Jeff Bezos has revealed that he will be going to space via his Blue Origin aerospace company’s first tourist flight on July 20th.
The American business magnate made the announcement in a video posted to his personal Instagram account, in which he talks about his childhood dreams of space travel to the tune of some inspirational music. Bezos says he will bring his brother Mark with him, who he considers “his best friend.”
View this post on Instagram
How touching that someone who’s been crowned the “richest man in the world” multiple times — and grew even wealthier as financial straits worsened for the average person amid the COVID-19 pandemic — is finally able to go to space.
But don’t worry — Bezos isn’t forgetting about those who aren’t quite as rich as him. Bidding is currently underway to secure a spot on Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket, which, at the time of writing, sits at a very affordable $3.2 million USD (bout $3.7 million CAD). Blue Origin has pledged to donate proceeds to Club for the Future, its STEM-focused foundation.
On July 20th, the New Shepard will launch with six passengers — the two Bezos brothers, the winner of the bid and three other undisclosed people — out of a remote location in West Texas. The 10-minute flight will reach about 100km above the surface of the Earth — enough time to experience weightlessness and see the planet’s curvature — before returning to the ground.
Ahead of the flight, Bezos will step down as CEO of Amazon on July 5th to focus more on Blue Origin and his news outlet, The Washington Post.
Image credit: Flickr — Daniel Oberhaus
Via: CNN
MobileSyrup may earn a commission from purchases made via our links, which helps fund the journalism we provide free on our website. These links do not influence our editorial content. Support us here.
