Once into space and back – Jeff Bezos landed back on earth

The billionaire Jeff Bezos flew into space with his rocket “New Shepard” today. The starting shot for space tourism lasted eleven minutes.

Summary: So this was the long-awaited first space flight of billionaire Jeff Bezos. He flew over the 100-kilometer limit (106 kilometers) and can now call himself an astronaut – just like his crew, consisting of Bezos’ brother Mark, the aviation pioneer Wally Funk and the first paying customer Oliver Daemen. Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’ space company, plans to conduct two more space flights with humans on board later this year. It is said that anyone interested in a space flight should write the company an email. However, you have to bring a lot of money with you: An unknown person paid 28 million US dollars at an auction for the first space flight. It is not yet known exactly what a flight with Blue Origin will cost.

What is certain, however, is that Blue Origin gave the go-ahead for space tourism with today’s flight. The Swiss bank UBS suspects that this will be a lucrative market. There is talk of a volume of up to three billion US dollars by 2030.

Space tourism: Jeff Bezos and his crew are back on earth

+++ 3.38 p.m.: Around the landed capsule is now celebrated, four people can now call themselves astronaut: in. Wally Funk is the oldest astronaut at 82, Oliver Daemen is the youngest astronaut at 18. While the four were in space, a total of 14 people were simultaneously above the Kármán Line at an altitude of 100 kilometers – seven on the ISS, three in the new Chinese space station and four on board the Blue Origin capsule.

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+++ 3:31 p.m.: The hatch opens, the astronauts: get out inside. Their enthusiasm can be seen in all crew members.

+++ 3:27 p.m .: The first Blue Origin employees have arrived at the capsule and are now securing it before the hatch is opened.

Start of space tourism: Jeff Bezos speaks of the “best day ever”

+++ 3:24 p.m .: Jeff Bezos speaks of the “best day of all time” on the radio after landing.

+++ 3:22 p.m .: Touchdown! The capsule with the four astronauts: inside Jeff Bezos landed gently in the Texas desert.

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+++ 3:21 p.m .: “Up here is a very happy crew”, you can hear over the radio. The capsule is also on its way back down, the parachutes are activated.

+++ 3:19 p.m.: The rocket landed back on earth. Precision landing on the landing site.

Space tourism: Jeff Bezos was in space – Blue Origin promoted first paying customer

+++ 3:16 p.m .: The astronauts: inside are now in weightlessness and see the curvature of the earth. The rocket is now on its way down to earth again.

+++ 3:15 p.m.: The rocket’s engines were switched off, the capsule with the crew around Jeff Bezos has separated and is now in weightlessness. The first transmissions from the capsule sound enthusiastic.

+++ 3:12 p.m .: Liftoff! The rocket with Jeff Bezos on board has started.

+++ 3.10 p.m.: Two more minutes, it will start soon.

Starting shot for space tourism: Jeff Bezos on his way into space

+++ 3:04 p.m.: When the rocket has started with Jeff Bezos on board, it takes about two and a half minutes to the “main engine cutoff”, ie the engines are switched off. Shortly afterwards, the capsule will separate and rise to an altitude of 106 kilometers. The astronauts on board can now take off their seat belts and enjoy the weightlessness. The rocket will first land back on earth, only then will the capsule come back towards earth. At a height of around three kilometers, three parachutes will detonate, and an air cushion will make the landing in the desert soft.

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+++ 3:02 p.m.: The rocket got the “Go” for the start. Now you have to wait until the end of the countdown.

+++ 2:57 p.m .: The start is a little delayed because of a so-called “hold”. It is unclear exactly why the countdown was paused for a few minutes, but it is clear that the countdown will now continue. According to the current status, start is now at 3:11 p.m.

Space tourism: Jeff Bezos’ space flight with Blue Origin – the countdown is on

+++ 2:51 p.m .: Less than ten minutes until the start of the “New Shepard” rocket from Blue Origin. In addition to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, his brother Mark, aviation pioneer Wally Funk and the first paying customer, Oliver Daemen, are on board. The Blue Origin flight is the starting signal for the company’s space tourism.

+++ 2.43 p.m.: The astronauts: inside have completed a radio check, the hatch of the capsule is now closed. Now it’s time to wait for the “New Shepard” rocket to start. The start is planned for 3 p.m. An 11-minute space flight with four minutes of weightlessness awaits the astronauts inside.

+++ 2.38 p.m.: The crew is now in the capsule and is buckled up. The unusually large windows, which, according to Blue Origin, make up about a third of the structure, are striking. After all, customers who pay a lot of money for their trip into space should see as much as possible.

