During the 52nd anniversary of the Apollo 11, Jeff Bezos’s spaceship flew up into the sky. He charged $28 million for the space ride, and even enlisted the help of comedian Pete Davidson.
Pete Davidson joins the crew
Earlier this week, Jeff Bezos’ space venture Blue Origin announced that “Saturday Night Live” comedian Pete Davidson would be joining the company’s fourth human flight. This flight will take place on March 23 and is sponsored by the Amazon founder and CEO.
The comedian will travel with five other paying customers. Those passengers include Party America CEO Marty Allen and University of North Carolina professor Jim Kitchen. They will fly on the NS-20 mission, which is the 20th in Blue Origin’s New Shepard program.
The NS-20 will be launched from Bezos’ rural Texas launch pad and loft the six passengers a total of 66 miles above the surface. The crew also includes former NASA manager George Nield, who was previously an FAA administrator for commercial space transportation.
Other passengers on the flight include SpaceKids Global founder Sharon Hagle and her husband Marc Hagle. They are both investors in Blue Origin and founded the space-focused nonprofit organization SpaceKids Global.
Elon Musk meets Jeff Bezos for a meal to discuss space
Getting into space is a big deal for these two men. They are competing for the title of richest man in the world, and also have their own ambitious plans to put humans back on the moon and beyond.
Elon Musk is the CEO of Tesla, and the founder of the private rocket company SpaceX. Jeff Bezos is the founder of Amazon, and has also been known to be an avid space buff.
The two men have been in a long-term battle over space, and it’s not just a business rivalry. There are also patent disputes and disputes over their use of NASA launchpads.
In 2004, they met for a meal to talk about their spaceship dreams. The meeting was memorable for more than just the meal itself. It also went viral on social media. In the photo, which was shared by journalist Trung Phan, Bezos and Musk can be seen in a restaurant, discussing their plans.
New Shepard rocket soared on 52nd anniversary of Apollo 11
Earlier this week, the world’s richest man, Jeff Bezos, soared to space with a new suborbital rocket, named after America’s first astronaut. Bezos’ trip marked the 52nd anniversary of the landing of Apollo 11, the first moon landing.
The launch of New Shepard marks the beginning of Blue Origin’s first-ever commercial passenger flights. The company plans to launch two more manned missions this year. Currently, they sell seats to customers for $450,000 each.
The spacecraft is a fully autonomous rocket-capsule combination, which has room for six people. It’s also one of the first vehicles to be reusable. The New Shepard capsule is designed to allow space tourism and research payloads to travel to space.
The capsule has large windows, which allows the passengers to see Earth from the vantage point of space. It also has a pressurized cabin for comfort.
Blue Origin charges $28 million for 11 minutes in space
Earlier this month, Blue Origin announced it was holding an online auction for a seat on the company’s New Shepard rocket. A seat on the New Shepard will cost $28 million, more than 100 times the price of a ticket on Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo.
The winner will take an 11-minute ride in space aboard the company’s new reusable launch vehicle. The auction will raise money for a charity. The proceeds will go to the Blue Origin’s Club for the Future, a nonprofit foundation that promotes STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education.
The Blue Origin auction kicked off on May 5 with a starting bid of $4.8 million. The winning bidder paid $28 million and the second highest bidder paid almost as much.
The winner will fly with Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com, on a suborbital flight to space on July 20. Bezos’s brother Mark will also join him on the flight, as will aerospace pioneer Wally Funk.
Blue Origin’s orbital launch vehicle
Earlier this month, Blue Origin’s orbital launch vehicle for Jeff Bezos spaceship made its first commercial flight. The mission carried an 82-year-old aviation pioneer and an 18-year-old Dutch physics student to space. The launch marked the company’s first flight with paying customers, and shifted how the public views Bezos’ company.
Bezos’ crew also brought a medallion from the first hot-air balloon flight in 1783, Amelia Earhart goggles, and a canvas from the Wright Brothers’ plane. They were followed by a team of workers, who cheered during the sonic boom.
The crew will be joined by two other passengers. One is the eldest daughter of Alan Shepard, America’s first astronaut. The other is a Dutch high school graduate.
During the flight, the Blue Origin capsule soared over 66.5 miles above the earth. It then descended to Earth, falling back to the ground under parachutes. The flight took ten minutes.