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Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin is displaying its historic New Shepard rocket and offering simulated space rides at the EAA AirVenture convention in Oshkosh. That's the same New Shepard that served as key for the company to beat SpaceX in the reusable rocket race. In November 2015, it flew over the boundary between the Earth's atmosphere and outer space before heading back down to become the first rocket to achieve a vertical landing. Blue Origin then used it for four more missions in 2016 to prove that it truly is reusable.
While seeing the rocket in person already sounds like a treat, the private space corp has another offering you might appreciate even more. It's also bringing a replica of its tourism-oriented crew capsule at the event and allowing visitors to climb in and use its reclining seats. Blue Origin's capsule has windows that take up one-third of its surface area, so astronauts can enjoy the views going up. Since it can't exactly fly people to space just yet, it's treating guests to a simulated flight experience using actual footage taken by New Shepard's on-board cameras.
Source: Engadget
(Score: 2) by jmorris on Tuesday July 11 2017, @08:19PM (3 children)
This is actually a perfect example of the difference between SpaceX and Blue Origin. One is a working space program and the other is a tourist attraction. Think of Blue Origin as the Disney Imagineers version of space, like what they did to the original NASA facility in Houston.
Too snarky? I'll be happy to revise and extend my remarks if Bezos actually gets off his butt and puts something in orbit instead of grandstanding for the cameras.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by DannyB on Tuesday July 11 2017, @09:05PM (1 child)
Here [youtube.com] is an example of that grandstanding.
Bezos talks about the cost of space if you have to throw the rocket away. I remember Elon Musk saying that first, a few years ago, I think, on a TED talk video somewhere. So Bezos is using Musk's speech while claiming credit for reusable rockets.
Wasn't SpaceX landing its grasshopper rockets before Blue Origin landed anything? I love that part in the video where Bezos says "as we demonstrated".
SpaceX beat Blue Origin at landing and re-using a rocket in the way that actually matters: landing and reusing an orbital rocket rather than a joy ride for high paying thrill ride seekers. Amusement park rides have always been reusable. Orbital space flight and beyond rockets have not been reusable until SpaceX.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 25 2017, @11:54PM
Parts of the Space Shuttle (STS) were reusable: the orbiter and the solid rocket boosters.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 11 2017, @09:06PM
Not snarky at all.
I'll be impressed when the Blue Origin rocket *lands* at Oshkosh. That would be something worth watching in person (from a good distance!)