The Amazon founder made it to the edge of space, flying aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket, marking Blue Origin’s first human flight.
(Picture: AP)Jeff Bezos, the richest person on Earth, has finally made his space-dreams a reality. The Amazon founder and former CEO has officially made it to the edge of space via space venture Blue Origin, flying aboard the New Shepard rocket. The intergalactic excursion officially marks Blue Origin’s first human flight, as well as the start of Blue Origin’s commercial operations.
Bezos was joined by his brother, Mark Bezos, aerospace pioneer Wally Funk and Dutch teenager Oliver Daeman, who replaced ‘s Blue Origin mystery-bidder who, despite having paid $30 million for a seat, ultimately couldn’t make the flight due to “a scheduling conflict.” At 82 and 18-years old, Funk and Daeman are now the oldest and youngest astronauts to have travelled to space, respectively.
Just before take-off, Bezos took to Instagram to share his excitement.
“Here we go, Mark,” he wrote, in dedication to his brother.
The Blue Origin crew took off at 9:13 a.m. EST, just moments are experts warned of risks associated with space travel.
“Anytime you put somebody on top of a rocket, that is not a normal daily activity. That is high-risk by nature”: @cbs_spacenews explains the risks involved in today’s Blue Origin launchpic.twitter.com/UiWG30RZdp
— Norah O'Donnell 🇺🇸 (@NorahODonnell) July 20, 2021
The space travellers were undeterred, taking off just 13 minutes after the originally scheduled time.
"You are going to space!"
— ABC News (@ABC) July 20, 2021
Jeff Bezos and three passengers blast off toward the edge of space in historic #BlueOrigin flight. https://t.co/A0eR1oJLjm pic.twitter.com/rrh29y0Dcv
About 11 minutes after launch, the New Shepard capsule landed on Earth, aided by parachutes.
WATCH: Jeff Bezos and three passengers return to Earth after historic flight to edge of space. https://t.co/A0eR1oJLjm pic.twitter.com/INoS7Dcssk
— ABC News (@ABC) July 20, 2021
“You have a very happy crew up here, I just want you to know,” Bezos said as the capsule returned to Earth.
Bezos could then be heard exclaiming, “Best day ever!”
BREAKING: Jeff Bezos gives an overjoyed thumbs up after landing back on Earth following successful mission to space. https://t.co/VX9QqD70Zw #BlueOrigin pic.twitter.com/VgVGnTWdqQ
— ABC News (@ABC) July 20, 2021
Blue Origin has since shared their “mission stats.”
Key Mission Stats from #NSFirstHumanFlight:
— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) July 20, 2021
Crew capsule apogee: 347,563 ft AGL / 351,210 ft MSL (105 km AGL / 107 km MSL)
Booster apogee: 347,188 ft AGL / 350,835 ft MSL (105 km AGL / 106 km MSL)
Elapsed mission time: 10:10
Max ascent velocity: 2,233 mph (3,595 km/h)
Fellow billionaire-turned-astronaut Richard Branson, who also flew to suborbital space via his own space venture, Virgin Galactic, also took to Twitter to congratulate Bezos and his crew on their successful journey.
Well done @blueorigin, @jeffbezos, Mark, Wally and Oliver. Impressive! Very best to all the crew from me and all the team at @virgingalactic
— Richard Branson (@richardbranson) July 20, 2021
The rest of the internet has also expressed their thoughts on the launch, some noting the phallic aesthetic of Bezos’ rocket.
ALSO CORRECT: “…rocket that some have said looks exactly like a penis but others have said ‘oh we refuse to see a penis in that’ and it is good and correct to represent both of these points of view anyway we explore this debate tonight at 10.”
— Danielle Kurtzleben (@titonka) July 20, 2021
Others are addressing the more egregious elephant in the room (or, in outer space): Aren’t there better things these billionaires could do with their money?
If billionaires like @JeffBezos can self-fund day trips to space, certainly we can end hunger in America.
— Jim McGovern (@McGovernMA) July 20, 2021
Critics of the billionaire space race say Bezos and Branson ought to use their money to solve crises on the ground.
— Bloomberg Quicktake (@Quicktake) July 20, 2021
“[Jeff Bezos] could vaccinate every single person on Earth and still be as wealthy as he was before the pandemic,” says Oxfam's Robbie Silverman pic.twitter.com/C56FRXYJRY
Others are seemingly more enthusiastic.
I can't wait til those brave billionaires explore space and eventually find us another planet to live on. Amazon 2 they'll call it - and guess what, we'll be able to transfer our Prime memberships across to the new place! Yipeeee #bezos #BlueOrigin #BillionaireSpaceRace
— Dan (@mellowerdan) July 20, 2021
A full recording of New Shepard’s launch is now available on Blue Origin’s Youtube.
