Hyderabad: Jeff Bezos will blast off to space at 6:30 PM (IST) on Tuesday, joined by his brother Mark Bezos, woman aviator Wally Funk (82) and teenager Oliver Daemen, from West Texas, United States, on board the Blue Origin's New Shepard capsule. Today's event holds a special significance as it was on this day that the Apollo 11 had landed on the moon 52 years ago in the year 1969. Also, the Blue Origin's spaceflight is totally different from Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic, as it is fully automated sans pilots unlike the latter's, and the total trip duration would be just 10-minutes.
The Amazon founder had created the Blue Origin company in 2000, as he had drawn inspiration to travel to space watching Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin’s moon landing at the age of 5 years, hence chose this day for his own launch. Also, the New Shepard capsule has been named after 'Alan Shepard' the first American to fly to space, and the rocket after John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth three times.
Read: Blast off to space: Former Amazon boss Jeff Bezos, 3 others to launch on 20 July
With this launch, Bezos expects to touch an anticipated altitude of 106 kilometers, compared to Branson's 86 kilometers, giving a complete view of the blue planet. The 60-foot rocket will accelerate towards space at Mach 3 (3 times the speed of sound), prior to capsule separation and then return for an upright landing. At its furthest (Apogee) the flyers onboard will experience weightlessness for around 4 minutes, following which they re-buckle as the capsule prepares for re-entry into earth's atmosphere. Finally, the capsule parachutes onto the desert.
The Blue Origin till date completed 15 test flights to space since 2015, and except for the booster crash-landing during the initial trip, all demo flights have been successful. Two rockets were used for these trips, with one launched seven times and another five. Also, the capsules were recycled and the company in a bid to test its emergency escape system had deliberately aborted a couple flights post liftoff. It may be noted that the flight on Tuesday will comprise of the rocket and capsule which have flown twice.
Read: Amazon tycoon Jeff Bezos to send a spaceship to the moon
Following the trip, Blue Origin's mulls opening up its ticket sales soon and already the firm has lined up some bidders. However, the company hasn’t disclosed the cost of the ticket yet, though a seat for this flight was auctioned off for $28 million. On the other hand, the company plans to use the New Shepard capsule to fly people to the edge of space, while the New Glenn will be used to haul cargo and crew into orbit from Cape Canaveral, Florida, beginning 2022. Meanwhile, the closest town of Van Horn, nestled amongst the Guadalupe Mountains which is closest to the spaceport of Blue Origin, has turned a hub for several tourists. Jeff Bezos had purchased the land in West Texas in 2000, and Van Horn is 25 miles away from the spaceport and has a population of 1,800 residents.
Joining Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic in the chase for space tourists is Elon Musk’s SpaceX. But SpaceX plans to send its customers into orbit, not on brief up-and-down hops. Musk has yet to commit to a launch himself.
