The rocket and New Shepard capsule that will carry Bezos and three others were developed by his company Blue Origin, named for the belief that this blue planet is just the starting point for humanity’s future.
Why all the fuss about Jeff Bezos going into space?
Bezos is being tested on his rocket’s maiden manned flight. He has said that he hopes this will be the first of thousands that can make space travel safe and routine, and cheap enough to allow millions to follow. Finally.
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it also plans to take tourists into space after taking its founder there earlier this month. Blue Origin aims to eventually use its space exploration to try to harness the energy and material resources of the solar system.
How can I watch the launch of Blue Origin?
New Shepard prepares to take off from Van Horn, Texas, in January.
Photo:
blue origin / Reuters
The flight is scheduled for Tuesday at 9am EDT and will be streamed live on Blue Origin starting at 7.30am, and later on wsj.com. Weather or technical issues could delay the launch from Van Horn, Texas. The current forecast shows clear but gusty conditions.
Blue Origin has deterred visitors from approaching the launch site on Tuesday, as part of nearby Highway 54 is closed.
How will Blue Origin take you to the edge of space and vice versa?
The New Shepard can carry six people, and the rocket sends the capsule more than 100 kilometers. The reusable rocket and capsule being used Tuesday is making its third flight: Blue Origin has tested the system with 15 autonomous flights without passengers. The capsule detaches and provides a few minutes of weightlessness before descending and landing in the nearby Texas desert. The rocket lands vertically at the launch site.
How does it compare to Virgin Galactic?
Blue Origin uses a conventional rocket and space capsule that is launched and lands vertically, making it faster than Virgin Galactic’s vehicle to reach the edge of space, and the entire flight takes 11 minutes. Virgin Galactic uses a plane to lift its six-seat space plane high, before releasing it, firing a rocket to carry it higher. The space plane then glides to the ground without power, and the entire journey takes about 90 minutes.
Alexa, where does space start?
The lack of a definition in international law has caused purists and space companies to clash. Blue Origin’s New Shepard is designed to pass the Karman line 62 miles above Earth, an arbitrary line above which winged planes can no longer fly. Virgin Galactic flies above 50 miles, another arbitrary line, although some scientists say objects can still orbit the planet.
Who goes to space with Jeff Bezos?
Mark Bezos will accompany his brother, Jeff, on Blue Origin’s New Shepard.
Photo:
Amy Harris / Associated Press
Bezos will be accompanied by his brother Mark; longtime flying legend and aerospace regulator, Wally Funk; and a reserve passenger. The winner who paid nearly $ 30 million in a charity auction for a seat on the first flight did not show up, so Blue Origin promoted Dutch teenager Oliver Daemen from a later flight to become its first paying customer. The second-place bid from an unidentified bidder in the May auction was $ 27 million.
Ms. Funk, 82, and Mr. Daemen, 18, are both pilots and would be, respectively, the oldest and youngest people to reach space. All passengers are required to complete a 14-hour training session scheduled to conclude on Monday, including the spacecraft’s emergency features, which includes an ejection system to put the capsule to safety in the event of an anomaly.
Veteran aerospace regulator Wally Funk, right, will also be a passenger on the Blue Origin flight.
Photo:
/ Associated Press
What can the passengers do up there?
The capsule separates at 250,000 feet and continues to the edge of space. Blue Origin emphasizes the capsule’s large windows, which at 3.5 feet by 2.3 feet are six times the size of a Boeing. Co.
787 Dreamliner.
Blue Origin said the newly created astronauts would experience three to four minutes of weightlessness during which they can unbuckle from their seats, with time for a couple of somersaults.
When can I go to the space and how much do the tickets cost?
Blue Origin plans two more customer flights this year, with the next scheduled for September, but has yet to announce any formal pricing beyond the May auction results. The company said you can send an email if you are interested.
Richard Branson successfully traveled to the edge of space on July 11, and Jeff Bezos is not far behind. But the spaceships, flight logistics and altitudes of the two billionaire founders have some differences.
What’s next in space travel?
Boeing’s Starliner is scheduled to make its second attempt to reach the International Space Station on July 30. The unmanned test flight follows a mission in December 2019 that failed to reach the correct orbit. A manned mission could follow before the end of the year, with Starliner joining Elon Musk’s SpaceX-made Crew Dragon as a certified space taxi.
SpaceX is building a massive launch tower off the Texas coast to launch its own spacecraft into orbit. The unmanned mission would be on a super heavy rocket, and the tower is designed to trap vehicles when they return.
Write to Doug Cameron in [email protected]
Corrections and amplifications
Blue Origin will begin its live broadcast of the flight at 7.30am ET on Tuesday. An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that the live broadcast would begin at 5:30 am (corrected on July 19)
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