Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has launched himself into space 9 days after Richard Branson and it’s raining businessmen in space!
The unique set of passengers consisted of 57-year-old Jeff Bezos, 53-year-old Mark Bezos, 82-year-old space race pioneer Wally Flunk, and an 18-year-old student Oliver Daemen.
Following the launch of Unity 22 of Virgin Galactic owned by Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos launched New Shepherd designed by his own company Blue Origin to try his hand at space tourism.
The reusable rocket went 62 miles above the earth’s atmosphere past the Karman line and landed in Texas 10 minutes later on a Tuesday morning.
The capsule was designed with a large window to offer a spectacular view of the earth. The fourth passenger was replaced by Oliver Daemen after the anonymous bidder who paid 28 million pulled out at the last minute ‘due to scheduling conflicts.’
Wally Flunk was part of several launches in the past and flying into space was her lifelong dream. She was very thrilled to perform her somersaults and space dives in zero gravity.
While Bezos and Branson also received backlash from critics who suggested that such huge money should be spent on reforming earth rather than on space tourism, the business rivals are all ready to bring space closer to humans.
Branson added that humans need more spaceships to monitor degradation and forest fires on earth though he wasn’t exactly clear on how space tourism can monitor climatic changes on earth.
