Billionaire businessman Jeff Bezos and pioneering female aviator Wally Funk emerge from their capsule after their flight aboard Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket on the world's first unpiloted suborbital flight near Van Horn, Texas, U.S., July 20, 2021 in a still image from video. (Blue Origin/Handout via REUTERS)Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin launch Live Updates: Jeff Bezos and three fellow passengers made a successful journey into space and landed back in West Texas on July 20.
Bezos personally invited two of his fellow passengers — his brother Mark Bezos, female aviation pioneer Wally Funk. They were joined by Oliver Daemen, a last-minute fill-in for the winner of a $28 million charity auction who had a scheduling conflict.
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New Shepard’s rocket-and-capsule was launched vertically into the suborbital space. The rocket returned to the launchpad, while the capsule fell back to earth with parachutes assisting it make the landing in the West Texas desert.
Live Blog
New Shepard is a rocket system that has been designed to take astronauts and research payloads past the Karman line – the internationally recognized boundary of space. The idea is to provide easier and more cost-effective access to space meant for purposes such as academic research, corporate technology development and entrepreneurial ventures among others. Read more
Blue Origin’s 60-foot (18-meter) New Shepard rocket will accelerate toward space at three times the speed of sound, or Mach 3, before separating from the capsule and returning for an upright landing. The passengers will experience three to four minutes of weightlessness, before their capsule parachutes onto the desert just 10 minutes after liftoff.
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Last week, British businessman Richard Branson hurtled into space aboard his own rocket and as another billionaire entrepreneur, Jeff Bezos, is ‘go for launch’ today, here is a quick look at the difference between the different human spaceflight missions.
Type of vehicle
Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic: SpaceShipTwo is a reusable space plane that can fly into suborbital space. The Spaceship was carried aboard the mothership VMS Eve and was released at about 50,000 feet above sea level. The spaceship fired its rocket engines and launched to the edge of space and landed back on the Spaceport runway.
Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin: New Shepard’s rocket-and-capsule will be launched vertically into the suborbital space. They then separate and the rocket returns to the launchpad, while the capsule falls back to earth with parachutes assisting it make the landing in the West Texas desert.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX: The Dragon capsule will be launched by a reusable Falcon rocket. The spacecraft is also equipped with parachutes to stabilise the spacecraft during reentry and splashdown.
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