Melbourne restaurant owner recounts 'surreal' Blue Origin flight to space
Steve Young was one of six astronauts carried across the Karman line — the official starting point for space that's 62 miles up — on a Blue Origin New Shepard rocket last week.
The Brevard County restaurant owner is now back home after the ride of his lifetime.
He said that once they hit microgravity on the flight, he was supposed to perform a stunt and help a fellow astronaut. It did not go as planned.
“As he was doing his, I turned to look outside and I just could not stop looking. It was surreal, it was beautiful,” Young said.
He recalled his flight last week while sitting in his restaurant, Pineapples, in Eau Gallie.
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Admittedly an emotional guy, once they touched down he was overcome.
“Sara Sabry, the girl from Egypt is crying. And, boom, here comes mine,” Young said.
This was before the hatch was opened.
“When I did my step out, I was still flushed with tears. I hugged the girl I was supposed to high five, and I had all these plans and celebrations to do when I stepped out, and it all turned to mush,” Young said.
This was Blue Origin’s sixth human flight. The crew had two and a half days of training at the Texas launch facility.
“When that booster ejected, that threw us back in our seats,” Young said. “That was probably the most intense moment, followed by the most fun time, float time.”
Now that Young is back and at Pineapples, he is restarting his normal routines. But he says, he will forever look at things in a different light.
“I did not expect it to change me in any way. But I would say that it definitely humbles you. It just kinda makes you feel like ‘one’ instead of ‘one of.’ We are all in this together," Young said.
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