Blue Origin Goddard
Encyclopedia
Blue Origin Goddard is the name of the first development vehicle in the Blue Origin New Shepard
program, which flew for the first time on November 13, 2006. Named after rocketry pioneer Robert Goddard, the vehicle is a subscale demonstrator and flew at a 285 ft altitude during its initial flight. The private spacecraft venture is being funded by the billionaire founder of Amazon.com
, Jeff Bezos
. He hopes that the private spacecraft could eventually bring space travel within the reach of the masses. A video of the cone-shaped Goddard vehicle shows it climbing to about 85 m (285 ft) before returning to Earth, in a remote part of Texas
.
The flight marks the first time Jeff Bezos has broken his silence on the work of his space company, Blue Origin
. On the company's website, Mr Bezos said: "We're working, patiently and step-by-step, to lower the cost of spaceflight so that many people can afford to go; and so that we humans can better continue exploring the Solar System." "Accomplishing this mission will take a long time, and we're working on it methodically." Mr Bezos founded Blue Origin in 2000 with the intention of developing a vertical take-off and landing vehicle, able to take passengers to the edge of space. No timescale for commercial trips has been announced but documents released by the US Federal Aviation Administration suggest they could start as early as 2010.
The video filmed on 13 November 2006 from a site about 120 miles east of El Paso
in Texas
shows the first craft to launch under the New Shepard program. The vehicle climbed for approximately 10 seconds, reaching a height of 285 ft, before starting to descend and making a controlled landing back on its feet approximately 25 seconds after take-off. The launch, described by Mr Bezos as "both useful and fun", was watched by friends, family and a team of engineers.
Blue Origin New Shepard
The Blue Origin New Shepard reusable launch vehicle is a vertical-takeoff, vertical-landing , suborbital manned rocket that is being developed by Blue Origin, a company owned by Amazon.com founder and businessman Jeff Bezos, as a commercial system for suborbital space tourism.The New Shepard makes...
program, which flew for the first time on November 13, 2006. Named after rocketry pioneer Robert Goddard, the vehicle is a subscale demonstrator and flew at a 285 ft altitude during its initial flight. The private spacecraft venture is being funded by the billionaire founder of Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
, Jeff Bezos
Jeff Bezos
Jeffrey Preston "Jeff" Bezos is the founder, president, chief executive officer , and chairman of the board of Amazon.com.-Early life and background:...
. He hopes that the private spacecraft could eventually bring space travel within the reach of the masses. A video of the cone-shaped Goddard vehicle shows it climbing to about 85 m (285 ft) before returning to Earth, in a remote part of Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
.
The flight marks the first time Jeff Bezos has broken his silence on the work of his space company, Blue Origin
Blue Origin
Blue Origin is a privately funded aerospace company set up by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos. The company was awarded $3.7 million in funding in 2009 by NASA via a Space Act Agreement under the Commercial Crew Development program for development of concepts and technologies to support future human...
. On the company's website, Mr Bezos said: "We're working, patiently and step-by-step, to lower the cost of spaceflight so that many people can afford to go; and so that we humans can better continue exploring the Solar System." "Accomplishing this mission will take a long time, and we're working on it methodically." Mr Bezos founded Blue Origin in 2000 with the intention of developing a vertical take-off and landing vehicle, able to take passengers to the edge of space. No timescale for commercial trips has been announced but documents released by the US Federal Aviation Administration suggest they could start as early as 2010.
The video filmed on 13 November 2006 from a site about 120 miles east of El Paso
El Paso
El Paso, a city in the U.S. state of Texas, on the border with Mexico.El Paso may also refer to:-Geography:Colombia:* El Paso, CesarSpain:*El Paso, Santa Cruz de TenerifeUnited States:...
in Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
shows the first craft to launch under the New Shepard program. The vehicle climbed for approximately 10 seconds, reaching a height of 285 ft, before starting to descend and making a controlled landing back on its feet approximately 25 seconds after take-off. The launch, described by Mr Bezos as "both useful and fun", was watched by friends, family and a team of engineers.
External links
- BBC news 4 January 2007
- Gunter's Space Page - information on Goddard