Blue Origin

Message
Author
PHXPhlyer
Chief Pilot
Chief Pilot
Posts: 8239
Joined: Sun Jun 17, 2018 2:56 pm
Location: PHX
Gender:
Age: 69

Blue Origin

#1 Post by PHXPhlyer » Fri Jan 15, 2021 1:12 am

Blue Origin aims to fly first passengers into space as early as April

https://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/b ... il-rcna224


Blue Origin aims to fly first passengers into space as early as April
The company on Thursday completed the fourteenth test flight of its New Shepard rocket booster and capsule.

Jan. 14, 2021, 2:22 PM MST
By Michael Sheetz, CNBC
After years in development, Jeff Bezos’ private space company Blue Origin aims to carry its first passengers on a ride to the edge of space in a few months.

Blue Origin on Thursday completed the fourteenth test flight of its New Shepard rocket booster and capsule. Called NS-14, the successful test flight featured the debut of a new booster and an upgraded capsule.

Beyond the upgrades, CNBC has learned that NS-14 also marked one of the last remaining steps before Blue Origin flies its first crew to space.

The flight was the first of two “stable configuration” test flights, people familiar with Blue Origin’s plans told CNBC. Stable configuration means that the company plans to avoid making major changes between this flight and the next.

Additionally, those people said that Blue Origin aims to launch the second test flight within six weeks, or by late February, and the first crewed flight six weeks after that, or by early April.

Blue Origin’s next flight, NS-15, will also include a test of loading and unloading the crew, the people said.

The company declined CNBC’s request for comment on its plans for New Shepard.

An ambitious timeline
The New Shepard schedule is ambitious, one of the people cautioned, with the goal of flying every six weeks coming from the company’s top leadership. Blue Origin’s prior mission NS-13 flew in October, after being delayed from September due to a power supply issue – and it also came after a nine-month hiatus between flights.

The person also noted that one of the outstanding tasks for New Shepard’s NS-15 launch is to finish software qualification review, which they said is not expected to be finished until late March or even April.

New Shepard is designed to carry people on rides past the edge of space, reaching an altitude of more than 340,000 feet (or more than 100 kilometers). The capsule spends several minutes in zero gravity before returning to Earth, with massive windows to give passengers a view. Both the rockets and the capsules are reusable, with the boosters returning to land vertically and the capsules landing on control of a set of parachutes.

The NS-14 mission featured multiple upgrades to the crew capsule, including an audio push-to-talk system for astronauts to talk to mission control, a new crew alert system panel at each seat, cushioned wall linings and sound suppression devices to reduce noise in the capsule, and the addition of environmental systems such as air condition and humidity controls.

Blue Origin was founded in 2000 by Bezos, and now has more than 3,500 employees with its headquarters in Kent, Washington. To date, Blue Origin has launched New Shepard 14 times successfully, and landed the rocket’s booster 13 consecutive times. The company has built four New Shepard boosters in total, the fourth of which launched on Thursday for the first time.

Its third booster has flown seven times consecutively and will be used to fly microgravity research payloads for NASA and other customers. New Shepard is a fully autonomous system, with no pilots on board.

Bezos personally funds Blue Origin’s development by selling part of his stock in Amazon. While he has previously said that he sells about $1 billion of Amazon shares annually to fund the space company, Bezos has recently increased his sales of Amazon stock, cashing out more than $10 billion worth in 2020.

PP

User avatar
TheGreenGoblin
Chief Pilot
Chief Pilot
Posts: 17596
Joined: Thu Aug 08, 2019 11:02 pm
Location: With the Water People near Trappist-1

Re: Blue Origin

#2 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Sat Jan 16, 2021 1:25 pm

Old beardy Branson has been threatening to do this every year since about 2011... 8-|

Multiple deaths and aborted missions later...

http://www.parabolicarc.com/2020/12/14/ ... nch-abort/
Though you remain
Convinced
"To be alive
You must have somewhere
To go
Your destination remains
Elusive."

PHXPhlyer
Chief Pilot
Chief Pilot
Posts: 8239
Joined: Sun Jun 17, 2018 2:56 pm
Location: PHX
Gender:
Age: 69

Re: Blue Origin

#3 Post by PHXPhlyer » Mon Jun 07, 2021 4:49 pm

Jeff Bezos to launch himself into space for first time next month

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/ ... h-n1269799

Jeff Bezos to launch himself into space for first time next month
"On July 20th, I will take that journey with my brother. The greatest adventure, with my best friend," Bezos announced on Instagram.

