I’m a rocket man

WAUPACA – It was 1961 and at the age of nine, Jeff Elgin, watched as Alan Shepherd became the first American in space and vowed that one day, he too, would be able to experience the wonder and vastness of the galaxy.
As technology keeps progressing going to space is not as impossible as it once was, and 64 years later Elgin was able to accomplish his dream, he left earth and was able to see what Shepherd saw all those years ago.
His journey began in October of 2021 when the news broke that William Shatner boarded a space vessel and made it to space through Blue Origin, a company owned by Jeff Bezos which he founded in 2000.
Once Elgin learned the 90-year-old Star Trek captain had gone to space he knew that his dream of going to space wasn’t as out of reach as it once was.
Elgin said he first had to take care of a few things before he could start thinking about space travel, in that he needed to retire.

Originally from Oregon, Elgin focused on retiring last spring from a company he founded 25 years ago. He looked to find his replacement and get the new hire up to speed.

T minus 10-9-8 . . .
This past March everything was looking good, the transition was established and Elgin was able to retire and the first call he made was to Blue Origin to find out what it takes to get on a flight to space.
Blue Origin had a limited number of flights in 2025, a number that will continue to grow, so the first available flight was in October.
Two days prior to take off, Elgin said, he had to be present for training at a facility in west Texas.

The training was to get the astronauts ready for zero gravity, the main focus was being able to get yourself out of your seat in zero gravity, something that was practiced over thirty times.
Elgin said he was strapped into his chair via a five-point harness and there was a small stirrup for his feet, the constant practice helped to create muscle memory so when the day came they would be ready for the zero-gravity environment.
Upon launch day, Elgin said he was fearless and confident, and overall excited to finally be able to accomplish what Shepherd had done, to realize his dream of space travel.
He needed to be at the training facility by 3:30 a.m., which didn’t bother him being he was so excited he couldn’t sleep and was in fact showered, dressed and wide awake by 1:30 a.m.
The day began with the astronaut breakfast as coordinators went over the last few details of what to expect and what was ahead for the day, as well as changing into their blue uniforms.
There was a bus that had arrived in the morning, filled with family and friends of the crew going up in the capsule that came to wish their loved ones well and about thirty minutes prior to launch they made their way to the launch site.
At the launch facility they boarded the capsule and buckled in about 20 minutes prior to launch.
About one minute out they listened for either “go” or “no go” as all the people monitoring the capsule systems confirm that the flight is ready to go, Elgin said, and the countdown from ten began.
The rocket holds still for seven seconds after ignition and the engine fires to build up explosive acceleration.

Liftoff

“When they released the rocket, I had this mental picture that it was going to be a fairly slow and then rapidly accelerating process,” Elgin said. “It took off like a bullet out of a gun.”
The vessel started around 800 miles per hour then went up to 2,400 mph.
The windows in the vessel were large, being three-foot by four-foot in size.
Being the flight took off during daylight hours on earth, this meant that when they went into space they could not see stars but the view did not disappoint.
“You just see the black, vacuous space, and you look down and it’s all the color and atmosphere,” Elgin said. “You can see the curvature of the earth clearly and kind of the aurora of the sunlight on the edge of the atmosphere … I mean it was so cool.”
Elgin recalls a moment when his feet were facing toward the ceiling and while upside down and weightless he took a moment to soak in the beauty of the moon without the distortion of the atmosphere changing its appearance.
“The clarity of that view of the moon was like the pictures you’ve seen from astronauts when they were orbiting … you could make out craters,” Elgin said. “I don’t know how long I stayed in that position, just watching, but it was so beautiful and it was just a stunningly, clear picture that I was just flabbergasted.”
With a warning of 30 seconds to go the astronauts made their way back to their chairs in order to prepare for their descent.
The g-force of the flight went from zero to five and a half G’s in about 30 seconds. Elgin said during that brief time, the g-force contorts your face, breathing is difficult and it feels like it is smashing you.
Three parachutes deployed as the vessel started to slow down and it landed about 20 yards from the launch site. As the door opened there was a lot of cheering and celebration.
Overall the flight lasted just under 12 minutes, from takeoff to landing, with Elgin able to take the 718th spot on the list of humans that have been above the Karman line, a line that separates earth’s atmosphere from outer space.
“It was so wonderful, I think the experience was everything I anticipated it would be and more,” Elgin said. “There were a few parts of it, like the view up there that were so much cooler than I expected.”
The entire flight can be seen on YouTube at the Blue Origin Channel, look for flight NS-36.