The world’s richest man, Jeff Bezos, has set out on his first space mission with the crew of his rocket company Blue Origin.
Jeff Bezos is the second billionaire to leave his spaceship in a week, according to the Associated Press.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’s first space trip includes his brother and the youngest and oldest person to fly in space.
They include an 18-year-old student from the Netherlands and an 82-year-old aviation expert from Texas.
Congratulations to all of Team Blue past and present on reaching this historic moment in spaceflight history. This first astronaut crew wrote themselves into the history books of space, opening the door through which many after will pass. #GradatimFerociter #NSFirstHumanFlight
— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) July 20, 2021
The Blue Origin’s New Shepherd rocket, named after America’s first astronaut, launched into space from the far west of Texas on the 52nd anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing on the moon.
July 20 was chosen by Jeff Bezos for his space mission because of its historic significance.
Just nine days earlier, Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson had gone into space on July 11 and successfully completed a manned flight from his spaceship.
Unlike Richard Branson’s Pilot Rocket Plane, Jeff Bezos’ capsule was fully automatic and did not require any crew for a 10-minute flight.
Scenes from #NSFirstHumanFlight astronaut load. pic.twitter.com/L7u1ZaYn60
— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) July 20, 2021
Blue Origin was flying at an altitude of about 66 miles (106 kilometers), 10 miles (16 kilometers) higher than Richard Branson’s July 11 space flight.
Jeff Bezos’ spaceship capsule rose three times faster than the speed of sound before it split into space and landed vertically.
Passengers aboard the space capsule are likely to experience weightlessness for 3 to 4 minutes, enchanting views of the Earth from upper space and a safe landing.
The capsule will then land in an empty space from which Jeff Bezos and his guests will experience about 6 times more gravity for a short period of time upon return.
#NewShepard is on the pad. The launch team completed vehicle rollout this morning and final preparations are underway. Liftoff is targeted for 8:00 am CDT / 13:00 UTC. Live broadcast begins at T-90 minutes on https://t.co/7Y4TherpLr. #NSFirstHumanFlight pic.twitter.com/oShmtRmA4n
— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) July 20, 2021
Jeff Bezos founded Blue Origin in 2000 in Kent, Washington, near Amazon’s headquarters.
Blue Origin has yet to publicly announce or announce the price of tickets, with the company currently only auctioning ticket bookings.
In this regard, Blue Origin Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Bob Smith said that two more passenger flights are planned to be launched into space by the end of this year.
