$ 45,000 left on a flight – per second? This is paid for by the previously anonymous bidder for a ten-minute space trip with multi-billionaire Jeff Bezos.
New York (AP) – A fortune for a ten minute flight with Jeff Bezos: A seat for the first manned space flight of a new space capsule from Blue Origin has been auctioned for 28 million US dollars. At first it was unclear who the successful bidder was at the auction. The flight with the rocket “New Shepard” is scheduled to start on July 20th. Amazon boss Jeff Bezos, who founded Blue Origin, wants to take a seat in the capsule together with his brother Mark.
Four people at a height of 100 kilometers
After launch, the spaceship is expected to accelerate to more than 3700 kilometers per hour within two minutes. Weightlessness should start after three minutes, before the capsule reaches a height of more than 100 kilometers above the earth. For comparison: the International Space Station ISS flies 400 kilometers above the earth’s surface. After their soaring, the astronauts are supposed to re-enter the earth’s atmosphere and “New Shepard” is supposed to land in the Texas desert, slowed down by large parachutes.
The auction started with a bid of 4.8 million and quickly broke the 20 million mark in the dramatically staged auction. The final bid ended up being $ 28 million – about 45,000 per second of flight. A total of four people should take a seat in the capsule on July 20th The identity of the successful bidder is to be revealed in the coming weeks, and a fourth person is also to be determined.
Test flight was unmanned
Blue Origin last tested the astronaut capsule in mid-April. It reached an altitude of around 105 kilometers before returning to Earth. For the first time, employees of the company also rehearsed some astronaut tasks before take-off and after landing. The actual test flight, however, remained unmanned – the “New Shepard” has never flown with people on board.
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