Jeff Bezos announced on Monday that he and his brother will join the first crewed spaceflight from his private rocket company on July 20 — just 15 days after he is set to step down as chief executive of Amazon.

"Ever since I was five years old, I’ve dreamed of traveling to space," he wrote in an Instagram post. "On July 20th, I will take that journey with my brother. The greatest adventure, with my best friend."

In May, the Amazon founder's rocket company, Blue Origin, announced that its first flight aboard its New Shepard rocket, designed to carry up to six tourists per flight, would auction off one seat to the highest bidder.


The auction, on BlueOrigin.com, was held in three parts, according to the company. The first phase, from May 5 to May 19, allowed people to bid any amount on the website. After May 19, the bids were unsealed, and on June 12, Blue Origin will hold a live auction to determine the winner.

The money raised will be donated to Blue Origin's foundation, Club for the Future, which promotes STEM education initiatives, the company said.

Bidding for a joyride in outer space next to the Amazon founder was already at $2.8 million with nearly 6,000 participants from 143 countries, according to the company.

In his announcement on Monday, Bezos said: “To see the earth from space, it changes you. It changes your relationship with the earth, with humanity — it’s one earth."

Has anyone here bid on a seat yet? :-?

PP

G-CPTN
Chief Pilot
Chief Pilot
Posts: 7593
Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2018 11:22 pm
Location: Tynedale
Gender:
Age: 79

Re: Blue Origin

#4 Post by G-CPTN » Mon Jun 07, 2021 4:53 pm

Is there standing room available?

PHXPhlyer
Chief Pilot
Chief Pilot
Posts: 8239
Joined: Sun Jun 17, 2018 2:56 pm
Location: PHX
Gender:
Age: 69

Re: Blue Origin

#5 Post by PHXPhlyer » Mon Jun 07, 2021 4:56 pm

Steerage, maybe? :-??

PP

Boac
Chief Pilot
Chief Pilot
Posts: 17205
Joined: Fri Aug 28, 2015 5:12 pm
Location: Here

Re: Blue Origin

#6 Post by Boac » Mon Jun 07, 2021 7:46 pm

I'll nominate a safe place for him to be delivered if I'm out.

PHXPhlyer
Chief Pilot
Chief Pilot
Posts: 8239
Joined: Sun Jun 17, 2018 2:56 pm
Location: PHX
Gender:
Age: 69

Re: Blue Origin

#7 Post by PHXPhlyer » Thu Jun 10, 2021 7:28 pm

Jeff Bezos is going to space for 11 minutes. Here's how risky that is

https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/10/tech/jef ... index.html

New York (CNN Business)Jeff Bezos can have anything. He could circle the globe in a private jet or sail it forever in a fleet of megayachts. He could afford to buy a the whole NFL; he could buy an archipelago for his family and friends; he could buy over 65,000 Bugatti Chirons (base price $2.9 million), even though only 500 are being built. As the world's richest person, the possibilities are endless. But Bezos appears ready to risk it all for an 11-minute ride to space.

Just how risky is his decision?

The answer isn't what you might expect. Space travel is, historically, fraught with danger. Though the risks are not necessarily astronomical for Bezos' jaunt to the cosmos, as his space company Blue Origin has spent the better part of the last decade running the suborbital New Shepard rocket he'll be riding on through a series of successful test flights. (Also, being in space is Bezos' lifelong dream.)
Still, what Bezos, his brother Mark Bezos, and the winner of an online auction, will be doing -- going on the very first crewed flight of New Shepard, a fully autonomous suborbital rocket and spacecraft system designed to take ticket holders on brief joy rides to space -- is not entirely without risk.
Here's what Bezos' flight will look like and the extent to which people are taking their lives in their hands when they go to outer space these days.

When most people think about spaceflight, they think about an astronaut circling the Earth, floating in space, for at least a few days.
That is not what the Bezos brothers and their fellow passengers will be doing .
They'll be going up and coming right back down, and they'll be doing it in less time -- about 11 minutes -- than it takes most people to get to work.
Suborbital flights differ greatly from orbital flights of the type most of us think of when we think of spaceflight. Blue Origin's New Shepard flights will be brief, up-and-down trips, though they will go more than 62 miles above Earth, which is widely considered to be the edge of outer space.

