Amazon's Jeff Bezos is off to space next month
Jeff Bezos and his brother will board the New Shepard by Blue Origin as it makes its first human trip to space.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos shared on Monday that he would be making the trip to space next month on a rocket created by the company he founded more than two decades ago, Blue Origin.
The New Shepard will be conducting its first human spaceflight on July 20th and he is set to fly with his younger brother, Mark Bezos.
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We found out through his Instagram post where he talks about his lifelong dream to go to space with his brother:
For interested adrenaline junkies and space fanatics, the third spot is being auctioned off and bidding is already at $2.8-million, with nearly 6,000 participants from 143 countries. Wonder if there's anyone from South Africa among that number?
The proceeds from the auction will be go to Blue Origin's foundation, Club for the Future, an organisation created to inspire the youth to purse careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. And after the auction for the first flight, Blue Origin will offer places for sale.
Although the price is not yet confirmed, if we could all be serious and each contribute whatever amount we can, don't you think we could get Darren to space? Oh, no, it's just an idea.
We can estimate the price by looking at Virgin Galactic, the company founded by British billionaire Richard Branson, which is also developing a spacecraft capable of sending clients on suborbital flights. The spacecraft already has 600 people who have booked the flight ranging from $200,000 to $250,000, which is roughly R2.7-million in our currency. Wow!
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The trip next month will happen at Blue Origin’s site in West Texas. At about 47 miles, or 250,000 feet, the capsule carrying the passengers will separate from its booster. The astronauts will then get to unbuckle and experience weightlessness for nearly three minutes before the capsule returns to Earth. Because the capsule is fully pressurised, passengers will not be required to wear spacesuits or helmets. Just rock up in your jeans, shirt, and sneakers... just casual - less pressure.
The automated capsules with no pilot have six seats with horizontal backrests, placed next to large portholes, in a futuristic cabin with swish lighting. Multiple cameras help immortalise the few minutes the tourists experience of weightlessness while taking in the Earth's curvature.
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Bezos announced in February that he would step down as the CEO of Amazon on July 5. Andy Jassy, the chief of Amazon’s cloud computing division, will take over as Bezos will become executive chairman. Bezos said he wanted to put more time and energy into his other passions, including Blue Origin.
"I'm interested in space because I'm passionate about it," Bezos, who also made a cameo in 2016's 'Star Trek: Beyond', said during an interview with Mathias Döpfner, the CEO of Axel Springer. "I've been studying it and thinking about it since I was a five year old boy — but that is not why I'm pursuing this work. I'm pursuing this work because I believe if we don't, we will eventually end up with a civilization of stasis, which I find very demoralizing."
His passion for space and technology definitely does inspire multiple children looking to explore life beyond what they see on Earth right now.
Bezos predicted that he would be a new man after his journey to space: “It changes your relationship with this planet, with humanity. It’s one earth. I want to go on this flight because it’s the thing I’ve wanted to do all my life.”
And we could not agree more. After leaving Earth - even for just a few minutes, nothing should be the same again.
Main Image Courtesy: @jeffbezos