Amazon founder Jeff Bezos will be flying to space on July 20, and for anyone that wants to watch from home, doing so will be as easy as hopping onto a computer or smartphone. Bezos first announced his space travel plans in June, confirming that he and his brother would be taking off to go 100 km above the Earth's surface. The flight will see Bezos and crew crossing the Kármán line — widely considered to be the point where the boundary of outer space officially begins.
The flight is being made possible by Blue Origin, which is the aerospace company Bezos founded in September 2000. While it hasn't received as much attention as Elon Musk's SpaceX, this historic flight with Bezos has already been changing that in the weeks leading up to launch. The specific Blue Origin vehicle Bezos will be traveling in is called 'New Shepard.' It's a reusable craft that has room for up to six crew members, "the largest windows to have flown in space," and is capable of breaking Mach 3 speeds (over 2,300 mph).
To watch the flight live as it happens, Blue Origin has made it as easy as possible. The official livestream can be found on the Blue Origin website, with launch coverage beginning at 7:30 AM ET / 4:30 AM PT on Tuesday, July 20. Liftoff is being planned for 9:00 AM ET / 6:00 AM PT, though there will be pre-launch coverage leading up to that for folks that want to get the full experience. As CNN points out, the livestream will include exterior video of the New Shepard rocket while it's on the ground and as it's rocketing towards space. There will also be cameras on the inside showing Bezos and the rest of the crew, but Blue Origin won't be releasing that footage until after the flight is concluded.
Leading up to July 20's flight, Blue Origin has already detailed the main events that'll take place. Prior to takeoff, the livestream will show preparations the crew has to make before embarking into space. Viewers will be able to see them leaving the training center, head to the launch pad, ascend the launch tower, and eventually go inside the crew capsule at the top of New Shepard. Once the flight actually begins, the whole process is only expected to take around 11 minutes. Bezos should reach the Kármán line around 3 minutes after takeoff, New Shephard will reach its maximum height at 4 minutes in, and the crew will then have a few minutes to sit still and take in the view of the Earth (while also experiencing zero gravity). At the 8-minute marker, the rocket booster portion of New Shepard will land on the ground with its built-in landing gear. The crew capsule will return to Earth using parachutes after 11 minutes, and they should be able to exit the shuttle at the 22-minute point. Following all of that, a post-flight press conference is expected to begin at around 11:00 AM ET / 8:00 AM PT.
In addition to Jeff Bezos, there will be three other members joining him on Blue Origin's first human flight. Also aboard will be Jeff's brother Mark Bezos, aviator Wally Funk (known for being the first female air safety investigator on the National Transportation Safety Board), and Oliver Daemen — the first paying customer aborad a Blue Origin flight. 82-year-old Funk and 18-year-old Daemen will also make history as the oldest and youngest people to ever travel to space, respectively. For anyone interested in space travel, it'll be well worth tuning in to watch history live as it happens.
Source: Blue Origin, CNN
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