Orbital rockets need to drum up enough power to hit at least 17,000 miles per hour, or what's known as orbital velocity, essentially giving a spacecraft enough energy to continue whipping around the Earth rather than being dragged immediately back down by gravity.
Suborbital flights require far less power and speed. That means less time the rocket is required to burn, lower temperatures scorching the outside of the spacecraft, less force and compression ripping at the spacecraft, and generally fewer opportunities for something to go very wrong.
New Shepard's suborbital fights hit about about three times the speed of sound — roughly 2,300 miles per hour — and fly directly upward until the rocket expends most of its fuel. The crew capsule will then separate from the rocket at the top of the trajectory and briefly continue upward before the capsule almost hovers at the top of its flight path, giving the passengers a few minutes of weightlessness. It works sort of like an extended version of the weightlessness you experience when you reach the peak of a roller coaster hill, just before gravity brings your cart — or, in Bezos' case, your space capsule -- screaming back down toward the ground.

The New Shepard capsule then deploys a large plume of parachutes to slow its descent to less than 20 miles per hour before it hits the ground.
The rocket, flying separately, re-ignites its engines and uses its on-board computers to execute a pinpoint, upright landing. The booster landing looks similar to what SpaceX does with its Falcon 9 rockets, though those rockets are far more powerful than New Shepard and — yes — more prone to exploding on impact.
How big are the risks?
J
Blue Origin's New Shepard capsule, which is fully autonomous and does not require a pilot, has never had an explosive mishap in 15 test flights. And the nature of Bezos' flight means it comes with some inherently lower risks than more ambitious space travel attempts. But that doesn't mean the risk is zero, either.
Because suborbital flights don't require as much speed or the intense process of trying to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere at incredible speeds, they're considered much less risky than orbital flights. With an orbital re-entry, a spacecraft's external temperatures can reach up to 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit, and astronauts can experience 4.5 Gs of force that is also placed upon the spacecraft, all while the ever-thickening atmosphere whips around the capsule.
High speeds and high altitudes come with inherent risks, and even small errors can have big consequences. Earth's atmosphere is generally not considered survivable for significant amounts of time above altitudes of 50,000 feet without a spacesuit, and Bezos will be traveling up to 350,000 feet. But the capsule he travels in will be pressurized, so he doesn't need a special suit to keep him safe, and he'll have access to an oxygen mask if the cabin loses pressure. The spacecraft is also equipped with an abort system designed to jettison the New Shepard capsule and passengers away from the rocket in case of emergency. There's also back-up safety features to help the capsule land gently even if a couple of its parachutes fail to deploy.

But even still, there is no way to absolutely guarantee safety should New Shepard malfunction.
Even though suborbital flights are less risky than orbital missions, they can still be deadly.
One of Virgin Galactic's suborbital space planes, for example, broke apart in 2014 when one of the vehicle's copilots prematurely deployed the feathering system designed to keep the craft stable as it made its descent. The added drag on the plane ripped it to pieces, killing one of the pilots.
(Blue Origin competitor Virgin Galactic has since had three successful test flights of a revamped version of its SpaceShipTwo space plane.)
Blue Origin has not encountered similar tragic accidents during its testing phase, though — as an old industry adage goes — space is hard.
But, Bezos has indicated, the risk is worth it.

PP

PHXPhlyer
Chief Pilot
Chief Pilot
Posts: 8239
Joined: Sun Jun 17, 2018 2:56 pm
Location: PHX
Gender:
Age: 69

Re: Blue Origin

#8 Post by PHXPhlyer » Sat Jun 12, 2021 9:29 pm

Spare ticket for spaceflight with Jeff Bezos auctioned for $28 million

https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/12/tech/jef ... index.html

New York (CNN Business)What would you pay to take a jolting, 11-minute trip into suborbital space alongside Jeff Bezos? According to bidders in an auction that wrapped up Saturday, it's worth $28 million.

