Jeff Bezos, brother to be on 1st crewed space flight of his company

NEW DELHI: Jeff Bezos said Monday that he would be on board when his rocket company, Blue Origin, conducts its first human spaceflight next month. He said his brother Mark Bezos would join him on the flight.
Blue Origin, the rocket company founded by Bezos in 2000, is also auctioning off a passenger seat on the New Shepard, a suborbital spacecraft that is set to take off July 20.
Bidding has reached almost $3 million with nearly 6,000 participants from 143 countries, the company said.
The flight is set to carry six passengers on a short trip to the edge of outer space July 20, the 52nd anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. Blue Origin’s tourist rocket is named after Alan Shepard, the first American to go to space, in 1961.
It has undergone 15 test flights, none of which had passengers aboard. “Ever since I was 5 years old, I’ve dreamed of travelling to space,” Bezos, 57, said on Instagram, calling the trip “the greatest adventure, with my best friend”.
“To see the earth from space, it changes you. It changes your relationship with this planet, with humanity. It’s one earth. I want to go on this flight because it’s the thing I’ve wanted to do all my life.”
The crew for the launch will arrive in West Texas four days before their flight for safety training. At about 2,50,000 feet, the capsule carrying the passengers will separate from its booster.
The astronauts will then get to unbuckle and experience weightlessness for nearly three minutes before the capsule returns to Earth. Because the capsule is fully pressurised, passengers will not be required to wear spacesuits or helmets.