On Tuesday, Jeff Bezos, the richest man in the world and founder of the US tech giant Amazon, visited space along with his brother, Mark and two others. The crew was riding in Bezos’ rocket company Blue Origin’s New Shepard. The rocket taking Bezos and his crew rose 60-some miles into the sky above West Texas.

Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket was named after America’s first astronaut. It soared from remote West Texas on July 20, the 52nd anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, a date chosen by Bezos for its launch. Blue Origin’s founder, Jeff Bezos reflected on realizing his long-awaited dream of flying in space during a status check after touchdown. Bezos said, “Best day ever.”

The flight of the New Shepard was a thrilling 10-minute up-and-down flight, a high-tech joyride that sets the stage for the start of commercial passenger service later this year.

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Jeff competed head to head with fellow billionaire Richard Branson, who flew into space aboard his Virgin Galactic rocketplane July 11. The founder of Amazon and the Blue Origin blasted off with his brother Mark and two history-making passengers. Those space passengers were 82-year-old aviation pioneer Wally Funk, the oldest person to fly in space, and Oliver Daemen, an 18-year-old Dutch student who is the youngest ever to fly in space.

In the 1960s Wally Funk was barred from NASA’s initially all-male astronaut corps. Realizing a lifelong dream, she finally got her chance to prove the naysayers wrong.  The crew lifted off from the Blue origin company’s West Texas launch site at 9:12 a.m. EDT.

The rocket rapidly accelerated climbing straight up atop 110,000 pounds of push, as it consumed its load of super-cold liquid oxygen and hydrogen propellants, pushing the passengers back in their recliner-style seats with about three times the normal force of gravity.

In a little more than two minutes, the New Shepard spacecraft was shooting skyward at Mach-3, i.e. three times the speed of sound. The spacecraft dwindled to a blur more than 30 miles up. The booster’s company-designed BE-3 main engine shut down, a few seconds later, at an altitude of about 45 miles. Following this, the crew capsule was released to fly on its own.

Bezos and his crewmates enjoyed about three minutes of weightlessness coasting upward along an unpowered ballistic trajectory. In those few minutes, they were free to unstrap and float about the cabin as it reached a high point of just above 62 miles.

That 62 mile boundary is the internationally recognized “boundary” between the aerodynamically discernible atmosphere and space. It is a distinction recognized by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, a Switzerland-based organization that sanctions aerospace records.

Branson’s Virgin Galactic space-plane flew slightly lower but well above the 50-mile altitude. NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration recognize the 50-mile height as the boundary of space.

Crew flying in the New Shepard enjoyed spectacular views of Earth’s curved horizon and the blackness of space through the capsule’s six windows, the largest ever built into a spacecraft. Aboard the crew capsule, Bezos and company strapped back in while weightlessness gave way to atmospheric braking that pressed the crew back into their seats with about four times the normal force of gravity.

It was reported that the transition from weightlessness to re-entry deceleration was not a sudden change and that the crew had have plenty of time to get back in their seats.

The capsule soon was falling freely back towards Earth. Three large parachutes unfurled and inflated at a predicted altitude of about 3,000 feet, slowing the New Shepard’s descent to about 16 mph.

After that, at just six feet or so off the ground, nitrogen powered thrusters fired. That slowed down the capsule to just 1 mph kicking up a roiling cloud of dust as the spacecraft gently touched down at 9:22 a.m. EDT. Moments after landing, Jeff Bezos gave a thumbs-up inside the crew capsule.

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Blue Origin recovery crews converged on the capsule within minutes of touchdown. They opened the hatch and helped the returning astronauts exit. All four astronauts emerged in obvious high spirits, smiling and hugging support personnel. After that, they headed back to prepare for a news conference and interviews.

The July 20 flight was the 16th successful test flight of a New Shepard spacecraft. This flight was the third for this booster and capsule, and Blue Origin’s first with passengers on board. It apparently went off without a hitch. Capsule designer Gary Lai said, “Safety is definitely priority one. We set out to create the safest human spaceflight vehicle ever designed or built or operated, and we think we have succeeded.”

Before the end of the year, Blue Origin plans to launch two more passenger flights. In this regard, the ticket prices have not been revealed. Cost of a flight aboard Virgin Galactic’s space-plane is believed to be around $250,000. But both Amazon and Virgin Galactic hope that the market will support economies of scale and lower prices down the road.

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Blue Origin has two New Shepard rockets and capsules available for flights. One of the rockets is dedicated to passenger service and the other is for scientific research payloads.

Gary Lai said, “We are not done once we fly this vehicle, it is really just the beginning. We are going to ramp up operations. We are going to have dozens and eventually hundreds and thousands of astronauts we hope fly on New Shepard. So it is just the beginning. But it is a monumental moment nevertheless.”

A Picture-perfect landing

Three parachutes were deployed on the crew capsule eight minutes after the lift-off, to slow it down for landing as it descended back to Earth. At 9:22 a.m. EDT, the capsule landed with a gentle touchdown. After the brief journey into space, the reusable New Shepard booster headed back to Earth on its own. It plunged tail first toward a landing pad two miles from the launch site. To maintain its orientation before re-igniting its BE-3 engine, the rocket relied on deployable air brakes and steering fins, unfolding four hinged legs and settling to a picture-perfect landing.