Photo: Blue Origin
SpaceX has been around for close to two decades now, and the Elon Musk-led company has beaten every other startup in space exploration when it comes to, well, pretty much everything. Except for one minor detail: one of its major competitors, Blue Origin, will steal the headlines in July by becoming the first company to send its founder to space.
As most of you already know by now, Blue Origin is scheduled to launch the first tourists to the edge of space on July 20th. The company made a spectacle by auctioning off one of the six seats on the capsule to be used for the mission, with the highest sum someone willing to pay seeming to be $2.8 million.
Until now, the names of the occupants were not known, but today, thanks to an announcement made on Instagram, Jeff Bezos let slip the name of the most important tourist on board: himself. And he’s not going alone, but with his brother, Mark.
“Ever since I was five years old, I’ve dreamed of traveling to space. On July 20th, I will take that journey with my brother. The greatest adventure, with my best friend,” was the announcement Bezos made on Instagram (video below).
So, we now know the names of two of the people going up on the New Shepard. The third is the still unknown winner of the auction, so three seats are left to take.
The spaceflight will only barely be a proper spaceflight. The New Shepard will launch with the Crew Capsule attached, and at 220,000 feet (67 km), separation between the two will occur. From there, the capsule will travel a bit more to 328,000 feet (100 km), a place where those on board will get to experience weightlessness.
They will only spend a short time at the edge of space and then come back down to land with the assistance of parachutes.
Until now, the names of the occupants were not known, but today, thanks to an announcement made on Instagram, Jeff Bezos let slip the name of the most important tourist on board: himself. And he’s not going alone, but with his brother, Mark.
“Ever since I was five years old, I’ve dreamed of traveling to space. On July 20th, I will take that journey with my brother. The greatest adventure, with my best friend,” was the announcement Bezos made on Instagram (video below).
So, we now know the names of two of the people going up on the New Shepard. The third is the still unknown winner of the auction, so three seats are left to take.
The spaceflight will only barely be a proper spaceflight. The New Shepard will launch with the Crew Capsule attached, and at 220,000 feet (67 km), separation between the two will occur. From there, the capsule will travel a bit more to 328,000 feet (100 km), a place where those on board will get to experience weightlessness.
They will only spend a short time at the edge of space and then come back down to land with the assistance of parachutes.
Google News