Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’ space rocket company and direct competitor to Elon Musk’s SpaceX, will allow a civilian to experience zero gravity aboard a capsule in a flying experience called the New Shepard. Thus, anyone who has the necessary money will be able to bid for the only place dedicated to civilians on board the capsule, for an experience of a few minutes in space, in zero gravity.
Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’ space company wants to send a civilian into space… for a fee
The auction has already been opened and it will be possible to pre-bid from now until June 10. At the end of this period, the highest bid will be publicly displayed for those who have already bid, and on June 12 the final auction will take place, where counter-bids will be entered. The offers can be registered both online and by phone, and the place will be the biggest offer. The only conditions are that the winner of the auction must be at least 18 years of age or of legal age in his or her country of origin.
The money that Blue Origin will collect from the winner will not go into the company’s accounts, but will be used for charity for its non-profit organization Club for the Future.
The New Shepard flight experience will take ten minutes from takeoff to landing and will take place in Texas. The Blue Origin rocket will take off and send the capsule from the top out of the atmosphere, to the Karman Line, 100 km above sea level. The feeling of lack of gravity will last only a few minutes, during which time the rocket will land. On descent, the capsule will activate the parachutes, which will ensure a smooth landing at a distance of a few km from where the takeoff took place.
The mission will take place on July 20, and the capsule of the New Shepard flight is called Alan Shepard, after the first American astronaut to arrive in space. She has 15 consecutive missions in which she has crossed the Karman Line each time. But New Shepard will be the first to have astronauts on board.
