Page 1 - Aerotech News and Review, July 23, 2021

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Bezos reaches space on 1st passenger flight

by Marcia Dunn
Associated Press

Jeff Bezos blasted into space July
20 on his rocket company’s first flight
with people on board, becoming the
second billionaire in just over a week
to ride his own spacecraft.
The Amazon founder was accom-
panied by a hand-picked group: his
brother, an 18-year-old from the Neth-
erlands and an 82-year-old aviation
pioneer from Texas — the youngest
and oldest to ever fly in space.
“Best day ever,” Bezos said after
the capsule touched down on the des-
ert floor at the end of the 10-minute
flight.
Named after America’s first as-
tronaut, Blue Origin’s New Shepard
rocket soared from remote West Texas
on the 52nd anniversary of the Apollo
11 moon landing, a date chosen by
Bezos for its historical significance.
He held fast to it, even as Virgin Ga-
lactic’s Richard Branson pushed up his
own flight from New Mexico in the
race for space tourist dollars and beat
him to space by nine days.
Unlike Branson’s piloted rocket
plane, Bezos’ capsule was completely
automated and required no official
staff on board for the up-and-down
flight.
Blue Origin reached an altitude of
about 66 miles, more than 10 miles Blue Origin screenshot
higher than Branson’s July 11 ride. Left: The booster rocket makes a successful return to Earth following the New Shepherd flight into space. Right: The capsule with the four ‘new’ astronauts
The 60-foot booster accelerated to lands in Texas following the July 20 flight to space.
Mach 3 or three times the speed of
sound to get the capsule high enough, 2000 in Kent, Wash., near Amazon’s Bezos, 57, who also owns The Fewer than 600 people have reached NBC’s ”Today.”
before separating and landing upright. Seattle headquarters — has yet to open Washington Post, claimed the first the edge of space or beyond. Until Blue Origin is working on a mas-
The passengers had several minutes ticket sales to the public or reveal the seat. The next went to his 50-year-old the July 20 flight, the youngest was sive rocket, New Glenn, to put pay-
of weightlessness to float around the price. For now, it’s booking auction brother, Mark Bezos, an investor and 25-year-old Soviet cosmonaut Gher- loads and people into orbit from Cape
spacious white capsule. The window- bidders. Two more passenger flights volunteer firefighter, then Funk and man Titov and the oldest at 77 was Canaveral, Fla. The company also
filled capsule landed under parachutes, are planned by year’s end, said Blue Daemen. They spent two days together Mercury-turned-shuttle astronaut John wants to put astronauts back on the
with Bezos and his guests briefly ex- Origin CEO Bob Smith. in training. Glenn. moon with its proposed lunar lander
periencing nearly six times the force The recycled rocket and capsule that University of Chicago space histo- Both Bezos and Branson want to Blue Moon; it’s challenging NASA’s
of gravity, or 6 G’s, on the way back. carried up the July 20 passengers were rian Jordan Bimm said the passenger drastically increase those overall num- sole contract award to SpaceX.
Sharing Bezos’ dream-come-true used on the last two space demos, ac- makeup is truly remarkable. Imagine
adventure was Wally Funk, from the cording to company officials. if the head of NASA decided he want- bers, as does SpaceX’s Elon Musk,
Dallas area, one of 13 female pilots Virgin Galactic already has more ed to launch in 1961 instead of Alan who’s skipping brief space hops and
sending his private clients straight to
who went through the same tests as Shepard on the first U.S. spaceflight,
NASA’s all-male astronaut corps in than 600 reservations at $250,000 he said in an email. orbit for tens of millions apiece, with
the early 1960s but never made it into apiece. Founded by Branson in 2004, “That would have been unthink- the first flight coming up in September.
space. the company has sent crew into space able!” Bimm said. “It shows just how Despite appearances, Bezos and
Joining them on the ultimate joyride four times and plans two more test much the idea of who and what space Branson insist they weren’t trying
was the company’s first paying cus- flights from New Mexico before is for has changed in the last 60 years.” to outdo each other by strapping in
tomer, Oliver Daemen, a last-minute launching customers next year. Bezos stepped down earlier this themselves. Bezos noted this week
fill-in for the mystery winner of a Blue Origin’s approach was slower month as Amazon’s CEO and just last that only one person can lay claim to
$28 million auction who opted for a and more deliberate. After 15 success- week donated $200 million to renovate being first in space: Soviet cosmonaut
later flight. The Dutch teen’s father ful unoccupied test flights to space the National Air and Space Museum. Yuri Gagarin, who rocketed into orbit
took part in the auction, and agreed since 2015, Bezos finally declared Most of the $28 million from the auc- on April 12, 1961.
on a lower undisclosed price last week it was time to put people on board. tion has been distributed to space ad- “This isn’t a competition, this is
when Blue Origin offered his son the The Federal Aviation Administration vocacy and education groups, with the about building a road to space so
vacated seat. agreed last week, approving the com- rest benefiting Blue Origin’s Club for that future generations can do in-
Blue Origin — founded by Bezos in mercial space license. the Future, its own education effort. credible things in space,” he said on

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