The company kicked off the auction last month — before it was revealed that billionaire founder and Amazon mogul Bezos, along with his brother Mark Bezos, would be on board New Shepard's inaugural crewed mission.
Blue Origin sales director Ariane Cornell said during a livestream of the event that 7,600 people from 159 countries had registered and were able to bid in the auction, which was hosted by Boston-based RR Auction, on Saturday. The name of the winning bidder was not revealed. The flight is expected to take off from Blue Origin's facilities in West Texas town of Van Horn, on July 20.
Blue Origin, the rocket venture Bezos founded in 2000, has spent the better part of a decade testing New Shepard, the 60-foot-tall rocket and capsule system. It will fmark the first time humans have flown aboard the fully autonomous New Shepard vehicle after 15 uncrewed test flights carried out by the company since 2015.

The company's ultimate goal is to sell tickets to the general public, offering brief but jarring trips to more than 62 miles above Earth for scenic views, a few minutes of weightlessness, and bragging rights. The 62-mile mark is the altitude that is internationally considered to mark the boundary of outer space, though the US government considers it to be more around 50 miles. Throughout history, people have been considered astronauts — and been awarded metals, pins or "wings" — for traveling above either mark.
The proceeds from the auction that wrapped up Saturday will be donated to Blue Origin's Club for the Future, which aims to promote science, technology, engineering, and math education among young students. But it was also a litmus test for how much wealthy consumers might be willing to pay for a brief flight into the upper atmosphere.
The $28 million price point the ticket sold for is far more than what Blue Origin's direct competitor, Virgin Galactic, has sold its tickets for. Though Galactic has yet to fly paying customers, it has already sold roughly 600 tickets for between $200,000 and $250,000 each.
But it's also far less than what it likely costs to go on a more immersive spaceflight, such as the orbital trips Elon Musk's SpaceX is offering that will allow people to spend days orbiting the Earth, or even stay aboard the International Space Station. Financial details of those planned trips have not been disclosed, but one government report said a SpaceX seat would cost as much as $55 million — not including fees for use of the space station.
The flight profile of a Blue Origin New Shepard rocket is far different from that of an orbital SpaceX rocket.

New Shepard's suborbital fights hit about about three times the speed of sound — roughly 2,300 miles per hour — and fly directly upward until the rocket expends most of its fuel. The crew capsule will then separate from the rocket at the top of the trajectory and briefly continue upward before the capsule almost hovers at the top of its flight path, giving the passengers a few minutes of weightlessness. It works sort of like an extended version of the weightlessness you experience when you reach the peak of a roller coaster hill, just before gravity brings your cart — or, in Bezos' case, your space capsule -- screaming back down toward the ground.
The New Shepard capsule then deploys a large plume of parachutes to slow its descent to less than 20 miles per hour before it hits the ground.

PP

PHXPhlyer
Chief Pilot
Chief Pilot
Posts: 8239
Joined: Sun Jun 17, 2018 2:56 pm
Location: PHX
Gender:
Age: 69

Re: Blue Origin

#9 Post by PHXPhlyer » Thu Jun 24, 2021 3:53 pm

Launching Jeff Bezos into space is a leap too far for insurers

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/busine ... s-n1272234

Launching Jeff Bezos into space is a leap too far for insurers
Insurers are well known for offering cover for even the most outlandish of risks, but potential accidents in space are not yet among them.

June 24, 2021, 8:03 AM MST / Source: Reuters
By Reuters
Launching one of the richest individuals on earth into orbit has proved a leap too far for insurers, who are not ready to price the risk of losing Jeff Bezos or his fellow space travelers.

Amazon CEO Bezos, a lifelong space enthusiast, has been vying with Elon Musk and Richard Branson to become the first billionaire to fly beyond the earth's atmosphere.

And while insurers are well known for offering cover for even the most outlandish of risks, at a price, potential accidents in space are not yet among them.

"Space tourism involves significant risk, but is not an issue life insurers specifically ask about as yet because it is so rare for anyone to travel into space," Insurance Information Institute (III) spokesperson Michael Barry said.

There is a nearly $500 million market to insure satellites, rockets and unmanned space flight, but no legal requirement for an operator such as Blue Origin, which Bezos founded, to insure passengers for injury or death or for space tourists to have life cover, brokers and insurers said.

"We're not aware of a case where anybody is insured against passenger liability," Neil Stevens, senior vice president, aviation and space at Marsh, the world's biggest insurance broker, told Reuters.

