Jeff Bezos blasted into space on Tuesday on his rocket company's first flight with people on board, becoming the second billionaire in just over a week to ride his own spacecraft. The Amazon founder was accompanied by a hand-picked group: his brother, an 18-year-old from the Netherlands and an 82-year-old aviation pioneer from Texas — the youngest and oldest to ever fly in space. Let us take a look at some of the images: -
Named after America's first astronaut, Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket soared on the 52nd anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, a date chosen by Bezos for its historical significance.
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“Best day ever!” Bezos said when the capsule touched down on the desert floor in remote West Texas after the 10-minute flight. (AP Photo)
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Unlike Branson's piloted rocket plane, Bezos' capsule was completely automated and required no official staff on board for the up-and-down flight. (AP Photo)
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The capsule landed under parachutes, with Bezos and his guests briefly experiencing nearly six times the force of gravity, or 6 G's, on the way back. (AP Photo)
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Billionaire businessman Jeff Bezos and pioneering female aviator Wally Funk emerge from their capsule after their flight aboard Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket on the world's first unpiloted suborbital flight near Van Horn, Texas, US. (Reuters Photo)
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During their several minutes of weightlessness, video from inside the capsule showed the four floating, doing somersaults, tossing Skittles candies and throwing balls. (Reuters Photo)
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Blue Origin — founded by Bezos in 2000 in Kent, Washington, near Amazon's Seattle headquarters — hasn't revealed its price for a ride to space. (AP Photo)
