The firm intends to run regular space tourism flights for commercial passengers. “How fast can you refuel that thing? Let’s go.” When you go to space and see how fragile it is you want to take care of it even more.”īezos, who donated the proceeds from the New Shepard seat auction to Blue Origin’s Club for the Future to encourage young people to pursue careers in space and science, also announced two $100m “ Courage and Civility” awards for recipients to donate to charities of their choice.Īsked if he would fly into space again, Bezos was unequivocal. This is not about escaping Earth … this is the only good planet in the solar system and we have to take care of it. “We’re going to build a road to space so our kids, and their kids, can build the future. ![]() “Every time we fly this tourism mission we’re practicing flying the second stage of New Glenn,” he added, referring to Blue Origin’s planned reusable heavy-lift launch vehicle, which is central to his vision of ultimately moving industry off the planet. “The whole point of doing this is to practice,” said Bezos, who announced in February that he was donating $10bn to efforts to “ preserve and protect the natural world”. In a post-flight press conference on Tuesday, Bezos said the venture had reinforced his commitment to tackling the climate crisis, and using New Shepard as a stepping stone towards colonising space for the benefit of Earth. In recent years, Bezos, who stood down as Amazon chief executive this month to concentrate on the space company he founded in 2000, has sold about $1bn in Amazon stock annually to fund Blue Origin. The tycoon, however, has also attracted criticism for putting his fortune into space tourism amid concerns over working conditions at Amazon, and “aggressive” tax avoidance. The AP is solely responsible for all content.Jeff Bezos, Mark Bezos, pioneering female aviator Wally Funk and recent high school graduate Oliver Daemen pose ahead of their scheduled flight. The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The rocket should have launched nearly two weeks ago, but was grounded until Monday by bad weather. ![]() Altogether, Blue Origin has carried 31 people, including actor William Shatner. Bezos was on the first New Shepard crew last year. It was the 23rd flight for the New Shepard program, named after the first American in space, Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard and the ninth flight for this particular rocket-capsule pair.īlue Origin's most recent flight with paying customers was just last month the ticket price hasn’t been released. Thirty-six experiments were on board, half sponsored by NASA. The webcast showed the capsule reaching a maximum altitude of more than 37,000 feet (11,300 meters). The rocket usually lands upright on the desert floor and then is recycled for future flights. It happened around the point the rocket is under the maximum amount of pressure, called max-q. There was no video shown of the rocket - only the capsule - after the failure. The mishap occurred as the rocket was traveling nearly 700 mph (1,126 kph) at an altitude of about 28,000 feet (8,500 meters). ![]() No further details were provided by the company. The rocket is grounded pending the outcome of an investigation, said the FAA, which is in charge of public safety during commercial space launches and landings.īlue Origin's launch commentary went silent when the capsule catapulted off the rocket Monday morning, eventually announcing: “It appears we've experienced an anomaly with today's flight. The rocket crashed back to Earth with no injuries or damage reported, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.Īlthough this New Shepard rocket was dedicated to flying experiments, it was the same kind used for launching people on 10-minute rides to the edge of space. Several minutes later, the capsule parachuted onto the remote desert floor. The capsule’s emergency launch abort system immediately kicked in, lifting the craft off the top. The Blue Origin rocket blasted off from West Texas and was barely a minute into the flight when bright yellow flames shot out from around the single engine at the bottom. No one was aboard, only science experiments. Jeff Bezos’ rocket company suffered its first launch failure Monday.
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