Blue Origin's New Shepard spacecraft launches from Texas
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Blue Origin is looking to send its first crew into space on June 20 on the company’s New Shepard – named after the first American in space, Alan Shepard. A total of six passengers will be on board the ship, one of which will be a privately auctioned seat.
Blue Origin said it will auction the final seat, with the proceeds going to the space firm’s foundation.
The New Shepard will fly the six passengers 62 miles (100 kilometres) above Earth’s surface.
They will then sit in orbit for 10 minutes where they will experience weightlessness.
The six on board the rocket will also be able to see the curvature of the Earth before returning to Earth.
As the rocket approaches the ground, boosters will be launched so as to slow it down before it lands on a pad two miles from the launch site.
Blue Origin’s Director of Astronaut Sales, Ariane Cornell, told a media briefing: “The view will be spectacular.”
Blue Origin announced the upcoming launch on its Twitter page, saying: “On July 20th, #NewShepard 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.”
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The bidding will begin at $50,000 on Blue Origin’s website.
The highest bidders will be announced on May 19.
Blue Origin said: “We will notify you if you’re outbid and need to go through the verification process to raise your bid.”
Come June 12, a live auction will be streamed on Blue Origin’s website.
The company said: “The live online auction will start on Saturday, June 12, 2021 at 1 pm EDT.
“Two days prior to the auction, you’ll receive an email with instructions on how to create a live bidding account.
“Online and phone bidding will start at the highest pre-bid and will continue until there is one remaining bidder with no higher competing bids. At that time, the auction is closed.”
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