NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos wants to fly into space. Bezos wrote on Instagram on Monday, “I have been dreaming of traveling in space since the age of five. On July 20, I will be doing this journey with my brother.”
The founder of the online mail order company published a video in which he spoke about his fascination for space and asked his brother if he would like to accompany him on a flight to his space company Blue Origin, for which Bezos also found space was. Space-tourists auction.
The final bid for a seat in the astronaut capsule, which has large panoramic windows and can accommodate six people, is $3.2 million. The auction will run till June 12. A flight of about ten minutes should only bring the crew to an altitude of just over 100 kilometres. Several other companies and space agencies have already brought tourists into space. The company left it open on Monday who should take a seat in the remaining vacant seats.
“When you look at Earth from space, it changes you,” Bezos said in the video on Instagram, which also featured the purported moment when he invited his brother, Mark Bezos, on the adventure. If he didn’t want to come along with what he believed was “important,” the billionaire offered. Brother Mark gratefully accepted and called Bezos his “best friend.” A brotherly hug, an expression of love, and a kiss followed.
Bezos founded Blue Origin about 20 years ago. In mid-April, the company last tested its “New Shepard” rocket with an astronaut capsule. It reached an altitude of about 105 kilometers before returning to Earth. For the first time, company employees also rehearsed some astronaut tasks before take-off and after landing. The actual test flight, however, remained unmanned – the “New Shepard” never flew with people. That should change with the two Bezos brothers.
After launch on July 20, “New Shepard” should accelerate to more than 3700 kilometers per hour within two minutes. Weightlessness should begin after three minutes, before the capsule reaches an altitude of more than 100 kilometers above Earth. For comparison: the International Space Station (ISS) hovers 400 kilometers above the Earth’s surface. After they fly, Bezos and the other astronauts must re-enter Earth’s atmosphere and the “New Shepard” is scheduled to land in the Texas desert, slowed by a large parachute.
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