Topic: [Discuss] Blue Origin New Shepard first crew
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 47806 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 04-29-2021 12:02 PM
From Blue Origin (via Twitter):
It's time. You can buy the very first seat on New Shepard. Sign up to learn how. Details coming May 5th.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 47806 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 05-05-2021 11:02 AM
Blue Origin video
On July 20, 2021, New Shepard will fly its first astronaut crew to space. We are offering one seat on this first flight to the winning bidder of our online auction.
Starting today (May 5), anyone can place an opening bid by going to BlueOrigin.com. The winning bid amount will be donated to Blue Origin's foundation, Club for the Future, to inspire future generations to pursue careers in STEM and help invent the future of life in space. This seat will change how you see the world.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 47806 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 05-05-2021 11:04 AM
Blue Origin release
Bid for the very first seat on New Shepard
On July 20th, New Shepard will fly its first astronaut crew to space. We are offering one seat on this first flight to the winning bidder of an online auction.
There are three phases of the auction:
May 5-19: Sealed online bidding - you can bid any amount you want on the auction website (no bids are visible)
May 19: Unsealed online bidding - the bids become visible and participants must exceed the highest bid to continue in the auction
June 12: Live auction - the bidding concludes with a live online auction
The winning bid amount will be donated to Blue Origin’s foundation, Club for the Future, to inspire future generations to pursue careers in STEM and help invent the future of life in space.
SkyMan1958 Member
Posts: 1152 From: CA. Registered: Jan 2011
posted 05-05-2021 04:30 PM
I'm glad that Blue Origin will finally be launching humans on New Shepard. I wish them every success in their endeavor.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 47806 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 05-19-2021 08:53 AM
As scheduled, the silent auction for the first seat on New Shepard ended on Tuesday (May 18) and the high bid went public today: $1.4 million.
The open bidding continues — the total is already up to $2 million — until June 12, when RR Auction will host a live auction to complete the site.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 47806 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 06-07-2021 06:59 AM
Jeff Bezos and his brother Mark will join the auction winner on New Shepard.
Ever since I was five years old, I've dreamed of traveling to space. On July 20th, I will take that journey with my brother. The greatest adventure, with my best friend.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 47806 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 06-07-2021 01:31 PM
After the news of Bezos flying broke, the bid jumped from $2.8 million to $3.2 million.
Headshot Member
Posts: 1045 From: Vancouver, WA, USA Registered: Feb 2012
posted 06-07-2021 06:06 PM
It would be interesting if the winning bid came from Elon.
Gordon Eliot Reade Member
Posts: 97 From: Palo Alto, Calif. Registered: Jun 2015
posted 06-10-2021 06:57 AM
If I had an extra 4 million dollars I'd make a bid. Just think of it, your name would be in the history books. Not only that, it looks like a huge amount of fun.
p51 Member
Posts: 1737 From: Olympia, WA Registered: Sep 2011
posted 06-10-2021 11:18 AM
Just curious, would the passengers on such a flight be awarded FAA astronaut wings?
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 47806 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 06-10-2021 01:51 PM
Only flight crew are eligible for FAA civilian astronaut wings and New Shepard does not have a flight crew. So no wings will be awarded.
posted 06-10-2021 02:03 PM
What is the definition of "flight crew" for the purposes of civilian astronaut wings?
Does it have anything to do with automation of the flight or ability for occupants to take manual control?
It makes me also wonder if being a FAA certified pilot checks the box or if that doesn't necessarily make a difference if it is up to the discretion of the FAA. Is it standard for the company performing the flight or the governing body to have the final say about the designation of the travelers?
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 47806 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 06-10-2021 03:01 PM
Per the FAA, to be eligible for Astronaut Wings, nominees have to meet the following criteria and submit an application to the FAA:
Must be an FAA licensed launch;
Must meet the requirements for flight crew qualifications and training under Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 460; and
Must demonstrate flight beyond 50 statute miles above the surface of the Earth as flight crew on an FAA licensed or permitted launch reentry vehicle.
