Competitor Richard Branson may have left Jeff Bezos behind in the race to space. But American businessman Jeff Bezos is set to make history next week. Bezos’ Blue Origin is going to onboard the world’s first unpiloted suborbital trip with an all-civilian crew. On Tuesday, Bezos, the former CEO of Amazon.com Inc, will be part of a four-person crew. It is for an 11-minute journey to the edge of space in his firm Blue Origin’s New Shepard spaceship. Bezos’ Blue Origin is marking yet another milestone in the nascent but hugely lucrative space tourism business.
He’ll be accompanied by his brother, private equity executive Mark Bezos. Also, pioneering elderly woman pilot Wally Funk. Also, an as-yet-unidentified individual paid $28 million for a seat on the spaceship. It will launch from a West Texas location.
New Shepard
New Shepard is a 60-foot (18.3-meter) tall completely autonomous rocket-and-capsule combination. It cannot be piloted from within the ship. According to three people familiar with the company’s intentions, the crew will consist entirely of civilians. There will be no Blue Origin workers or staff astronauts. Also, Blue Origin’s astronauts include NASA space shuttle veteran Nicholas Patrick.
“To see the Earth from space, it changes you, it changes your relationship with this planet, with humanity”. Bezos stated in a video last month reviewing the flight.
According to Teal Group space industry expert Marco Caceres, there has never been a completely autonomous suborbital or orbital flight with an all-civilian crew.
Branson, a British billionaire businessman, also went on board Virgin Galactic’s rocket plane for its first suborbital trip from New Mexico on Sunday. Two pilots, the company’s chief astronaut instructor and also its lead operations engineer were on board the Virgin Galactic trip.
Like traditional rocket launches, New Shepard takes off from a standing position on a launchpad. A rocket-powered spaceplane was dropped from a carrier plane in mid-flight by Virgin Galactic. New Shepard, just like Virgin Galactic’s trip, will not reach orbit around Earth. But will instead transport passengers 62 miles (100 kilometers) above the surface before returning to Earth via parachute. Virgin Galactic’s flight reached 53 miles (86 km) above Earth.
The space race
Elon Musk’s space transportation company, SpaceX, is preparing an even more ambitious mission for September. It is likewise sending an all-civilian crew into orbit on its Crew Dragon capsule for a several-day journey.
Blue Origin’s flight has taken two decades to complete. In the year 2000, Bezos started the firm. Blue Origin management embraced a pilotless craft as a business strategy years ago.
“It’s simple math,” said one of the people familiar with the company’s thinking. “If you design a system so that you don’t need a pilot or a co-pilot you can have more paying customers.”
Six individuals can likewise stay in New Shepard. Employees from Blue Origin and industry insiders have already considered climbing up on the inaugural trip. A Blue Origin representative acknowledged there are four seats. It is to provide a better passenger experience on the inaugural trip.
The decision to bypass Bezos’ Blue Origin in-house astronauts and technical experts has enraged some company insiders. They saw the first crewed flight as a critical opportunity to gather data and technical feedback for a program in its early stages. Also, to evaluate the experience for future paying customers, according to the sources.
A seasoned astronaut would provide a soothing presence for civilian crew members. Also, New Shepard blasts off at speeds of up to 2,200 miles (3,540 kilometers) per hour.
“Just sit back and enjoy the ride”
Two days of training will be provided to the crew members. Blue Origin has designated two ground crew members. They will assist passengers in securing their seats and to offer point-by-point instructions through headsets during the journey.
“It’s kind of like getting on a ride at an amusement park,” Caceres said. “You just trust that everything has been checked out, is in good working order … and you just sit back and enjoy the ride.”
Some industry sources have expressed concerns that passengers who are swamped by the experience or in a euphoric state may be startled by routine noises, miss key instructions, pass out, or injure themselves floating around the cabin. All of which could be dangerous scenarios that a trained astronaut could respond to.
Funk, 82, was one of 13 women in NASA’s 1960s space program. They completed the same rigorous testing as the Mercury Seven male astronauts. But was denied the opportunity to become astronauts due to their gender.
Developing what Swiss investment bank UBS thinks could be a $3 billion yearly tourist sector a decade from now would require proving the safety of space flight.
“One of the main goals of the New Shepard mission is to demonstrate that going to suborbital space is perfectly safe for the average person,” Caceres said. “So there is a benefit to having as many average people on these flights as possible.”