Jeff Bezos flies to space aboard Blue Origin
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Business magnate Jeff Bezos successfully launched into space aboard the Blue Origin New Shepard’s spacecraft on Tuesday, July 20.
This was a milestone for the space tourism sector as the richest man on the planet spent moments in outer space on Blue Origin’s first crewed space mission.
The rocket jetted-off star-ward, and once it reached around 250,000 feet, the crew capsule was detached from the booster and carried on into space. Meanwhile, the crew members were seen in a video unbuckling their seatbelts and enjoying themselves as they floated in zero gravity during the flight.
The Amazon founder was the first to test out the rocketship, and was accompanied by three other individuals.
His brother, aviation pioneer Wally Funk tagged along, and an 82-year old lady who trained to be an astronaut aviator and had hopes of flying into space, but never got the chance to do so, also had the chance to go on the trip.
Another crew member was an 18-year-old Oliver Daemen from the Netherlands, and he is now the youngest person to visit space. Daemen’s father paid for his son’s trip but the amount was undisclosed.
It can be recalled that Bezos revealed last June that he planned to fly into space next month on a rocket built by his company Blue Origin.
He founded the aerospace manufacturer and sub-orbital spaceflight services company Blue Origin back in 2000, which is situated in Kent Washington. Jeff’s longtime dream was to head to space and develop floating space colonies with artificial gravity where people can reside.
It is important to note that the company is currently building a heavy-lift orbital rocket called New Glenn; along with a Moon lander, which is designed to deliver small, medium, and large payloads to the lunar surface.
*Cover Photo/Thumbnail Photo taken by Joe Skipper/REUTERS and Blue Origin