Per Title 14, there is a distinction between crew and spaceflight participants. The earlier must have a role aboard the spacecraft for which they undergo training (and in the case of a pilot, be licensed by the FAA).
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 47806 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 06-10-2021 06:41 PM
The online bidding portion of the New Shepard seat auction is now closed. The high bid going into Saturday's live auction is $4.8 million.
Blue Origin will broadcast the live auction for the very first seat on New Shepard on Saturday, June 12th. The webcast will begin at 12:45 p.m. EDT / 16:45 UTC.
The winning bidder will fly to space on New Shepard's first human flight on July 20th and will join Blue Origin founder, Jeff Bezos, and his brother Mark. The name of the auction winner will be released in the weeks following the auction's conclusion.
The winning bid amount will be donated to Blue Origin's foundation, Club for the Future, whose mission is to inspire future generations to pursue careers in STEM and to help invent the future of life in space.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 47806 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 06-12-2021 12:59 PM
With the buyer's premium, the total cost for the seat is $29,680,000.
The winning bid amount will be donated to Blue Origin's non-profit, Club for the Future, which has the goal of inspiring future generations to pursue careers in STEM and "help invent the future of life in space."
To put this into some perspective, taking into account inflation, the price paid today by the still-to-be-named winning bidder for a 12-minute suborbital flight with Jeff Bezos is roughly the same that Dennis Tito was reported to have spent in 2001 to launch to the International Space Station and log 7 days, 22 hours and 4 minutes in space.
Larry McGlynn Member
Posts: 1358 From: Boston, MA Registered: Jul 2003
posted 06-12-2021 01:53 PM
A little bit of awesomeness today at RR Auction and Blue Origin's auction for the first seat on the New Shepard flight in July.
I was invited to work with a phone bidder at the auction today. It was amazing to participate in and meet members of both the Blue Origin and RR Auction team as well as watch the bidding sky rocket to $28M!
lspooz Member
Posts: 434 From: Greensboro, NC USA Registered: Aug 2012
posted 06-12-2021 02:00 PM
Wait, Larry, it's not your seat?!?
What an amazing opportunity (love the giant windows, too). Mind-boggling that it's even possible to buy a seat on a private rocket ship. Love the donation to the non-profit STEM program too.
Larry McGlynn Member
Posts: 1358 From: Boston, MA Registered: Jul 2003
posted 06-12-2021 03:42 PM
I got blown out in the first 15 minutes of online bidding back in May. No ride for me for now.
Gordon Eliot Reade Member
Posts: 97 From: Palo Alto, Calif. Registered: Jun 2015
posted 06-12-2021 06:11 PM
The winning bid was 28 million dollars! As our British friends would say, I'm gobsmacked!!!
Mike Dixon Member
Posts: 1593 From: Kew, Victoria, Australia Registered: May 2003
posted 06-12-2021 06:49 PM
Two million dollars a minute?
SkyMan1958 Member
Posts: 1152 From: CA. Registered: Jan 2011
posted 06-12-2021 08:04 PM
In theory, this could all be expensed as a business expense... meeting Bezos and all that. I assume any well run (personally owned) corporation would have accounting and legal departments that could make that argument.
Gordon Eliot Reade Member
Posts: 97 From: Palo Alto, Calif. Registered: Jun 2015
posted 06-12-2021 10:30 PM
quote:Originally posted by Mike Dixon: Two million dollars a minute?
But the memories will last a lifetime.
Grounded! Member
Posts: 480 From: Bennington, Vermont, USA Registered: Feb 2011
posted 06-13-2021 06:05 AM
You can't take it with you!
dom Member
Posts: 965 From: Registered: Aug 2001
posted 06-13-2021 01:44 PM
I find it depressing that the world's richest man monetized this historic seat on the first flight. Why didn't he raffle it amongst his hardworking Amazon warehouse staff (the ones who've made him incredibly rich) to reward them for their efforts? This would have been a more noble gesture — rather than money nominally changing hands between two billionaires. One gets the feeling he's only comfortable sharing history with other rich people...
