Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket has successfully completed more than 12 test runs of an unmanned spacecraft launched from a facility in the Guadalupe Mountains of western Texas.
A mysterious bidder paid $ 28 million at an auction on Saturday to sit with Jeff Bezos on the first manned spaceflight of billionaire company Blue Origin next month.
Amazon’s founder said this week that both he and his brother Mark were seated on the company’s New Shepard rocket on July 20. space Came back.
The Bezos brothers will be joined by the winner on Saturday Charity auction, Its identity remains unknown, and by the fourth, an unnamed space traveler.
“The name of the winner of the auction will be announced in the weeks following the end of the auction,” tweeted Blue Origin after the sale.
“After that, the fourth and final crew member will be announced. Please wait.”
Saturday’s winning bidder defeated about 20 rivals at the auction that began on May 19, ending with a 10-minute live cast enthusiasm.
Bids reached $ 4.8 million by Thursday, but soared brilliantly at the final live auction, rising by $ 1 million.
Revenues will go to the Blue Origin Foundation, Club for the Future, excluding a 6% auctioneer fee. The foundation aims to inspire future generations pursuing careers in STEM such as science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos plans to fly into space with a rocket manufactured by his company, Blue Origin.
A 10-minute journey from New Shepard to the deserts of western Texas, four of whom spend time on the Karman line, which marks the boundary between Earth’s atmosphere and space.
After takeoff, the capsule separates from the booster and spends 4 minutes at an altitude of over 60 miles (100 km). During that time, passengers can experience weightlessness and observe the curvature of the Earth.
The booster autonomously lands on a pad two miles from the launch site, and the capsule rises to the surface with three large parachutes, slowing down to about mph when landing.
Lifelong dream
Bezos, who announced earlier this year that he would resign from Amazon’s CEO to spend more time on other projects, including Blue Origin, said jumping into space was a lifelong dream.
Blue Origin’s New Shepard has successfully completed more than 12 unmanned spacecraft test runs from a facility in the Guadalupe Mountains, Texas.
Inside the Blue Origin Crew Capsule — An unnamed bidder, alongside Jeff Bezos, paid $ 28 million for a seat on board.
“We are ready to fly some astronauts,” said Arian Cornell, astronaut and orbit sales director at Blue Origin, on Saturday.
The reusable ballistic rocket system is named after Alan Shepard, the first American in space 60 years ago.
The pilotless automatic capsule has six seats with a horizontal backrest next to a large porthole and swish lighting in the futuristic cabin. Multiple cameras help immortalize the minutes that space travelers experience weightlessness.
Private space race
Blue Origin’s virgin crew flight takes place in fierce competition in the field of private space exploration. SpaceX from Elon Musk and Virgin Galactic, founded by British billionaire Richard Branson, are all competing for pole position.
Bezos has a very public rivalry with Mask, whose SpaceX costs millions of dollars and plans to fly orbit, sending people far into space.
The New Shepard crew capsule is seen ready for takeoff on its eighth test flight.
SpaceX has already begun to bring astronauts to the International Space Station and is a competitor to the government’s space contract.
Meanwhile, Virgin Galactic launched regular commercial suborbital flights in early 2022, eventually planning 400 trips a year.
Approximately 600 people booked flights at a cost of $ 200,000 to $ 250,000. No date has been set, but there was talk of Branson himself taking part in a test flight this summer.
© 2021 AFP
Quote: Space travel with Jeff Bezos was acquired from https://phys.org/news/2021-06-space-jeff-bezos-mn.html on June 13, 2021 for $ 28 million (June 2021). It is on sale on the 13th)
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