Watch Jeff Bezos Launch to Space in Blue Origin's NS-16 New Shepard Livestream
The richest man joins 82-year-old Wally Funk and 18-year-old Oliver Daemen.
In a few hours’ time, the richest man on the planet, Jeff Bezos, will be launching into space aboard his suborbital Blue Origin rocket.
While Bezos is technically not the first billionaire to reach space in his company’s own vessel, his mission is still rather unique. Mission NS-16 New Shepard differs from Virgin Galactic’s mission as it is fully autonomous and requires no human interaction. This has led to a much more eclectic crew like 82-year-old aviation icon Wally Funk and 18-year-old high school grad Oliver Daemen — Daemen’s father Joes Daemen, CEO of a private equity firm in the Netherlands, was initially planned to go after winning the $28 million USD bid but elected for his son to go in his place.
The mission is slated to launch Tuesday, July 20 at 9 a.m, ET where it will last approximately 10 minutes. The team will rocket high enough to see the curvature of Earth and experience microgravity just before falling safely back to the planet with the aid of parachutes.
Those wishing to witness this historic event can catch the start of the livestream above where it will begin at 7:30 a.m. ET.
Our astronauts have completed training and are a go for launch. #NSFirstHumanFlight pic.twitter.com/rzkQgqVaB6
— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) July 19, 2021
Safety is and will always be our top priority. Hear from Gary Lai and Laura Stiles about our approach to safety and reliability. Watch the #NSFirstHumanFlight launch live on https://t.co/7Y4TherpLr pic.twitter.com/xiHJpOyQ2p
— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) July 19, 2021
In other tech news, Eviation announces first all-electric passenger plane.