SpaceAholic Member
Posts: 5000 From: Sierra Vista, Arizona Registered: Nov 1999
posted 06-13-2021 01:53 PM
Congrats to RR and Bezos. A win all away around for private spaceflight, general public, STEM, and the free market!
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 47806 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 06-13-2021 02:40 PM
quote:Originally posted by dom: ...monetized this historic seat on the first flight.
You can never please everyone. If you gave it away to employees, there would still be someone criticizing why the raffle wasn't open to Prime members, or all Amazon customers (as they were the ones whose money made Blue Origin possible).
It is not like Bezos pocketed the $28 million. All of the high bid amount is going to Blue Origin's non-profit, so what's wrong with wanting to maximize the amount of money raised for STEM education activities?
There will be plenty of seats on New Shepard to raffle off, or otherwise fill through other means than direct purchase. This was only the first.
Larry McGlynn Member
Posts: 1358 From: Boston, MA Registered: Jul 2003
posted 06-13-2021 03:29 PM
The back of my head made national news last night.
dom Member
Posts: 965 From: Registered: Aug 2001
posted 06-13-2021 05:30 PM
Robert, it's the symbolism that annoys me. I for one won't be too excited by a sub-orbit "spaceflight" carrying three billionaires.
I'd have been much more invested if he'd given that first seat to someone who couldn't buy their way into the history books. The argument that it's for charity doesn't cut it.
hbw60 Member
Posts: 243 From: Registered: Aug 2018
posted 06-13-2021 06:05 PM
I agree 100%, Dom. Although I wonder if it's the general principle of the thing, or the fact that I have a long-standing dislike of Jeff Bezos.
If I had his kind of money and power, I'd be doing everything I could do to fix the world. But instead, he's just buying mega-yachts and going to space.
So I wonder if that's why this whole situation annoys me. If another billionaire (like George Lucas) was running Blue Origin and taking the first flight, I wonder if I'd be as bothered. So I try to not let my personal biases get in the way.
But I agree. This whole situation has been depressing for me. It feels like it's a celebration of billionaires having the time of their lives, while the world burns beneath them. Their reckless greed is destroying the environment and furthering human misery. I see no reason to celebrate them continuing to get everything they want.
For me, the idea of spaceflight is about to lose a lot of its former glory.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 47806 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 06-13-2021 07:54 PM
quote:Originally posted by hbw60: ...I'd be doing everything I could do to fix the world. But instead, he's just buying mega-yachts and going to space.
You can choose not to believe him, but Bezos believes that the solution to poverty and the world's other problems lies in space. He sees the future as Gerard O'Neill did, but unlike O'Neill, has the resources to help make that future possible.
It may not be the way you would choose to "fix the world," but it is the way Bezos has chosen.
quote:Originally posted by dom: I for one won't be too excited by a sub-orbit "spaceflight" carrying three billionaires.
The flight will have four passengers; the fourth will be named soon.
Mark Bezos, Jeff's brother, is not a billionaire (though he is likely a multi-millionaire). He is a volunteer firefighter who helps run a non-profit focused on fighting poverty and runs the Bezos Family Foundation, managing philanthropic projects (including recovering the Apollo F-1 engines from the ocean floor).
We also don't know yet if the auction winner is a billionaire or a multi-millionaire (or perhaps it is someone whose company has financed him or her to fly, though that is less likely).
hbw60 Member
Posts: 243 From: Registered: Aug 2018
posted 06-13-2021 09:04 PM
That's a fair point, Robert. And I certainly don't want to derail the topic at hand. And of course, only time will tell what sort of effect this has on the world. It's hard to pass judgment so early, when things only become clear in hindsight.