Assuming they lift-off as planned next month, Bezos and the other wannabe astronauts on Blue Origin's New Shepard spacecraft will not only spend several minutes 62 miles above the earth in a truck-sized capsule, they also have to get back.

The only group that has regularly flown humans sub-orbitally since the 1960s is Branson's Virgin Galactic. All have been tests, with one failure in 2014 resulting in a death. Blue Origin has flown 15 unmanned sub-orbital flights with no failures, Seradata SpaceTrak data showed on June 10.

Bezos, Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic did not respond to requests for comment from Reuters on their insurance plans and flight records.

Being uninsured in space is nothing new: NASA and the U.S., in general, do not buy liability cover, with government launches basically insured by taxpayers.

Being uninsured in space is nothing new. NASA and the U.S., in general, do not buy liability cover, with government launches basically insured by taxpayers, Richard Parker of Assure Space, a unit of insurer AmTrust Financial that provides space insurance, said.

NASA astronauts are eligible for government life insurance programs, a NASA spokesperson said in an emailed response.

Charles Wetton, underwriting manager for space policies at insurer Global Aerospace, said astronauts on government-funded missions are carefully selected for their knowledge, skills and fitness and train for several years before blast off.

"They and their families understand the risks of the work they do," Wetton said.

But commercial space cadets may only get a few days of training for a sub-orbital flight or a few months for a ride to the International Space Station, Wetton said, adding: "These represent two very different risk profiles that insurers will take into account."

Blue Origin on its website says the spaceflight passenger will receive training the day before the launch, including mission and vehicle overviews, safety briefings, mission simulation and instruction on in-flight activities.

Virgin Galactic said participants will get three days of training and preparation before the launch.

Insurers expect iron clad waivers and contracts from commercial space travel firms, stating they will bear no burden if a passenger dies during a flight.

NASA has called for responses from the industry for its plans for a liability framework for privately funded astronaut missions to the ISS. NASA's plans include requiring private astronauts to buy life insurance.

It is still early days, but cover for space tourists may be the next step, said Tim Rush, senior vice president, U.S. space, at insurance broker Gallagher, adding that the life insurance market currently provides individual cover of $2-5 million for private astronauts.

The only mandatory insurance in place for commercial space operators is third-party liability, mainly to cover property damage on earth or to a flying aircraft, said Akiko Hama, client executive, space and aerospace underwriting at Global Aerospace.

Blue Origin plans for its six-seater spacecraft to take off on July 20 and fly for four minutes beyond the boundary between the earth's atmosphere and outer space, where passengers will experience total weightlessness.

A key question for how the sector develops is whether risks related to tourism fall under space or aviation insurance lines, insurers and brokers told Reuters.

The U.N. Outer Space Treaty and the Liability Convention of 1972 governs all activities in space and very few countries have a legal framework for commercial human spaceflight, they said.

The first-ever aviation insurance policy was written by Lloyd's of London in 1911. A few years later the market insured Charles Lindbergh and his single-engine plane for $18,000 on its nonstop flight from the United States to Europe.

Space trips are different, said Marsh's Stevens, because the passengers are returning to the same place as they left, making it technically a domestic trip to which international aviation insurance cannot be applied, meaning there will also be no limitation to liability.

"The aviation, aircraft insurance market, and the like, are less keen to take on risks that involve spacecraft," he said, adding that whether space tourism trips fall under aviation or space insurance is a "million-dollar question."

While air travel is governed by rules that establish airline liability in the case of death of passengers, Stevens said he was unaware of plans for similar rules for space tourism.

However, Wetton said Global Aerospace had started to receive enquiries from companies for sub-orbital missions.

"In 10 years' time, maybe the two lines, aviation and spaceflight will look very similar," said Assure Space's Parker.

"Some legislative somewhere will say, look, we're now having average Joes flying on these launch vehicles and need to protect them," Parker added.

PP

PHXPhlyer
Chief Pilot
Chief Pilot
Posts: 8239
Joined: Sun Jun 17, 2018 2:56 pm
Location: PHX
Gender:
Age: 69

Re: Blue Origin

#10 Post by PHXPhlyer » Thu Jul 01, 2021 3:21 pm

Jeff Bezos picks female aerospace pioneer for space launch

https://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/j ... h-rcna1319

Jeff Bezos picks female aerospace pioneer for space launch
Wally Funk will be aboard the July 20 launch from West Texas alongside Bezos, flying in the capsule for the 10-minute hop as an “honored guest.”

