![]() “We need to do that to solve the problems here on Earth.”ĭespite appearances, Bezos and Branson insist they weren’t trying to outdo each other by strapping in themselves. “We’re going to build a road to space so our kids and their kids can build the future,” Bezos said. Until Tuesday, the youngest was 25-year-old Soviet cosmonaut Gherman Titov and the oldest at 77 was Mercury-turned-shuttle astronaut John Glenn.īoth Bezos and Branson want to drastically increase those overall numbers, as does SpaceX’s Elon Musk, who’s skipping brief space hops and sending his private clients straight to orbit for tens of millions apiece, with the first flight coming up in September. ![]() “”It shows just how much the idea of who and what space is for has changed in the last 60 years.”īezos stepped down this month as Amazon’s CEO and last week donated $200 million to renovate the National Air and Space Museum.įewer than 600 people have reached the edge of space or beyond. “That would have been unthinkable!” Bimm said. Imagine if the head of NASA decided he wanted to launch in 1961 instead of Shepard on the first U.S. University of Chicago space historian Jordan Bimm said the passenger makeup is truly remarkable. They spent two days together in training. The next went to his 50-year-old brother, Mark Bezos, an investor and volunteer firefighter, then Funk and Daemen. The Federal Aviation Administration agreed last week, approving the commercial space license.īezos, 57, who also owns The Washington Post, claimed the first seat. After 15 successful unoccupied test flights to space since 2015, Bezos finally declared it was time to put people on board. ![]() Founded by Branson in 2004, the company has sent crew into space four times and plans two more test flights from New Mexico before launching customers next year.īlue Origin’s approach was slower and more deliberate. Virgin Galactic already has more than 600 reservations at $250,000 apiece. The recycled rocket and capsule used Tuesday flew on the last two space demos, according to company officials. Two more flights are planned by year’s end. Ticket sales, including the auction, are approaching $100 million, Bezos said. Led by Bezos, they climbed out of the capsule after touchdown with wide grins, embracing parents, partners and children, then popped open bottles of sparkling wine, spraying one another.īlue Origin - founded by Bezos in 2000 in Kent, Washington, near Amazon’s Seattle headquarters - hasn’t revealed its price for a ride to space but has lined up spots for other auction bidders. The capsule landed under parachutes, with Bezos and his guests briefly experiencing nearly six times the force of gravity, or 6 G’s, on the way back. Unlike Branson’s piloted rocket plane, Bezos’ capsule was completely automated and required no official staff on board for the up-and-down flight.ĭuring their several minutes of weightlessness, video from inside the capsule showed the four floating, doing somersaults, tossing Skittles candies and throwing balls, with lots of cheering, whooping and exclamations of “Wow!” The Bezos brothers also joined their palms to display a “HI MOM” greeting written on their hands. The 60-foot (18-meter) booster accelerated to Mach 3 or three times the speed of sound to get the capsule high enough, before separating and landing upright. During Tuesday’s flight, Blue Origin’s capsule reached an altitude of about 66 miles (106 kilometers), more than 10 miles (16 kilometers) higher than Branson’s July 11 ride. ![]()
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