Blue Origin Successfully Launches New Shepard Rocket For Lunar Gravity Experiment - 1

Photo by Ellienore Bradley on Unsplash

Blue Origin Successfully Launches New Shepard Rocket For Lunar Gravity Experiment

  • Written by Andrea Miliani Former Tech News Expert
  • Fact-Checked by Justyn Newman Former Lead Cybersecurity Editor

Jeff Bezos’ rocket company, Blue Origin, successfully launched its uncrewed New Shepard ship this Tuesday in a first attempt to mimic the moon’s gravity in flight with positive results.

In a Rush? Here are the Quick Facts!

  • Blue Origin successfully launched its 29th New Shepard flight reaching lunar gravity for about two minutes.
  • The spaceship was launched in Texas this Tuesday, the mission lasted around 10 minutes.
  • The New Shepard ship carried 30 payloads from NASA, commercial companies, and research institutes.

According to Space News , the spaceship was launched from Texas at 11 a.m. on February 4th as part of the New Shepard’s 29th mission. The mission had been delayed a week due to technical issues and weather conditions for its initial launch.

The rocket, carrying 30 payloads—mostly scientific experiments from NASA, as well as others from commercial companies and research institutes—reached an altitude of 105 kilometers above sea level. After booster separation, Blue Origin spun the capsule at approximately 11 revolutions per minute to simulate lunar gravity for about two minutes. The complete mission lasted over 10 minutes.

Let’s look at the NS-29 Lunar-G flight from liftoff to landing. 🌕 🚀 pic.twitter.com/KpU4Ep9HtK — Blue Origin (@blueorigin) February 4, 2025

“New Shepard’s ability to provide a lunar gravity environment is an extremely unique and valuable capability as researchers set their sights on a return to the Moon,” said Phil Joyce, senior vice president for New Shepard at Blue Origin, in an official announcement . “This enables researchers to test lunar technologies at a fraction of the cost, rapidly iterate, and test again in a significantly compressed timeframe.”

The capsule landed safely with two parachutes—it was designed to land with three but one of the parachutes didn’t inflate—as it happened with previous missions.

A few days ago, SpaceX’s Starship rocket broke apart and burned up during ascent on its seventh test flight, generating debris and forcing airlines to adjust their routes. SpaceX’s fifth mission was more successful as the space company managed to safely catch the booster for the first time .

U.S. Delivery Platform Grubhub Confirms Data Breach Impacting Customers and Drivers - 2

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

U.S. Delivery Platform Grubhub Confirms Data Breach Impacting Customers and Drivers

  • Written by Andrea Miliani Former Tech News Expert
  • Fact-Checked by Justyn Newman Former Lead Cybersecurity Editor

The leading delivery company, Grubhub, announced a data breach in their platform this Monday. Hackers gained access to sensitive information, but the company assured that the breach has been contained.

In a Rush? Here are the Quick Facts!

  • Grubhub announced a data breach in their platform this Monday but assured the situation is now under control.
  • Hackers got access to sensitive information from delivery drivers, merchants, and diners.
  • The delivery service company operates in over 4,000 cities in the United States and has over 375,000 merchants and 200,000 delivery providers on its platform.

According to the official statement , the incident was related to a third-party contractor and unauthorized users got access to private information including names, emails, phone numbers, hashed passwords, and partial payment card details from drivers, merchants, and diners.

“We took immediate action to contain the situation and have worked with leading forensic experts to investigate the matter,” wrote the company. “We are confident that the incident has been fully contained.”

The company clarified that, according to its investigation—in partnership with a cybersecurity company—, hackers didn’t access full payment card numbers, bank account numbers, social security or license numbers, or Grubhub Marketplace customer passwords. However, the company did not specify how many accounts were affected.

According to TechCrunch , Grubhub’s platform operates in more than 4,000 cities in the United States and hosts over 375,000 merchant accounts and 200,000 delivery providers.

Grubhub said it took action by enhancing its monitoring strategies and strengthening security measures. They recommended users to create unique passwords to reduce risks in the future.

“We remain dedicated to protecting the trust placed in us by our customers, merchants, and drivers,” concluded the company in the statement. “We have taken decisive steps to further secure our systems and are actively strengthening our security controls to prevent similar incidents in the future.”

Researchers from Wiz Research recently discovered a publicly accessible database from DeepSeek leaking sensitive information , including private chat history and secret keys.