The Fort Stockton High School yearbook staff traveled to Van Horn to experience the Blue Origin’s second crewed mission to space on Oct. 13.

Organized by yearbook teacher Collette Barragan, the trip provided an excellent opportunity for students to witness an event that no other class had seen in the school’s history.

Upon arriving at the small town of Van Horn, the students gathered to take a group photo at the Blue Origin mural that features Jeff and Mark Bezos, owner of the Blue Origin Space Program.

In the students’ reflections, they all wrote that it was a challenge to be at the high school by 5:00 a.m. to travel to Van Horn to get to the launch site.

Barragan assigned students to interview bystanders, including media entities that were there.

The students met videographers and journalists from CNN, CNN Espanol, FOX News, ABC, NBC, CBS, Associated Press, and Reuters.

While waiting for the launch to happen, the students interviewed people from France, different cities in Texas, and around the nation. They learned that the people on the stretch of Highway 54 have been to other launches in Texas and Florida and were eagerly waiting to see William Shatner, also known as Captain Kirk on “Star Trek,” go into space.

The students were amazed to find out that an 90-year-old person was in the NS-18 capsule and didn’t have any formal training to travel to space.

Hermoine Sandoval said she could feel the anticipation of the crowd and that It didn’t matter if you knew William Shatner from “Star Trek” or “Miss Congeniality”, everyone was anxiously waiting for him to go up.

Jordan Carrillo noted that the people they visited were clearly interested in space even though they did not know that much about it. Jordan said this was amazing because it shows how much commercial space programs like Blue Origin have influenced our world.

When the countdown finally started after a 45-minute delay, the students and crowd gathered around the computer that Tristian Barragan had set up to watch the launch happen. The students were about five miles from the launch site but had a clear view of everything that was happening in the distance.

As the steam and flame rose from the ground, the students watched in amazement as the New Shepard 18 booster and capsule quickly rose into the air. The launch of the booster and capsule had a loud rumble as it rose to the heavens.

During the 12 minutes that the launch lasted, students wore a microphone that recorded their reactions and were videoed/ photographed by freelance journalists.

In the future, this footage is to be produced in a documentary about a commercial space launch.

After the launch, everyone was excited that they had a “bucket list” item crossed off their things to experience in life.

When the students were asked whether they would ever go up into space if they were given the chance, some students said they would consider being a part of the space program after watching the launch.