World famous entrepreneur Jeff Bezos not only is the head and founder of Amazon and Blue Origin (which technically put the rocket before SpaceX), but also plans to go into space aboard her spacecraft New Shepard. And wants to do it as soon as possible. This week, showing large Windows on its New Shepard rocket factory, Bezos spoke in detail about what would look like first flight into space on this transport. Each of the six seats reclines and turns to his own window.
The spacecraft not only offers a room with a view of the cosmos. Passengers will feel the effect of ascent into space on a rocket. During the ascent they will wait for overload to 3-4 G, and during the descent — 5 G, although the maximum effect of the gravitational force would last no more than 10 seconds.
“The most fun in climbing is acceleration acceleration, says Bezos. — You have over 45,000 pounds of thrust from the engines BE-3, and when you start, the fuel very much, so the acceleration is pretty slow. But as the combustion of a fuel, the transportation becomes very easy, and the craving remains the same. Therefore, the acceleration grows.
It features a New Shepard from his main competitors, Virgin Galactic and XCOR, who are also developing suborbital space tourism. Although the transports of both these companies will be equipped with rocket engines, their fundamental architecture is more like a high-altitude aircraft than traditional rockets and space capsules.
Details of historical flight of the New Shepard, which took place in November 2015, when the spacecraft and propulsion module has performed the first vertical landing of the rocket was released into space, and landed successfully, shed light on what would be the flight. The time of flight of the transport — 10 minutes and 20 seconds lifting height of 100.5 kilometers. RUB 171.1 seconds pass in microgravity. The propulsion module and spacecraft are separated, of course: rocket sits vertically, and the capsule with the crew descends by parachute.
While walking through the plant Blue Origin Bezos was at pains to stress the safety of the New Shepard system. The vehicle is fully Autonomous and completely reusable. Consequently, not too expensive to repeatedly scan the system startup and return, before you sit down people on Board.
“The beauty of this architecture is that we can fly on it, not until it absolutely was explained Bezos. — We will check the transport along and across, before running at him. By the time when they will start doing tours, I think you’ll be able to send his mother and children.”
Bezos says that a drone testing program will continue this year and next, perhaps, the transport saddle the pilots. However, Bezos says that it’ll probably be “passengers-testers”, as the New Shepard will remain fully Autonomous in the course of its flight. Even during commercial flights on Board will not be professional pilots or astronauts. Passengers-testers can provide information about the noise, uncomfortable acceleration or other aspects of flight that will help Blue Origin to finalize flight profile for commercial flights.
When he would have gone himself? “As soon as possible,” says Bezos.
Perhaps, in 2017 he will become a passenger test. Bezos says he always wanted to go into space, but that was not his main motivation at the base of the rocket company. “Yes, I would like to go into space, but would like to make this vehicle Blue Origin. This can be done in chairs “Union”, but I’m not interested. I want to change the whole structure of the spacewalk. And Yes, I want myself to go into space, and I will go”.
If test flights go well, Blue Origin may begin commercial service in West Texas in 2018. The company has not yet decided on the price, says Bezos, but expects to be able to compete with “those prices that we are experiencing.” Virgin Galactic is selling tickets for Unity-VSS $ 250,000, XCOR takes 150 000 dollars for a place in the spacecraft Lynx. However, neither one nor the other transport is not yet tested in space.
Blue Origin would be careful with the tickets. Bezos says he doesn’t want to sell space to clients, until you can promise them a specific time and date of access to space. Nevertheless, when tickets become available, many thousands of people have to stand in line.