+++ 2.35 p.m.: The crew around Jeff Bezos climb the space capsule, in less than 30 minutes the Blue Origin rocket will launch.

Space tourism with Blue Origin: Jeff Bezos and three other crew members are in the space capsule

+++ 2.30 p.m .: “I like doing things that no one has done before,” says Wally Funk about herself. Today she will have the opportunity to do so: Along with Jeff Bezos, she is part of a four-person crew who are the first people to join the crew -Capsule “RSS First Step” of the “New Shepard” rocket from Blue Origin flies into space. The future astronauts are currently waiting inside to be allowed to enter the capsule and to give the go-ahead for space tourism

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+++ 2:27 p.m.: Before the rocket launches, the astronauts are waiting: Inside there is another strenuous task: Before they enter the capsule, they have to climb a high staircase.

+++ 2:18 p.m.: The astronauts: inside are on their way to the rocket. Jeff Bezos wears his typical cowboy hat, Wally Funk’s impatience can be seen – after all, she has been waiting for this day for many years.

Jeff Bezos and his crew fly into space with “New Shepard” – space tourism

+++ 2.10 p.m.: While it is slowly getting light in Texas, we take a look at the rocket that will launch Jeff Bezos and his crew into space today. The rocket is of the “New Shepard” type, a suborbital rocket from Blue Origin. Rockets of this type have flown 15 times so far, and the rocket that will launch into space with Jeff Bezos on board today has flown twice. Both flights were practically “dress rehearsals” for the flight today, even the entry and exit of the astronaut was rehearsed inside. The only difference: Today, for the first time, people will actually be on board the space capsule that will bring the “New Shepard” into space – the starting signal for space tourism.

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The space capsule is autonomous, no person is required to control the capsule. The space capsule and the rocket are “very safe,” said an engineer on the Blue Origin live stream. Many tests were made with the rocket on the ground. “The flight is easier for the rocket than the tests on earth”.

Billionaire on his way into space: Jeff Bezos takes 82-year-old Wally Funk with him

+++ 2 p.m.: In 2021 there should be two more space flights with people on board, according to the Blue Origin live stream. Fellow travelers could look forward to large windows and a view of the crooked earth. It is the “beginning of a revolution in space travel,” it says in a promotional video.

+++ Update from 1.40 p.m.: The future astronauts are already on site for final briefings and preparations. It should be a moving day, especially for Wally Funk: The 82-year-old pilot has been waiting all her life for this day when she will fly into space. Funk was part of the “Mercury 13”, a group of women who did the same tests as numerous male astronauts in the 1960s to convince NASA that women can also fly into space. Subsequent applications to NASA were unsuccessful – Jeff Bezos is now taking Wally Funk into space.

Space tourism: Jeff Bezos flies into space with Blue Origin – 90 minutes to takeoff

+++ Update from 1.30 p.m.: In one and a half hours it will be time. Then the “New Shepard” rocket from Blue Origin will take off in the Texas desert and take four people into space for a short time – keyword space tourism. Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and founder of Blue Origin will be there when the rocket transports people for the first time.

+++ Update from 12.25 p.m.: Billionaires put their money into private space travel, while there are numerous problems and starving people on earth. Jeff Bezos has to listen to this criticism often. Now he has reacted to it.

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Jeff Bezos flies into space: Blue Origin transports people for the first time – space tourism

First report from 07/20/2021: Texas – One thing you have to give them: Jeff Bezos and his space company Blue Origin have a knack for symbolism. The rocket with which company founder Bezos will fly into space for the first time today, Tuesday (July 20th, 2021), bears the name “New Shepard”, named after Alan Shepard, the first American in space. The first flight of a Blue Origin space capsule with people on board has been scheduled for several weeks for July 20, 2021 – not even the nine days earlier space flight of adventurer Richard Branson could change that. There is a reason for this: July 20 is the 52nd anniversary of the first moon landing in 1969 – a milestone that inspired an entire generation. And Bezos also claims to have had the dream of his own space flight since the moon landing.

But what exactly is Jeff Bezos planning to do? Who flies into space with the Amazon founder, what is the process of the flight into space and what significance does the Blue Origin rocket launch have for industry? An overview:

Jeff Bezos and Blue Origin: The “New Shepard” rocket has already launched 15 times

Bezos founded his space company in 2000, two years before Elon Musk * founded SpaceX. In April 2015, a “New Shepard” rocket with a crew capsule took off for the first time *. While the capsule landed safely back on earth, an important part of the mission failed: The rocket’s propulsion unit was destroyed and could not be reused. It would remain the only major problem with the missile. With the second launch of a “New Shepard” rocket, the vehicle crossed the 100-kilometer limit to space (Kármán line). “Blue Origin” has carried out a total of 15 rocket launches since April 2015 – after the first partial success, all take-offs and landings were successful, only three of the flights did not cross the Kármán Line.

