Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’ rocket company, has announced that the crew of its New Shepard mission have “go for launch” after they’ve completed their training.
This mission marks the first crewed flight with the New Shepard launch car–a self-landing rocket the company has been developing for many years.
This will be the second fully manned Virgin Galactic spaceflight. Richard Branson, the founder of this rival space tourism company, was launched into space by Branson just over a week earlier.
When will Jeff Bezos travel to space at what time?
The launch will take place on Tuesday, July 20, at 9 a.m. ET. Blue Origin’s Launch Site One complex in West Texas will be the launch site for the rocket.
What length of time will he stay up there?
The entire mission, from launch to landing, will take approximately 10 to 11 minutes. Blue Origin will place Bezos and his crew in space, which is about one minute above the Karman line or 100 km above Earth. After their capsule is detached from the New Shepard rocket, the crew will feel weightlessness approximately three minutes into flight.
The capsule will descend three minutes later, so they’ll need to strap in again.
Who will go to space with Jeff Bezos and who won’t?
Bezos, multi-billionaire founder and CEO of Blue Origin, Amazon, and three other people will accompany him on the mission.
Wally Funk (82 years old pioneering female pilot); Oliver Daemen (18-year-old student in the Netherlands) who purchased a ticket for a later launch; Mark Bezos (brother of Jeff Bezos).
Daemen’s place on the mission had originally been up for auction. It was won by another person for $28 million. Their flight was canceled due to scheduling conflicts, so they were moved to another flight. Today’s launch was arranged by Daemen. It is not known who the original auction winner was.
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Why is Jeff Bezos going into space?
Because he is able and because he wants. The richest man in the world has always been interested in spaceflight. He posted last month on Instagram: “I want this flight because it is something I’ve always wanted to do all of my life.”
You can also answer this question by looking at Blue Origin as Bezos’ entry into the growing commercial space industry.
According to the company, its main purpose is to create a future where “millions of people live and work in space to benefit Earth.”