The next suborbital space tourism mission by Blue Origin, known as NS-30, is set to take place at an undisclosed date. This will be the 30th launch of the company’s New Shepard rocket and its 10th crewed mission. The flight will take off from Blue Origin’s West Texas facility, carrying six individuals on a brief journey to suborbital space. The names of five crew members have been announced, while the identity of the sixth passenger remains undisclosed.

Crew Members and Their Backgrounds

According to the official announcement, the five confirmed passengers include Lane Bess, Jesús Calleja, Elaine Chia Hyde, Richard Scott, and Tushar Shah. Lane Bess, founder of Bess Ventures and Advisory, will be making his second journey with Blue Origin, having previously flown on the NS-19 mission in December 2021.

Jesús Calleja, a Spanish television host and adventurer, has explored extreme environments across the globe, including the Seven Summits and polar regions. Elaine Chia Hyde, an entrepreneur, physicist, and pilot, was born in Singapore, raised in Australia, and currently resides in Florida. Richard Scott serves as a reproductive endocrinologist and holds an adjunct professorship at Yale University and the University of South Carolina School of Medicine. Tushar Shah is a hedge fund partner based in New York City.

Mission Overview and Past Flights

The NS-30 mission will provide passengers with an approximately 10 to 12-minute experience, including a brief period of weightlessness and a view of Earth from suborbital space. The New Shepard capsule will return to Earth via parachute. The company has not disclosed ticket prices for the flight. Blue Origin’s first crewed mission occurred on July 20, 2021, with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos among the passengers. Further details regarding NS-30’s launch schedule and the identity of the final crew member are expected to be released in due course.

A bright fireball streaked across the European sky on February 19, as debris from a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket made an uncontrolled reentry. Reports from the United Kingdom, Germany, and Poland confirmed sightings of the object as it burned up in the atmosphere before fragments crashed to the ground. Social media users in Lincolnshire, England, and Berlin, Germany, captured images and videos of the event, showing a blazing trail in the night sky. In Poland, a large metallic object was discovered outside the city of Poznań, prompting an investigation by local authorities and space agencies.

Rocket Debris Identified

According to the Polish Space Agency (POLSA), the object was part of the upper stage of the Falcon 9 rocket that launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on February 1, 2025. The agency confirmed that the debris, weighing approximately four tons, originated from the Starlink Group 11-4 mission. The upper stage, which is designed to deorbit after completing its mission, failed to execute the manoeuvre as planned. Astrophysicist and satellite tracker Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics stated via X that the reentry occurred over the Irish Sea at 03:43 UTC, with debris reaching Poland and Ukraine within minutes.

Authorities Respond to the Incident

As per space.com, the Poznań Police reported receiving a call around 9:20 a.m. from workers at a company in Komornik, who discovered an unidentified cylindrical object on their premises. No injuries or property damage were reported. Another similar object was later found in a nearby forest near Wiry Village, approximately 30 kilometres away from the initial discovery. Agnieszka Gapys, press officer for POLSA, stated to Reuters that examinations were underway to confirm the origin of the debris. A third object was reportedly spotted, but official confirmation is still pending. As of Wednesday afternoon, SpaceX had not released a statement on the incident.

Breakthrough in AI-Driven Genome Design

A new artificial intelligence model has been introduced, marking a significant advancement in biological research. Developed using a dataset of 128,000 genomes covering various life forms, this AI can generate entire chromosomes and small genomes from scratch. Researchers claim it has the potential to interpret non-coding gene variants associated with diseases, making it a powerful tool in genetic research. This development is expected to enhance genome engineering by facilitating a deeper understanding of DNA sequences and their functions.

About the AI model

According to a study published by the Arc Institute, the AI model, named Evo-2, has been developed in collaboration with Stanford University and NVIDIA. The model, which has been made available through web interfaces, provides researchers with the ability to generate and analyse DNA sequences. Patrick Hsu, bioengineer at the Arc Institute and the University of California, Berkeley, stated during a press briefing that Evo-2 is intended to serve as a platform that scientists can modify to suit their research needs.

Trained on a Vast Repository of Genomes

Unlike previous AI models that focused primarily on protein sequences, Evo-2 has been trained on genome data, encompassing both coding and non-coding sequences. This extensive training set includes genomes from humans, animals, plants, bacteria, and archaea, covering 9.3 trillion DNA letters. The complexity of eukaryotic genomes, which contain interspersed coding and non-coding regions, has been incorporated into Evo-2’s framework to enhance its ability to predict gene activity.

Performance Evaluation and Capabilities

Anshul Kundaje, computational genomicist at Stanford University, stated to Nature that independent testing would be required to fully assess Evo-2’s capabilities. Preliminary results suggest that it performs at a high level when predicting the effects of mutations in genes such as BRCA1, which is linked to breast cancer. The model was also used to analyse the genome of the woolly mammoth, further demonstrating its ability to interpret complex genetic structures.

Generating New DNA Sequences

The AI has been tested in designing new DNA sequences, including CRISPR gene editors, as well as bacterial and viral genomes. Earlier versions of the model produced incomplete genomes, but Evo-2 has shown improvements by generating more biologically plausible sequences. Brian Hie, computational biologist at Stanford University and Arc Institute, mentioned that while progress has been made, further refinements are necessary before these sequences can be fully functional in living cells.

Potential Applications in Genetic Research

Researchers anticipate that Evo-2 will aid in designing regulatory DNA sequences that control gene expression. Experiments are already underway to test its predictions on chromatin accessibility, which influences cell identity in multicellular organisms. Yunha Wang, computational biologist and CEO of Tatta Bio, suggested that Evo-2’s ability to learn from bacterial and archaeal genomes could assist in designing novel human proteins.

Future Prospects for AI in Genome Design

Scientists involved in the project aim to push beyond protein design towards comprehensive genome engineering. With ongoing refinements and laboratory validations, Evo-2 may contribute to advancements in synthetic biology and precision medicine. The model’s role in understanding genetic regulation and designing functional DNA sequences is expected to grow as more researchers adopt and refine its capabilities.