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posted by cmn32480 on Sunday September 18 2016, @12:37AM   Printer-friendly
from the deep-thoughts-with-Jeff-Bezos dept.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

It's become increasingly clear that Jeffrey P. Bezos, who in the last several months has been talking much more openly about his once secretive space company, has some really big ambitions in space.

As Blue Origin moves toward its goal of having "millions of people living and working in space," the company has launched and landed the same rocket four times in a row, an unprecedented feat aimed at ultimately lowering the cost of space travel. By 2018, it plans to soon fly tourists on short jaunts past the edge of space in capsules designed with large windows. And earlier this week, Bezos announced plans to fly a new massive rocket, capable of getting to orbit, by the end of the decade.

For his achievements, Bezos, the founder of amazon.com and the owner of The Washington Post, was awarded the prestigious Heinlein Prize Wednesday evening at an event at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. The honor came with a $250,000 award that the multi-billionaire pledged to donate to Students for the Exploration and Development of Space, a nonprofit.

During a half-hour-long question-and-answer period, he offered some additional insights into his vision for how humans will eventually spread out into the solar system, what he hopes his legacy will be and how he competes against other billionaire space enthusiasts such as Elon Musk and Richard Branson. He also talked briefly about what it's like to go back to his high school reunions, and the day The Post opens a bureau on Mars. He didn't mention whether an assignment there would be a promotion or a banishment.

An edited transcript of his remarks is available in the article.


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  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Sunday September 18 2016, @12:05PM

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Sunday September 18 2016, @12:05PM (#403339) Journal

    I do not understand how come this "space tourism" is not a thing yet: any one person with a memory capacity higher than that of a goldfish can remember how all those "private space" companies were about space tourism, and faster-than-airline travel (f.i. Sydney to LA in a half hour and such). That was quite some years ago.

    Well, turns out getting into space is hard. Who knew?

    And if SpaceX, Blue Origin, or some other company can get launch prices to orbit low enough, then we'll get that space tourism after all.