Amazon and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos is all set to fly to the edge of space today. Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket will be taking off from the desert plains of West Texas today at 6:30 pm and will fly Bezos and his co-passengers to the edge of space and back. Bezos will be joined by his younger brother Mark Bezos, Wally Funk, an 82-year-old aviator; and an 18-year old recent high school graduate named Oliver Daemen, who had won a public auction for the seat. Daemen is expected to become the youngest person to enter space.
The duration of the entire flight would be nearly 11 minutes. Blue Origin's New Shepard will take the passengers up to the Karman line, which is at a height of 100 km from the surface of the earth. During the flight, the passengers will experience several minutes of weightlessness.
Readers should note the US recognises 85 km from the surface of the earth as the edge of space. This is why Richard Branson's flight from a few days ago was recognised to have travelled to the edge of space even though it only went up to about 85 km from the surface of the earth.
The almost 60-feet tall New Shepard spacecraft can carry six passengers. The spacecraft is fully automatic and does not require a pilot. Blue Origin's New Shepard has undergone 15 test runs at the firm's facility in Texas, US. The spacecraft is reusable and is capable of vertical take-off.
Bezos and his co-passengers have been made to undergo several safety briefings before their journey. The passengers have been practising full space missions in New Shepard's training simulator for the past few days. They has also received instruction on how to float around inside the spacecraft when they experience weightlessness for several minutes.
Where to watch Jeff Bezos' flight into the edge of space
Blue Origin will be live broadcasting the launch event on their official website. The live stream had begun at 5:00 pm, while the much-anticipated take-off will be taking place at 6:30 pm. Blue Origin is also posting regular updates regarding the launch on its Twitter handle. You can also catch all the live updates regarding the historic space flight on BusinessToday.In live blog.
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