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Jeff BezosThe richest person in the world went into space on Tuesday. It was a short excursion in a spacecraft built by Mr. Bezos’ rocket company, Blue Origin, soaring 60 kilometers into the sky above West Texas.
Although the flight did not enter orbit, Amazon founder Mr. It was a milestone for the company that Bezos started over 20 years ago, the first time a Blue Origin vehicle has transported humans into space.
“Best day ever,” Mr. Bezos cried as the capsule settled in the dust near the launch site.
The fact that Mr. Bezos sits in the capsule reflects his enthusiasm for the effort and perhaps his intention to give Blue Origin the focus and creative entrepreneurship that has made Amazon one of the strongest economic forces on the planet.
Apart from the short delays on the countdown, the launch proceeded smoothly.
Just after 8:30 am Eastern time, four passengers reached a bridge atop the launch platform and each rang a bell hanging at one end before moving on to the capsule. They then started to board the capsule one by one and were strapped to their seats.
The blunt rocket and capsule, named after Alan Shepard, the first American to go into space, rose from the company’s launch site in Van Horn at 9:11 am with a fine jet of fire and exhaust from the rocket engine.
When the booster exhausted its propulsion, the capsule separated from the rocket at an altitude of about 47 miles. Both tracks continued to move upwards and crossed the 62-mile boundary often considered the beginning of space.
Mr. Bezos and the passengers unbuckled his belt and glided around the capsule, cheering inside the capsule as they were in nearly four minutes of freefall.
“I want you to know that you have a very happy team here,” said Mr. Bezos as the capsule descended.
The booster landed vertically, similar to the reusable Falcon 9 booster from rival spaceflight company SpaceX. The capsule then descended in a cloud of dust until it slowly descended to the ground.
It was over at 9:21 am, 10 minutes and 10 seconds after launch.
The four passengers exited the capsule just after 9:30 am and embraced loved ones, friends and ground crew as they celebrated.
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