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Former NASA astronaut Clayton Anderson on Jeff Bezos’ first crewed Blue Origin flight.
Wally Funk gives a two-star review of Jeff Bezos’ space flight.
The 82-year-old passenger on Tuesday’s Blue Origin mission enthusiastically thanked the billionaire for the flight, but the former NASA pioneer intern also made less than stellar comments about the 11-minute trip.
“We went straight ahead and saw the darkness. I thought I was going to see the world, but we weren’t high enough,” said Funk, who is now the oldest person to travel in the space.
As the Blue Origin suborbital flight goes about 10 miles higher than that of rival Virgin Galactic, images from the flight’s passenger capsule show what Funk is talking about.
Blue Origin’s New Shepard Crew (LR) Jeff Bezos and Wally Funk arrive for a press conference after flying into space aboard the Blue Origin New Shepard rocket on July 20, 2021 in Van Horn, Texas. (Photo by Joe Raedle / Getty Images)
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Passengers could see Earth through the capsule windows, but it was a long way from the Pale Blue Dot that was photographed from deep in space.
And the view from the Blue Origin flight couldn’t quite match the images taken from the International Space Station, which is about four times higher than the Blue Origin flight.
Images from the ISS show the panoramic horizon of the Earth.
In images shared by Blue Origin, passengers appear to be able to see the edge of Earth’s atmosphere and a bit of a curve on the horizon as well as the darkness of space, but as Funk said, it’s not enough. to see the whole world in one sight.
Plus, Funk added at the post-flight press conference, she would have liked to spend more time weightless on the flight to “do a lot more rolls and spins and so on.”
“But there wasn’t enough room for the four of us to do all of these things,” she added.
This undated photo provided by Blue Origin shows the interior of the crew capsule. (Michael Craft / Blue Origin via AP)
While Funk can be heard in the cabin footage saying, “I love it,” space appears to be tight.
The capsule is designed to carry six passengers, although this flight only carries four. The footage shows the crew colliding and struggling to somersault through the air.
At one point, another passenger on the flight asks, “Can you shake your head a little, Wally, for us?” “
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And finally, Funk’s last criticism was that she wished the trip was longer.
“I loved every minute,” she said. “I just wish it had lasted longer.”
The flight lasted nearly 11 minutes in total and reached 66.5 miles in altitude.
Less than 10 minutes after takeoff, the rocket capsule separated from its reusable booster, allowing the crew to enjoy a few minutes of weightlessness before parachuting back to the ground.
Footage shows the crew throwing orange ping-pong balls, and Bezos even threw a bowling pin into the mouth of 18-year-old Oliver Daemen.
Daemen, who is now the youngest person to ever travel to space and the company’s first paying customer, insisted the flight “looked a lot cooler than it looked” after examined the pictures.
“Everyone on the pitch was a lot more emotional than us,” he said. “We were just having fun.”
When asked if he felt like he was getting what he paid for, he replied, “Sure. Of course.
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However, it’s still unclear how much he, or rather his father, CEO and founder of Somerset Capital Partners Joes Daemen hedge fund, paid for the seat.
Blue Origin has yet to announce what it might charge for seats on future flights, although rival Virgin Galactic has charged $ 200,000 to $ 500,000 for seats on future flights.
Representatives for Blue Origin did not immediately return The Post’s request for comment.
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