The
“Best day ever!” Bezos said when the capsule touched down on the desert floor in remote
Named after America’s first astronaut, Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket soared on the 52nd anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, a date chosen by Bezos for its historical significance. He held fast to it, even as Virgin Galactic’s
The two private companies chasing space tourism dollars, though, have drawn criticism for catering to the rich while so many are struggling amid the pandemic.
During Tuesday's flight, Blue Origin's capsule reached an altitude of about 66 miles (106 kilometers), more than 10 miles (16 kilometers) higher than Branson’s
Unlike Branson’s piloted rocket plane, Bezos’ capsule was completely automated and required no official staff on board for the up-and-down flight.
During their several minutes of weightlessness, video from inside the capsule showed the four floating, doing somersaults, tossing Skittles candies and throwing balls, with lots of cheering, whooping and exclamations of “Wow!” The Bezos brothers also joined their palms to display a “HI MOM” greeting written on their hands. The capsule landed under parachutes, with Bezos and his guests briefly experiencing nearly six times the force of gravity, or 6 G’s, on the way back.
Led by Bezos, they climbed out of the capsule after touchdown with wide grins, embracing parents, partners and children, then popped open bottles of sparkling wine, spraying one another.
“My expectations were high and they were dramatically exceeded,” Bezos said later.
Their flight lasted 10 minutes and 10 seconds — five minutes shy of Alan Shepard’s Freedom 7 flight in 1961. Shepard's daughters, Laura and Julie, were introduced at a press event a few hours later.
Sharing Bezos’ dream-come-true adventure was
"I’ve been waiting a long time to finally get it up there,” Funk said.
“I want to go again — fast," she added.
Joining them on the ultimate joyride was the company’s first paying customer,
“It was so amazing," Daemen said. “Let’s hope that many, many more people can do this."
Four hours after their flight, Bezos drove his crew over to see the rocket that carried them safely to space.
Among the items brought on the flight: A pair of aviator Amelia Earhart’s goggles and a piece of fabric from the original
“I got goose bumps,” said
No one is rushing to buy a ticket from this bleak and isolated town.
“This ride is only for the wealthy,” pizza shop owner
Blue Origin — founded by Bezos in 2000 in
The recycled rocket and capsule used Tuesday flew on the last two space demos, according to company officials.
Blue Origin’s approach was slower and more deliberate. After 15 successful unoccupied test flights to space since 2015, Bezos finally declared it was time to put people on board. The
Bezos, 57, who also owns
“That would have been unthinkable!” Bimm said. “”It shows just how much the idea of who and what space is for has changed in the last 60 years.”
Bezos stepped down this month as Amazon’s CEO and last week donated
Fewer than 600 people have reached the edge of space or beyond. Until Tuesday, the youngest was 25-year-old Soviet cosmonaut
Both Bezos and Branson want to drastically increase those overall numbers, as does SpaceX’s
“We're going to build a road to space so our kids and their kids can build the future,” Bezos said. "We need to do that to solve the problems here on Earth.”
Despite appearances, Bezos and Branson insist they weren’t trying to outdo each other by strapping in themselves. Bezos noted this week that only one person can lay claim to being first in space: Soviet cosmonaut
Branson sent a congratulatory tweet: “Impressive! Very best to all the crew from me and all the team” at
Blue Origin is working on a massive rocket, New Glenn, to put payloads and people into orbit from
Included in the many people that Bezos thanked Tuesday was "every
AP reporters
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