Jeff Bezos' historic spaceflight leaves internet abuzz; netizens congratulate 'Team Blue'

Jeff Bezos, the wealthiest man on the planet, blasted off Blue Origin's New Shepard flight from its Launch Site One in the West Texas desert in the United States on Tuesday. He spent a few minutes in space on Blue Origin's first human mission, a key moment for a fledgling industry that is seeking to make the final frontier accessible to elite tourists.

The Amazon magnate was accompanied by brother Mark Bezos, 82-year-old astronaut Wally Funk, and 18-year-old passenger Oliver Daemen. Upon reaching the earth's surface, Jeff Bezos and the entire crew stepped out of the Blue Origin capsule celebrating their successful journey. The company's Twitter handle also confirmed the success of their first human flight to space. 

"A very happy group of people in this capsule," said Bezos, with a big thumbs up, after the spaceship touched down in the west Texas desert following a 10-minute ride to the Karman line. The crew exchanged high-fives and hugged their family who came to meet them at the landing site.

"Congratulations to all of Team Blue past and present on reaching this historic moment in spaceflight history. This first astronaut crew wrote themselves into the history books of space, opening the door through which many after will pass," said Blue Origin after the capsule touched down safely on Tuesday evening.

Twitter abuzz as Jeff Bezos completes his trip to space

Exhilarated by the business magnate's historic spaceflight, Twitter blew up in appreciation and congratulated 'Team Blue' on the Aerospace company's first human mission. 

"Congratulations to Mary ‘Wally’ Funk the Oldest person and woman in space, in Blue Origin the first human flight with Jeff Bezos, Mark Bezos, and the youngest person in space Oliver Daemen…Women rock!" tweeted NCP MP Supriya Sule, following the touchdown. 

The mission marked another milestone in the billionaire space race initiated by private companies. It was the first time in history that a commercial company launched a privately funded and built spacecraft from a private launch range with astronauts on board.

Blue Origin’s first human spaceflight comes a little over a week after space-tourism competitor Virgin Galactic successfully sent a crew of six including founder Richard Branson to space and experienced few minutes in zero gravity. Virgin Galactic, Blue Origin as well as the space firm founded by billionaire Elon Musk are working to usher in a new era of routine commercial civilian space travel as the “billionaire space race.”