Blue Origin’s Jeff Bezos has chosen an early female aerospace pioneer — an 82-year-old pilot denied astronaut wings decades ago because of her gender — to rocket into space with him later this month.

The company announced Thursday that Wally Funk will be aboard the July 20 launch from West Texas, flying in the capsule for the 10-minute hop as an “honored guest.” She’ll join Bezos, his brother and the winner of a charity auction, as the first people to fly a New Shepard rocket.

Funk is among the so-called Mercury 13 women who went through astronaut training in the 1960s, but never made it to space — or even NASA’s astronaut corps — because they were female. Back then, all of the NASA astronauts were military test pilots and male.

At age 82, Funk will become the oldest person to launch into space. She’ll beat the late John Glenn, who set a record at age 77 when flying aboard space shuttle Discovery in 1998.

“No one has waited longer,” Bezos said via Instagram. “It’s time. Welcome to the crew, Wally. We’re excited to have you fly with us on July 20th as our honored guest.”

Funk, a pilot and former flight instructor, was the first female inspector for the Federal Aviation Administration and the first female air safety investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board.

PP

G-CPTN
Chief Pilot
Chief Pilot
Posts: 7593
Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2018 11:22 pm
Location: Tynedale
Gender:
Age: 79

Re: Blue Origin

#11 Post by G-CPTN » Mon Jul 05, 2021 12:32 pm


PHXPhlyer
Chief Pilot
Chief Pilot
Posts: 8239
Joined: Sun Jun 17, 2018 2:56 pm
Location: PHX
Gender:
Age: 69

Re: Blue Origin

#12 Post by PHXPhlyer » Mon Jul 12, 2021 10:23 pm

Blue Origin reveals Jeff Bezos flight details

Blue Origin on Monday revealed details of the company's first flight into space with astronauts onboard just one day after Richard Branson successfully completed a test flight into space with Virgin Galactic.

According to Blue Origin, the live broadcast of New Shepard's 16th flight into space will kick off on BlueOrigin.com at 6:30 a.m. CDT on July 20. Liftoff is targeted for 8 a.m. CDT, a Blue Origin spokesperson confirmed.


Bezos' July 20 launch date marks the 52nd anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. He assigned himself to the flight just a month ago and asked his brother, Mark, to join him.

Accompanying both brothers on the mission will be a $28 million auction winner and Wally Funk, one of the last surviving members of the Mercury 13 who was chosen as his "honored guest." The 13 female pilots passed the same tests as NASA’s original Mercury 7 astronauts in the early 1960s, but were barred from the corps – and spaceflight – because they were women.

The launch site will be in a remote location within the West Texas desert and will not have any on-site public viewing areas, the spokesperson said. Additionally, the Texas Department of Transportation will shut down portions of State Highway 54 to prevent spectators from getting too close to the launch site, according to the spokesperson.


However, there's still one major issue. The FAA has not officially approved Blue Origin's application to launch crew or space flight participants, which refer to any individual who is not crew and is carried aboard a launch vehicle or reentry vehicle into space.

The FAA confirmed to FOX Business that the agency is still reviewing Blue Origin’s application to modify its existing license to allow for crew and space flight participants.

"As for all license application reviews, the FAA will make a decision when and if all regulatory requirements are met," an FAA spokesperson told FOX Business in a statement.

Branson hurtled into space aboard his own winged rocket ship Sunday alongside five crewmates, just nine days ahead of Bezos' planned launch. The rocket from Branson's Virgin Galactic space-tourism company, which reached an altitude of 53.5 miles over the New Mexico desert, was a major step in bringing Astro-tourism closer to reality.

PP

Boac
Chief Pilot
Chief Pilot
Posts: 17205
Joined: Fri Aug 28, 2015 5:12 pm
Location: Here

Re: Blue Origin

#13 Post by Boac » Tue Jul 13, 2021 12:58 pm

Now 'licensed'.

