World’s richest man Jeff Bezos is all set to travel to space today – Check out mission details

If successful, Bezos will become the second billionaire in space as well as claim the ‘richest man in space’ tag from Richard Branson, who achieved the feat a week and a half ago on July 11.

Interestingly, the date of Bezos’ spaceflight also marks the 52nd anniversary of the first landing on Moon.

Bezos’ flight is a key moment for the emerging space tourism industry as he and Branson look to attract tourists for regular flights as early as next year. However, both have downplayed any competition.

In a recent interview with NBC, Bezos said, “This isn’t a competition, this is about building a road to space so that future generations can do incredible things in space.”

Here’s are the major highlights of the Blue Origin rocket launch that is set to take Jeff Bezos to the edge of space today:

Launch time: The Blue Origin rocket will lift off from a Texas desert location called Launch Site One at 1300 GMT (06:30 pm India time).

Live feed: Blue Origin will livestream the event on its website. The feed will begin 90 minutes before launch time.
Weather: Conditions appear favourable for Jeff Bezos to achieve the feat onboard the New Shepard rocket.

The vessel: New Shepard is Blue Origin’s reusable space rocket. It travels at speeds of more than 3,7000 kilometres per hour. The New Shepard uses a liquid hydrogen-liquid oxygen engine which releases only water vapour as byproduct. The rocket has flown 15 uncrewed missions until now.

The passengers: Alongside Jeff Bezos will be his brother and best friend Mark, female aviator Wally Funk who will become the oldest astronaut ever at 82, as well as the youngest astronaut ever in 18-year-old Dutch citizen Oliver Daemen.

The journey: The rocket will propel the capsule carrying the passengers towards the edge of space. The capsule will then separate from its booster and fly to an altitude of around 106 kilometres. While the booster will turn back to Earth and land autonomously, the capsule will initially freefall back to the planet and gently land in the desert with the help of 3 parachutes and a thruster.

The experience: The passengers will experience 3-4 minutes of weightlessness and will be able to view the curvature of Earth and the darkness of space.