In developments regarding Blue Origin, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos landed safely back to Earth after his glorious flight to space. After months of reports on the space-flight and the people behind it, Bezos finally flew to space and returned and has opened a new chapter of privatized spaceflight which may be rare and expensive, but is safe and sound.

Details

Jeff Bezos flew till the edge of the space, achieved zero-gravity with his three fellow passengers, and returned back safely to the pre-designated landing spot in Texas. The richest man in the world was part of the NS-16 mission, and stepped in – and then out – of the Blue Origin spacecraft.


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Who all were aboard the Blue-Origin?

On July 20, at 9:12 ET, the Blue Origin lifted off thanks to its booster called the New Shepard. The New Shepard was the six-story-tall booster which helped the Blue Origin lift off from the Van Horn, Texas launching pad. Along with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos were his brother Mark, aviation extraordinaire Wally Funk and enviably lucky Dutch teenager Oliver Daemen (he was the first paying customer for Blue Origin).

Youngest and Oldest Crew Members abord Blue Origin

With the successful mission, a few records were made. Aviation extraordinaire Wally Funk became the oldest person to reach space at 82 years of age while Daemen became the youngest one at just 18 years. However, Bezos came inches close to beating his private-space flight competitor, Richard Branson. The Virgin Atlantic founder recently became the first billionaire to take his own rocket to space and come back successfully.


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All conditions – check, Blue Origin is Ready for Launch

All the pre-supposed conditions were met successfully and the capsule where the crew where seated reached to its peak altitudes of 66 miles with a speed that was thrice than the speed of sound. The capsule then parted with the booster and ‘lo-and-behold, Jeff Bezos and Party felt the once in a lifetime feeling of weightlessness in the zero gravity.

Bezos and Company Sees Earth Curvature, Float in Zero-G

The oldest and the youngest person to ever go to space yet along with the Bezos brothers also witnessed the magnificent sight of the Earth’s curvature as the capsule was floating on atmosphere’s brim. After floating for a few brief minutes, the crew once again strapped into their seats so that the landing process could initiate.


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Time to Land

The New Shepard booster made its way back to the Earth and landed on the pad which was just few miles away from the location where it actually launched. The rocket booster of Blue Origin fired its engine for the final process and made its decent.

And they’re back!

With the help of a set of fool-proof parachutes, the spacecraft slowly descended. The booster meanwhile fired its thrusters a few feet above the landing pad to deaccelerate and made a soft touchdown.


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“I didn’t kick anyone”: Bezos Quips

After the mission concluded successfully, Bezos was quoted quipping-

“My main mission was accomplished — I didn’t kick anyone. I was surprised at how easy Zero-G was… it was like swimming.”

With the successful launch and endeavor, a new chapter in the history of spaceflight now begins.

While no announcements have been made from Bezos’ side as to the price his company would charge for each seat, it would be safe to say that the number would be on the higher side – for now.