When Jeff Bezos and his team enjoyed weightlessness in space
Earlier this week, the world’s richest man Jeff Bezos jetted off to space in Blue Origin’s New Shepard aircraft. The Amazon founder was accompanied by a hand-picked group: his brother, Mark, an 18-year-old from the Netherlands, Oliver Daemen, and an 82-year-old aviation pioneer from Texas, Wally Funk.
Daemen and Funk became the youngest and oldest to ever fly in space. From launch to landing the whole experience lasted just over 10 minutes with four of those in zero gravity. After the capsule separated from the booster, the crew unbuckled for a few minutes of weightlessness. The capsule then returned to Earth under parachutes, using a retro-thrust system that expelled a “pillow of air” for a soft landing.
The four people to experience weightlessness in space seemed to have had the time of their life. In a video shared by Bezos on Instagram, the four were seen passing ping ong ball at each other and having a gala time.