Spaceman Jeff Bezos ‘awestruck’ by Earth’s beauty

Jeff Bezos said the ‘most profound’ aspect of his brief journey to space was the spectacular view he saw of Earth, which left him amazed by its beauty and fragility.

Jeff Bezos, right, and his brother Mark, left, spelling out ‘Hi Mom’ on their hands during Tuesday’s space flight aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard spaceship. Picture: AFP / Blue Origin

Jeff Bezos said the “most profound” aspect of his brief journey to space was the spectacular view he saw of Earth, which left him amazed by its beauty and fragility.

“Every astronaut who’s been up into space, they say that it changes them … they look at it and they’re kind of amazed and awestruck by the Earth and its beauty, but also by its fragility, and I can vouch for that,” he said after Blue Origin’s first crewed flight.

The world’s richest man said that while the atmosphere ­appeared to be “so big” from the surface, when you get above it “you see is it’s actually incredibly thin, it’s this tiny little fragile thing, and as we move about the planet we’re damaging it”. “It’s one thing to recognise that intellectually, it’s another thing to actually see with your own eyes,” Mr Bezos said.

The company released footage of the newly minted astronauts performing somersaults in near zero gravity and throwing lollies that Dutch 18-year-old Oliver Daemen caught in his mouth.

“We had a great time, it was wonderful,” added Wally Funk, who at 82 has become the oldest astronaut. “I want to go again – fast”

The crew took several mementos with them for the 10-minute trip, including a piece of fabric from the Wright brothers’ first plane, a bronze medallion made from the first hot air balloon flight in 1783, and a pair of goggles that belonged to Amelia Earhart.  Mr Bezos praised the work of his engineering team and said the design architecture of the New Shepard rocket would eventually be used as the second stage of the much larger New Glenn rocket.

Asked if he would go again, he said: “Hell yes, how fast can we refuel that thing? Let’s go.”

Mr Bezos spent a few minutes outside the planet’s atmosphere on Tuesday – a breakthrough ­moment for the space tourism sector that after years of delays is now poised for liftoff.

The flawless 10-minute hop from a west Texas base to beyond the Karman line – the internationally recognised boundary marking the start of space – and back again to the surface for a gentle desert landing minted four new astronauts.

Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson crossed the final frontier on July 11, narrowly beating the Amazon magnate in their space battle of the billionaires.

Blue Origin’s sights, however, are set higher: both in the altitude to which its reusable New Shepard craft ascends compared to Virgin’s spaceplane, and in its longer-term ambitions.

Mr Bezos, 57, founded Blue Origin in 2000 with the goal of building floating space colonies with artificial gravity where millions of people will work and live.

The New Shepard suborbital rocket – named after Alan Shepard, the first American in space – had flown 15 uncrewed flights to put it through its paces and test safety mechanisms. Today, the company is developing a heavy-lift orbital rocket called New Glenn – named for John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth – and also a moon lander it is hoping to contract to NASA.

Joining Mr Bezos and the ­others was his brother and best friend Mark. A spot on the trip opened for Mr Daemen after the anonymous winner of a $US28m auction postponed their flight, ­citing “scheduling conflicts”. Mr Daemen’s financier father was a runner-up in the bidding, making his son the first paying customer.

AFP