Blue Origin will launch people into space for their first time. Jeff Bezos, the founder of Blue Origin, will be aboard. There will be no test pilots nor flight engineers on Tuesday’s inaugural flight from West Texas. Only Bezos, his brother and aviation pioneer, and a teenage tourist.
The capsule can be operated entirely by itself, unlike Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic rocket plane which required two pilots to take him to and from space a week earlier.
Branson’s advice: Branson’s advice?
The billionaire rivals will launch anyone who is willing to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to get a quick up-and-down trip to space.
Here’s a quick look at the future for Bezos, his passengers and crew:
BEZOS ON BOARD
Blue Origin was founded by Bezos in 2000. He said that Blue Origin inspired his high school girlfriend to say, «Jeff started Amazon just so we could get enough money for Blue Origin — and she can’t prove me wrong.» He also stated that he finances Blue Origin by selling $1 billion of Amazon stock per year. Bezos was five years old when he saw Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong’s July 20, 1969 moon landing. For his launch, he chose the 52nd anniversary. Bezos was fascinated by space history and named his New Shepard rocket after Alan Shepard who was the first American to go into space. His larger, yet-in-development New Glenn rocket was named after John Glenn who was the first American to orbit. Bezos, 57 years old and also the owner of The Washington Post, resigned as Amazon CEO earlier in this month and donated $200 million to The Smithsonian Institution last week to renovate the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum and to launch an education center. It changes your perspective to see the Earth from space. He said that it changes your relationship to the planet and with humanity. It’s something I have wanted to do my whole life.