PHXPhlyer
Chief Pilot
Chief Pilot
Posts: 8239
Joined: Sun Jun 17, 2018 2:56 pm
Location: PHX
Gender:
Age: 69

Re: Blue Origin

#14 Post by PHXPhlyer » Tue Jul 13, 2021 4:29 pm

Bezos' Blue Origin gets OK to send him, 3 others to space

https://www.12news.com/article/news/nat ... 83adcb079f

Bezos' Blue Origin gets OK to send him, 3 others to space
It will be the first launch with passengers for Blue Origin, which like Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic plans to start flying paying customers in the months ahead.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Jeff Bezos’ rocket company has gotten government approval to launch people into space, himself included.

The Amazon founder will climb atop his New Shepard rocket next Tuesday in West Texas, joined by his brother, an 82-year-old female aviation pioneer and a $28 million auction winner. It will be the first launch with passengers for Blue Origin, which like Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic plans to start flying paying customers in the months ahead.

The Federal Aviation Administration issued its OK on Monday. The license is good through August.

On Sunday, Virgin Galactic’s billionaire founder Richard Branson rode his own rocket plane to space, accompanied by five company employees. A specially designed aircraft carried the winged ship aloft over New Mexico. The space plane dropped away, fired its rocket motor and soared to 53.5 miles (86 kilometers), before gliding to a runway touchdown.

Blue Origin’s flight — featuring an automated capsule launched atop a reusable booster — should reach a maximum altitude of roughly 66 miles (106 kilometers) before parachuting into the desert.

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.

Bezos, 57, stepped down last week as Amazon's CEO. He founded Blue Origin in 2000.

PP

Boac
Chief Pilot
Chief Pilot
Posts: 17205
Joined: Fri Aug 28, 2015 5:12 pm
Location: Here

Re: Blue Origin

#15 Post by Boac » Wed Jul 14, 2021 3:12 pm

Amazon delivery on its way at 14:00Z Tuesday.

User avatar
TheGreenGoblin
Chief Pilot
Chief Pilot
Posts: 17596
Joined: Thu Aug 08, 2019 11:02 pm
Location: With the Water People near Trappist-1

Re: Blue Origin

#16 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Wed Jul 14, 2021 4:25 pm

Boac wrote:
Wed Jul 14, 2021 3:12 pm
Amazon delivery on its way at 14:00Z Tuesday.
It can be found behind the Green Wheelie bin when you get home. =))
Though you remain
Convinced
"To be alive
You must have somewhere
To go
Your destination remains
Elusive."

User avatar
OFSO
Chief Pilot
Chief Pilot
Posts: 18599
Joined: Sat Aug 22, 2015 6:39 pm
Location: Teddington UK and Roses Catalunia
Gender:
Age: 80

Re: Blue Origin

#17 Post by OFSO » Tue Jul 20, 2021 6:57 am

Need new phone. Amazon.es prices gone up by 30% to pay for launch.

Boac
Chief Pilot
Chief Pilot
Posts: 17205
Joined: Fri Aug 28, 2015 5:12 pm
Location: Here

Re: Blue Origin

#18 Post by Boac » Tue Jul 20, 2021 7:13 am

No, that's to pay for his widow's fund :))

User avatar
TheGreenGoblin
Chief Pilot
Chief Pilot
Posts: 17596
Joined: Thu Aug 08, 2019 11:02 pm
Location: With the Water People near Trappist-1

Re: Blue Origin

#19 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Tue Jul 20, 2021 11:38 am

TheGreenGoblin wrote:
Wed Jul 14, 2021 4:25 pm
Boac wrote:
Wed Jul 14, 2021 3:12 pm
Amazon delivery on its way at 14:00Z Tuesday.
It can be found behind the Green Wheelie bin when you get home. =))
I trust we are all ready for this epoch making moment in the history of millionaires? :-bd :))
Though you remain
Convinced
"To be alive
You must have somewhere
To go
Your destination remains
Elusive."

User avatar
Wodrick
Chief Pilot
Chief Pilot
Posts: 8332
Joined: Sun Aug 23, 2015 8:23 am
Location: Torrox Campo, Andalucia.
Gender:
Age: 74

Re: Blue Origin

#20 Post by Wodrick » Tue Jul 20, 2021 12:58 pm

They sure know how to do ugly innit
https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/ITORRO10?cm_ven=localwx_pwsdash

Post Reply