Jeff Bezos in Space: What the 10-Minute Blue Origin Flight Will Be Like
Scott Marlette
When Blue Origin LLC’s New Shepard rocket launches former
Amazon.com Inc.
CEO
Jeff Bezos
into space Tuesday, one seat will be occupied by 18-year-old Oliver Daemen, the first paying customer to fly on board the rocket.
Mr. Daemen has been fascinated by space since he was four, according to the company. He graduated from high school in 2020 and recently obtained his private pilot’s license. This September, he will attend the University of Utrecht to study physics and innovation management.
The auction winner who bid $28 million for the opportunity to be on the first crewed mission by Blue Origin was unable to make the trip due to scheduling conflicts, according to the company, and Mr. Daemen was selected instead. The auction winner, whose identity is undisclosed, will fly on a future flight.
For those who don’t have that kind of money to spend on a roughly 10-minute flight to space and experience a few minutes of weightlessness, here’s what you could expect to see if you had won the auction.
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In a secluded desert area of western Texas, just outside of Van Horn, a town of about 1,800 people, you will arrive at Blue Origin’s astronaut village four days before the flight. After two days of astronaut training where you will meet the pilots, learn about weightlessness and spend time in a mock capsule, you will be ready for the space flight. Blue Origin said the rocket is fully autonomous and traveling in its spacecraft requires minimal training.
You will be catching a ride with Mr. Bezos and his brother, Mark Bezos. “Ever since I was five years old, I’ve dreamed of traveling to space,” Mr. Bezos said in an Instagram post. “On July 20th, I will take that journey with my brother. The greatest adventure, with my best friend.”
Liftoff! As the New Shepard rocket accelerates to Mach 3, or three times the speed of sound (more than 2,000 miles an hour), you will experience G-forces up to three times Earth’s gravitational force. Also on board will be 82-year-old aviator Wally Funk. In the 1960s, Ms. Funk was one of the first 13 American women to train for space flight, but the program was canceled, and she never made it to space. She later became the first female Federal Aviation Administration inspector and first female National Transportation Safety Board air-safety investigator. At 18 and 82, respectively, Mr. Daemen and Ms. Funk, will become the youngest and oldest astronauts to travel to space.
At 2 minutes and 45 seconds: The booster will separate from the capsule at about 228,000 feet. New Shepard has made 15 successful uncrewed test flights over the past six years from its West Texas base, which the company said demonstrates the mission’s safety.
At 3 minutes: As you approach space, you will begin to experience zero gravity. You can float around freely. Blue Origin says New Shepard’s capsule offers the largest windows in space—about one third of the capsule is window. Unbuckle and enjoy.
At 4 minutes: You will reach the top of the flight. Enjoy the $28 million view—it won’t last long. You will be just above the Karman Line, an imaginary boundary about 62 miles above sea level considered by many to be the beginning of space. And you will be a few miles higher than Richard Branson recently flew aboard his Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. spacecraft, which maxed out below the Karman Line.
At 6 minutes: Time to head home. Please return to your seat and be sure to buckle up as gravity will be returning with a vengeance—up to 5 1/2 G’s during this descent, around the forces you would feel on the most extreme roller coasters.
At 7 minutes and 30 seconds: The New Shepard’s booster rocket will land itself back on Earth about 2 miles away from takeoff, to be used again in a future mission.
At 9 minutes: After re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere, New Shepard’s parachutes will deploy and float down at about 16 miles an hour. The capsule’s safety features include backup systems, special seats designed to flex and absorb impact, the ability to land with only two of its three parachutes deployed and a rocket to adjust the thrust and slow the capsule down to about one mile an hour.
At around 10 to 12 minutes: Land in the West Texas desert and share a high five with Jeff Bezos. You did it! You are now one of the first 600 people to visit space.
Of course, if you still want to watch the actual launch, it will be broadcast live online beginning at 7:30 a.m. EDT on July 20 at BlueOrigin.com. Liftoff is scheduled for 9 a.m. EDT, which is subject to change.
—Photos: Blue Origin (capsule, rocket, parachutes, takeoff and landing site); NASA (views of Earth from space); Illustrations by: Tammy Lian/WSJ
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