Updated July 20th, 2021 at 06:50 IST
How different is Jeff Bezos' New Shepard from SpaceX, Virgin Galactic spaceflights?
Blue Origin’s New Shepard consists of a booster rocket and capsule, which, apparently will be “launched” into space similar to that of Musk's rockets.
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Blue Origin space company founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos is set to launch its first crewed mission on Tuesday (July 20), just a week after Virgin Galactic (SPCE) put its founder Richard Branson into space achieving a big milestone. The Unity 22 mission flew to the “edge of space,” approximately 85km (53 miles) aboard a Virgin Galactic plane on July 12 making the prospects of commercial space tourism a reality.
Bezos’ Blue origin meanwhile has claimed that its space journey will have much more to offer as the crew, including the first-ever civilian with space flight ticket, will take off beyond Galactic’s achievable realm to the Kármán line, a distance of 100km (62 miles) adopted by the Swiss Air Sports Federation (Fédération Aéronautique Internationale). NASA and the United States military although consider space to start at roughly 80 km (50 miles) above Earth's surface.
So what compares and what stands out between the Amazon boss’ and Branson’s tourism venture as they each strive to push the frontiers of commercial suborbital space travel?
While the two space flights are chasing the same goal with their first fully crewed launches with civilians not astronauts onboard, there may be some stark differences that may be hard to miss. The first being ‘speed’. Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo Unity (VSS Unity) is a typical suborbital spaceplane designed by carrier jet aircraft called WhiteKnightTwo with a recorded speed of 15,000 meters (an estimated 50,000 feet) as it takes off from the runway.
Blue Origin’s New Shepard consists of a booster rocket and capsule, which, apparently will be “launched” into space similar to that of NASA or Elon Musk’s rockets. This makes it obvious that Bezos’ Blue origin is chasing much more complex landing procedures such as that of a typical rocket launch. Additionally, Blue Origin is flaunting the “largest windows in space" with dimensions 42” x 28” for a mesmerizing view while the Branson's Virgin Galactic spaceflight donned standard airplane-sized windows.
Wishing the entire @blueorigin team a successful and safe flight from all of us @VirginGalactic. pic.twitter.com/LSZXk3LoaD
— Virgin Galactic (@virgingalactic)
"To all you kids down there..." - @RichardBranson's message from zero gravity. #Unity22
— Virgin Galactic (@virgingalactic)
Watch the livestream: https://t.co/5UalYT7Hjb pic.twitter.com/lYXHNsDQcU
The altitude of VSS Unity remains 86 kilometers (about 54 miles) as the maximum achievable height while New Shepherd is aiming at 105 kilometers (about 65 miles). A seat onboard Jeff Bezos Blue origin’s new Shepherd was auctioned for $28 million, while Virgin Galactic accumulated a whopping $250,000 per seat. New Shepherd will also have no pilots just 6 passengers, while Branson’s Spacecraft flew with 2 pilots and 4 passengers. Also, the VSS Unity crew experienced 4 minutes of weightlessness once they left the Earth’s atmosphere. The crew on its rival spacecraft will record just about 3 minutes of weightlessness into space.
Our astronauts have completed training and are a go for launch. #NSFirstHumanFlight pic.twitter.com/rzkQgqVaB6
— Blue Origin (@blueorigin)
Safety is and will always be our top priority. Hear from Gary Lai and Laura Stiles about our approach to safety and reliability. Watch the #NSFirstHumanFlight launch live on https://t.co/7Y4TherpLr pic.twitter.com/xiHJpOyQ2p
— Blue Origin (@blueorigin)
It is to note while by NASA’s standards, Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity flew into space, New Sphered will officially cross the Kármán Line, the first-ever commercial space flight to do so. VSS Unity also carried NASA’s payload, apparently Arabidopsis thaliana tubes to bring back the samples to the scientists for further experiments on microgravity. Thus far, Bezos hasn’t confirmed any payload on New Shepherd. Unity donned the feather mechanisms that expanded during takeoff and contracted on landing and was powered by a twin-fuselage carrier jet, called VMS Eve. New Shepherd however is similar to a traditional rocket.
Elon Musk's SpaceX commercial launch to ISS
Visionary SpaceX's CEO Elon Musk was the first to clutch the title for launching humans to space, surpassing aerospace firm Boeing's plans of doing so. For the first time in more than 10 years, Musk's SpaceX rocket made it possible to deliver US astronauts to NASA's International Space Station, although the company is yet to deliver on the space tourism front. SpaceX although announced that it will send a rocket on a 10-day voyage with astronauts who each paid $55 million.
Tesla CEO has struck a deal with a private spaceflight specialist Axiom Space for the four such missions [Ax-1, Ax-2, Ax-3, and Ax-4] onboard Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon capsule. Although SpaceX's Inspiration4 mission funded by American billionaire Jared Isaacman will establish Musk's company's entry into commercial space tourism.
“While a historic journey awaits us in space, I hope this mission reinforces how far inspiration can take us and the extraordinary achievements it leads to here on Earth.” – Jared Isaacman, Inspiration4 Commander pic.twitter.com/y41tsFJzNu
— Inspiration4 (@inspiration4x)
[Credit: SpaceX]
Unlike Virgin Galactic and New Shepherd, Inspiration4 will be an orbital flight lasting several days onboard a modified version of the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule fitted with a giant observation dome. Musk also plans to send Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, eight passengers and one or two crew on a lunar voyage on Starship rocket. Musk's space travel plans however are expected to implement around 2023.
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Published July 20th, 2021 at 06:50 IST