Amazon founder Jeff Bezos space travel plans have finally happened and he achieved his goal of being an astronaut, 52 years to the day after Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin made their historic moon landing. Jeff Bezos today became Blue Origin’s first customer on its New Shepard rocket in a test flight that reached 329,839 feet before returning safely back to Earth.
“We know the vehicle is safe. If the vehicle isn’t safe for me, it’s not safe for anyone,” Jeff Bezos tells CNN in an interview Monday morning. Blue Origin didn’t have any use for test pilots on its crew capsule since they wouldn’t be used to test any necessary functionality, company CEO Bob Smith said. Those on board didn’t see any value in carrying out tests with the crew. An autonomous vehicle has no jobs for a crew member to do, so they decided to entrust Blue Origin’s passengers with evaluations of their flying experience in space flight.
Jeff Bezos space Journey
Within three minutes of liftoff, the crew experienced weightlessness for the first time and touched the edge of space. Screams and howls erupted from within the capsule, as live streaming conversations were filled with “that was awesome” sentiments.
Shortly after dawn, the New Shepard rocket thundered to life in Texas. Inside a gumdrop-shaped capsule atop of it were Jeff Bezos’s first flying experience and those of his two brothers and 18-year-old customer Oliver Daemon. In that fleeting moment, they joined an exclusive club for “commercial astronauts.” The total number before launch had been 10, but now this list includes two Bezos brothers, a Funk pilot, and a Daemon from Belgium.
“I am unbelievably good” are the first words said by Jeff Bezos soon after the touchdown. And added, this is the “best day ever”.
This happening just 11 days after a successful space trip by Richard Branson with his Virgin Galactic space team is giving new hype to space travel. Although it is well-known that Jeff Bezos bankrolled the mission, this was truly a momentous occasion for 82-year-old Mary “Wally” Funk. Wally Funk was a part of the 1960s Women in Space Program, undergoing the same physiological assessments as America’s first male astronauts. The program ended before she could fly, and her space dreams were put on hold. Today, at age 82, she became the oldest person to visit space.
Who’s next to the space race?
Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla Motors, has had a lifelong dream to go into space. He is well known for his entrepreneurial ventures in building companies such as PayPal, Zip sense, and Solar City; however, Elon Musk still wanted more. His childhood ambition was not only to explore space but also to establish colonies on Mars – an idea he shared at the International Astronautical Congress conference in Mexico back in September 2016 when he proposed that humans should have a base on this planet by 2024 with flights taking off every two years from Earth thereafter.
It’s been revealed that he will be going through with his original intentions after all by booking himself onto a Virgin Galactic flight which includes airline mogul Richard Branson among its passengers.
While Mr. Musk’s initial intention was to buy a $200,000 ticket for himself and his five children, he has now decided that it would be wiser to reserve space on the flight as an investment opportunity rather than enjoy the experience personally. This is because Elon Musk plans to give away all of his shares which may have appreciated in value by then – making this venture something of a philanthropic endeavor too!
Space travel is booming, and we hope to hear more and more people traveling into space. Follow us to know every update about all future space travel plans.
