Jeff Bezos announces he'll be on first human flight to space
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On July 20, Jeff Bezos will be blasted into space on one of his Blue Origin rockets. However, an online petition has called for Mr Bezos to be denied re-entry into Earth. The petition has now gained more than 115,000 signatures from netizens who have been using the Change.org platform to criticise how the Amazon founder has used his wealth.
Mr Bezos is currently the richest person in the world, having amassed a wealth of $204 billion (£146bn), according to Forbes.
However, he has been heavily criticised for how he has used his fortunes.
Political analyst Earl Ofari Hutchinson has claimed that Mr Bezos has given away just one percent of his wealth.
This is considerably lower than other billionaires like Bill Gates who has given tens of billions away as part of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Even ex-president Donald Trump has given away three percent of his fortune.
MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Mr Bezos who announced their divorce this year, has vowed to give away virtually all of the $38bn she received in a divorce settlement, with the latest being a $2.7bn donation to 286 charities.
Mr Bezos has also come under fire for the way his Amazon staff had been treated during his tenure.
The petition calling for Mr Bezos to be denied a return to Earth said: “Billionaires should not exist…on Earth, or in space, but should they decide the latter, they should stay there.”
A similar petition which has more than 22,000 signatures went even further.
It said, presumably semi-jokingly: “Jeff Bezos is actually Lex Luthor, disguised as the supposed owner of a super successful online retail store.
“However, he’s actually an evil overlord hellbent on global domination. We’ve known this for years.”
It went on to add: “He’s also in bed with the flat earth deniers; it’s the only way they’ll allow him to leave the atmosphere.
“Meanwhile our Government stands by and lets it happen.
“This may be our last chance before they enable the 5G microchips and perform a mass takeover.”
On July 20, Mr Bezos, along with his brother, Mark, and other paying passengers, will fly in Blue Origin’s New Shepard 62 miles (100 kilometres) above Earth’s surface.
They will then sit in orbit for 10 minutes where they will experience weightlessness.
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.
The six onboard the rocket will also be able to see the curvature of the Earth before returning to Earth.
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