Jeff Bezos is flying into space today – with his brother, the oldest female astronaut and the youngest astronaut

Now, for the first time, people are supposed to get into the capsule and fly with it into space. “We trained. The vehicle is ready, the crew is ready, the team is amazing, ”said Jeff Bezos in an interview with CBS News. The founder of Blue Origin and Amazon will not step into the capsule alone. His crew consists of a total of four people:

He had announced early on that Jeff Bezos would take his brother Mark with him. 82-year-old Wally Funk * will also be on board. She has been waiting for her flight into space since the 1960s and will be the oldest female astronaut in the world after her space flight. 18-year-old Oliver Daemen * will also become the youngest astronaut. His father is a Dutch investment banker who bought the space in the space capsule at auction.

Jeff Bezos flies into space with Blue Origin today: How the flight works

On July 20, 2021 at 8:00 a.m. local time (3:00 p.m. CEST), the “New Shepard” rocket is scheduled to launch in the Texas desert. It will reach a speed of around 3,200 kilometers per hour before the capsule separates from the launcher after around three minutes and at an altitude of around 76 kilometers. The capsule called “RSS First Step” (another allusion to the first moon landing) will continue to fly upwards and cross the border to space at an altitude of 100 kilometers. We are aiming for an altitude of around 106 kilometers.

“We’re in zero gravity for about four minutes, and we’ll be able to unbuckle ourselves and float around,” Jeff Bezos told CBS News. Of course, the new astronauts will take a detailed look at the inside of the earth from above before going down again. The capsule falls back towards earth in free fall and is slowed down by three huge parachutes, which are supposed to bring it gently and safely back to the floor of the Texas desert. The rocket should have landed back on earth by this time. The flight takes a total of eleven minutes.

Space flight for tourists: inside – isn’t that dangerous?

Anyone who gets into a space capsule or a spaceship will be aware of the fact that space travel is more dangerous than flying in a normal airplane. A study by the Center for Space Policy and Strategy suggests that the risk of a space flight today is about 10,000 times greater than a flight with a commercial airline. There is a safety mechanism that is supposed to quickly remove the capsule containing the astronauts from the rocket in an emergency. The so-called “Crew Capsule Escape System” quickly catapults the occupied capsule out of range of the rocket – this works while the rocket is still on the launch site, but also after the launch.

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Blue Origin: Jeff Bezos wants to boost space tourism – and further into space

Just like Richard Branson and Virgin Galactic *, Jeff Bezos also wants to earn money from space tourism with Blue Origin in the future. The Swiss bank UBS assumes that space tourism will become a lucrative market – there is talk of volumes of up to three billion US dollars by 2030. A third company is already involved in this industry: Elon Musk and his space company SpaceX are planning the first flight of space tourists: inside as early as autumn 2021. However, the astronauts on board the “Crew Dragon” space capsule from SpaceX * will not only be Enjoy a few minutes of weightlessness – you should be in space for several days and circle the earth several times.

While Richard Branson only wants to offer his future customers a few minutes of weightlessness, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin has even more plans: An orbital rocket (“New Glenn”) is being planned based on the suborbital rocket “New Shepard”. The rockets are reusable, which should make rocket launches cheaper. Blue Origin also wants to build a lunar lander for NASA and is arguing with SpaceX *.

Jeff Bezos: Not the first billionaire in space – or was it?

Billionaire Jeff Bezos flies into space – but he is not the first billionaire in space. Richard Branson came with Virgin Galactic nine days earlier *, but his spaceship “VSS Unity” only made it to an altitude of 86 kilometers. The US aviation authority (FAA) considers an altitude of 80 kilometers to be the limit to space, but internationally the Kármán Line is considered to be the limit to space at a height of 100 kilometers. Bezos will be able to cross this border with his flight today and at the same time have the youngest astronaut and the oldest female astronaut on board – a complete PR success for Blue Origin and Jeff Bezos. But he will not be able to beat another astronaut with his flight: Alan Shepard, the first American in space, and namesake of the “New Shepard” rocket. He made his first space flight to an altitude of 187 kilometers before his capsule, attached to a parachute, hit the Atlantic. (Tanja Banner) * fr.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.

Rubriklistenbild: © Tony Gutierrez