After Richard Branson's space trip, billionaire Jeff Bezos is ready to take off for his adventurous space tour as he prepares for a rocket-powered 11-minute 2,300-mph excursion to the edge of space.
The world's richest person is dedicating some of his Amazon wealth to rocket development for business purposes. The founder of Blue Origin will take his extraterrestrial journey just nine days after his competitor Richard Branson's successful travel to space.
However, Bezos' flight and the rocket technology Blue Origin has developed for the space tour are far different from Branson's space flight.
Blue Origin's New Shepard is a small, suborbital rocket, which has been designed to take off vertically from a launchpad. It gives a shorter yet higher-speed experience, unlike the aerial-launched space plane of Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic.
However, both Virgin Galactic's spaceplane and New Shepard have been designed to shuttle paying tourists to the edge of the space miles above Earth's surface for a few minutes of weightlessness and panoramic views of planet Earth.
Everything You Need To Know About The Big Event
How to Watch Live Blue Origin's first-ever crewed flight to Space?
New Shepard space trip will be streamed LIVE on Blue Origin's official website, where the public will see the exterior shots of the rocket and capsule shots up toward the cosmos. The interior shots and Jeff Bezos' expressions will be shown only after the flight.
Time and Date and Location of Blue Origin's New Shepard Launch
Blue Origin's first-ever crewed flight is set to launch founder Bezos and three others into space on July 20. The space mission is expected to kick off after 8 am ET Tuesday, as permitted by weather. The rocket and New Shepard capsule will launch from Blue Origin's private facilities in rural Texas, near Van Horn, which is about 120 miles east of El Paso.
Who's going to space with Jeff Bezos?
The New Shepard capsule has been designed to carry up to six people. Bezos will be taking just three others along on the inaugural journey of future space tours. The three people include his brother Mark Bezos, an 82-year-old ex-pilot, one of the "Mercury 13" women Wally Funk and a recent high school graduate named Oliver Daemen. The 18-year-student will replace a mystery bidder, who won a seat on the flight through Blue Origin's auction.
How Would Jeff Bezos Land on Earth?
After reaching the edge of space, the crew capsule will separate from the rocket at the top of the trajectory and continue upward for a brief period. Bezos and the three other passengers will experience a few minutes of weightlessness and enjoy the panoramic view of Eearth before the capsule hovers at the top of its flight path. It gives the feeling of being at the peak of a roller coaster hill, just before gravity pulls your cart.
But in Bezos' case, the New Shepard capsule will deploy a large plume of parachutes to slow its descent to less than 20 miles per hour before hitting the ground. Bezos and his fellow passengers will be further cushioned by shock-absorbent seats. On the other hand, the detached rocket from the human-carrying capsule will re-ignite its engines to execute a pinpoint, upright landing.
