On June 12, Blue Origin held an online auction to sell a seat on the first manned flight of the New Shepard suborbital system. The bidding ended up at the $28 million mark. The winner, whose name is not yet known, will pay that amount for the opportunity to fly into space with the company owner and one of the richest men on the planet Jeff Bezos.
The New Shepard system consists of a rocket booster (stage) and a crew capsule designed for six people, which after separation from the stage briefly rises above the 100 km mark (the conditional boundary between the Earth’s atmosphere and space). Then the stage makes a soft landing using the engine, while the capsule lands on parachutes. The total flight time from liftoff from the launch pad to landing is about 10 minutes, including three minutes in weightlessness.
New Shepard’s first manned flight will take place on July 20. There will be four passengers aboard the craft. In addition to the winner of the auction and Jeff Bezos, will also go into space the brother of a billionaire and another person – most likely, one of the technical experts from Blue Origin.
It is worth noting that, according to the American press, billionaire Richard Branson wants to get ahead of Jeff Bezos and the first to go to the edge of space on the space plane VSS Unity. It is reported that he hopes to take part in the flight, scheduled for July 4.
Ticket for first manned flight of New Shepard sold for 28 million dollars
On June 12, Blue Origin held an online auction to sell a seat on the first manned flight of the New Shepard suborbital system. The bidding ended up at the $28 million mark. The winner, whose name is not yet known, will pay that amount for the opportunity to fly into space with the company owner and one of the richest men on the planet Jeff Bezos.
The New Shepard system consists of a rocket booster (stage) and a crew capsule designed for six people, which after separation from the stage briefly rises above the 100 km mark (the conditional boundary between the Earth’s atmosphere and space). Then the stage makes a soft landing using the engine, while the capsule lands on parachutes. The total flight time from liftoff from the launch pad to landing is about 10 minutes, including three minutes in weightlessness.
New Shepard’s first manned flight will take place on July 20. There will be four passengers aboard the craft. In addition to the winner of the auction and Jeff Bezos, will also go into space the brother of a billionaire and another person – most likely, one of the technical experts from Blue Origin.
It is worth noting that, according to the American press, billionaire Richard Branson wants to get ahead of Jeff Bezos and the first to go to the edge of space on the space plane VSS Unity. It is reported that he hopes to take part in the flight, scheduled for July 4.
