Cardiologist blasts into space on Jeff Bezos-funded Blue Origin rocket
Eiman Jahangir, MD, a cardiologist with Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), successfully traveled to space and back Thursday, Aug. 29, on a Blue Origin rocket. The entire flight lasted approximately nine minutes.
Blue Origin is the aerospace company founded by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos in 2000. One of Blue Origin’s biggest ongoing projects is its New Shepard rocket, a reusable launch vehicle specifically built for space tourism missions. This was the rocket’s 26th flight overall. Prior flights have included everyone from Bezos himself to Star Trek actor William Shatner.
The mission was a complete success, according to Blue Origin. Jahangir and five others—including 21-year-old Karsen Kitchen, believed to be the youngest women to ever travel to space—took off from a Texas spaceport at 8:10 local time and then returned to Earth at 8:19. They were above the Karman Line, the boundary where scientists say outer space officially begins, for approximately four minutes.
Cardiologist Eiman Jahangir, MD, posted this photo online before traveling to space on a New Shepard rocket built by Blue Origin. See the full post here.
Jahangir, who won his spot on the rocket in a contest, has been interested in space for his entire life. He has even applied to NASA several times, making it close on multiple occasions.
“I would not say I’m nervous, but I’m excited,” Jahangir told VUMC before the launch. “I think I’ll be coming back and going right back to clinic. So, it’ll be interesting as to how this might change my perspective in medicine and how I can use this experience to improve.”
In the same statement, Daniel Muñoz, MD, MPA, executive medical director of the Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute, applauded Jahangir for pursuing his dream “with the same focus and passion with which he cares for patients.”
Cardiologist Eiman Jahangir, MD, and his fellow space travelers take off on a New Shepard rocket. Image courtesy of Blue Origin.
“We wish for him a safe journey, and we can’t wait to hear his firsthand account of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Muñoz said.
A full webcast of the mission is now available from Blue Origin. According to the company, the New Shepard program has now flown 43 different people into space.
Michael has more than 16 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.