It appears the space race is just beginning. Jeff Bezos just made history as the second billionaire to fly to space aboard his very own rocket ship. Here's what we know about the major milestone.
On Tuesday, July 20th, the Amazon mogul blasted off into space within his very own rocket ship, New Shepard. Accompanied by 3 others – his brother, Mark, an 82-year-old pioneer, Wally Funk, and an 18-year-old student, Oliver Daemen – the crew made their launch from Blue Origin’s Launch Site One in West Texas. Sure enough, the momentous event was one to remember.
Beautiful launch from West Texas this morning. #NSFirstHumanFlight pic.twitter.com/JUpRA7PHvv
— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) July 20, 2021
"My expectations were high and they were dramatically exceeded," Bezo proudly recalled. The 10-minute trip saw the crew reach the edge of outer space as they traveled 62 miles above Earth - roughly 12 miles more than Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic flight had done. But that's not the only reason the daring astronauts made history. At just 18-years-old, Oliver is currently the youngest person to have ever gone to space. Contrarily, 82-year-old Wally is the oldest to ever do so.
During their time aboard, the history-making crew experienced something most of us never will: complete weightlessness. The members unstrapped themselves from their seats as they floated around the cabin for about 3 minutes, taking in the breathtaking view of Earth.
Upon landing, celebrations were in order as spectators watched Bezos pop a bottle of champagne and proudly mark the occasion "the best day ever." But while the billionaire's latest venture might have been years in the making, his journey is far from over. In fact, it's just getting started.
"We need to take all heavy industry, all polluting industry and move it into space, and keep Earth as this beautiful gem of a planet that it is," the Amazon mogul explained to MSNBC of his big plans for Blue Origin. "It's going to take decades and decades to achieve, but you have to start, and big things start with small steps... "
Stay tuned.
Related