I was born in the 1980s, so I missed the entire Apollo era. I've been fascinated and inspired by it since I was a child, and it's my favorite topic for study. But I often wonder how I would have felt if I'd been born in 1950 instead. Would I still be completely enamored by the Apollo program? Or would I be staging campus protests and calling it a waste of precious resources at a critical moment in American history?
So perhaps in 20 years, I'll have completely changed my tune. If Bezos finds a way to move the manufacturing industry to space, prevents environmental collapse, and uses space colonies to mitigate the overpopulation crisis, then he'll be our biggest hero. At the moment it's hard to be optimistic, but I'd sincerely love to be proven wrong.
damnyankee36 Member
Posts: 47 From: Alamogordo, NM USA Registered: Aug 2017
posted 06-14-2021 02:27 PM
As Headshot mentioned last week I would love to see Elon Musk as the winner!
That would be just like him to do that! Unless Bezos eliminated Elon from the flight imagine how all this will go down!
NukeGuy Member
Posts: 83 From: Irvine, CA USA Registered: May 2014
posted 06-14-2021 03:39 PM
If Elon Musk is a winning bidder, he should donate his ticket to Richard Branson. Especially if Branson has already been to space in SpaceShipTwo by July 20.
dom Member
Posts: 965 From: Registered: Aug 2001
posted 06-22-2021 09:42 AM
This flight has all the makings of a PR misfire for "brand Bezos."
By Monday morning, more than 77,000 had signed a petition on Change.org demanding the Amazon founder be kept from returning to Earth after participating in the first human space flight launched by his company Blue Origin.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 47806 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 06-22-2021 11:33 AM
Prediction: in a year's time (or likely, less) no one will remember the petition and Bezos' PR with regards to flying in space will be doing just fine.
oly Member
Posts: 1340 From: Perth, Western Australia Registered: Apr 2015
posted 06-23-2021 01:14 AM
If Elon Musk has been referred to by some people as a real-life Tony Stark, does this petition indicate some people believe Bezos may be a real-life Dr. Evil? Have people not learnt from movies what happens when you let bald rich people buy islands and go to space!
nasamad Member
Posts: 2181 From: Essex, UK Registered: Jul 2001
posted 07-01-2021 11:41 AM
Fulfilling a lifelong mission to become an astronaut, Wally Funk will fly to space on New Shepard's first human flight on July 20 as an honored guest. She will join Jeff Bezos, his brother Mark Bezos, and the auction winner on the flight.
Fantastic news, congrats to Wally, kudos to Jeff Bezos. I can't help thinking Al H would have been so happy at this news. 😀
dom Member
Posts: 965 From: Registered: Aug 2001
posted 07-01-2021 02:30 PM
In fairness, that is a new and interesting angle to the flight...
ejectr Member
Posts: 1878 From: Killingly, CT Registered: Mar 2002
posted 07-02-2021 02:10 PM
Wow! I met her and had a chance to talk with her when she was in Sebring, Florida at a Light Sport Aircraft show in 2018. Got her autograph in my aviation logbook.
She deserves it and is a heck of a lady. Good for her!
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 47806 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 07-15-2021 09:34 AM
The New Shepard-16 (NS-16) crew will be:
Jeff Bezos, 57
Mark Bezos, 53
Wally Funk, 82
Oliver Daemen, 18
The winner of Blue Origin's auction, who remains anonymous at this time, has chosen to fly on a future New Shepard mission due to scheduling conflicts.
Oliver Daemen and Wally Funk will become the youngest and oldest astronauts to reach space.
Daemen is a physics student from Tilburg, North Brabant, The Netherlands. A Blue Origin spokesperson told CNBC that "he was a participant in the auction and had secured a seat on the second flight."
Daemen's father is Joes Daemen, CEO and founder of Somerset Capital Partners.
posted 04-29-2021 12:02 PM
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