited and grateful for yesterday. Amazing performance by the team! Gradatim Ferociter."
(Gradatim Ferociter, Latin for "Step by Step, Ferociously," is Blue Origin's motto.)
Blue Origin named the first stage that flew on Thursday "Never Tell Me the Odds," a nod to the perceived improbability of a successful touchdown.
"It turns out 'Never Tell Me The Odds' had perfect odds — never before in history has a booster this large nailed the landing on the second try," Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp said in a company statement. "This is just the beginning as we rapidly scale our flight cadence and continue delivering for our customers."
Each New Glenn first stage is designed to fly at least 25 times, according to Blue Origin. "Never Tell Me the Odds" looks intact — startlingly clean, in fact — in post-landing photos, so don't be surprised to see the booster on the pad again before too much longer.
LATEST POSTS
- 1
Witness the elegance of the cosmic butterfly in a remarkable telescope photo - 2
Lilly becomes first healthcare firm to join trillion-dollar club, Wall Street reacts - 3
Instructions to Warmly greet Discretion and Thoughtfulness - 4
Europe pledges over €15bn for clean energy for Africa - 5
New peace laureate: Iran's arrest of Mohammadi 'confession of fear'
‘I love this work, but it’s killing me’: The unique toll of being a spiritual leader today
In a scientific first, biologists recorded a wild wolf potentially using tools
Instructions to Arrange Your Compensation During Medical caretaker Prospective employee meetings
Timothy Busfield turns himself in to face child sexual abuse charges in New Mexico
Most loved Occasion Dish: What Makes Your Merry Table?
Enormous Credit And All that You Really want To Be aware
Mars orbiter sees 'butterfly' crater spread its wings on the Red Planet
Grammy nominations 2026: Full list of nominees in every major category, including Album of the Year and Best New Artist
UN torture cm'tee report flags Israel for allegedly mistreating journalists, detainees, ex-MAG












