THRILLING 10 MINUTES! THE RICHEST MAN BEZOS COMPLETES THE FIRST REAL SPACE TOUR FOR HUMAN TRAVELERSSILICON STAR MAN07-21 06:49 52 YEARS AGO TODAY, NEIL ARMSTRONG AND BUZZ ALDRIN SUCCESSFULLY STEPPED ONTO THE SURFACE OF THE MOON ABOARD APOLLO 11, COMPLETING THE "ONE SMALL STEP FOR HUMANS, ONE BIG STEP FOR HUMANITY" AND OPENING A NEW CHAPTER IN MANNED SPACEFLIGHT.52 YEARS LATER, JEFF BEZOS, WHO HAS JUST OFFICIALLY RESIGNED AS CEO OF AMAZON AND IS THE WORLD'S RICHEST MAN, HAS ALSO MADE HIS OWN MARK IN THE HISTORY OF HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT TODAY.ON JULY 20, 2021, JEFF BEZOS, HIS BROTHER MARK BEZOS, ELDERLY FEMALE SPACE PIONEER WALLY FUNK, AND 18-YEAR-OLD PHYSICS STUDENT OLIVER DAEMEN BOARDED THE PRIVATE SPACE COMPANY BLUE ORIGIN'S NEW SHEPARD ROCKET AND CROSSED THE "CARMEN LINE" AT AN ALTITUDE OF 100 KILOMETERS, ENTERING "REAL" SPACE FOR THE FIRST TIME.FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: MARK BEZOS, JEFF BEZOS, OLIVER DAMON, WALLY FUNK IMAGE SOURCE: BLUE ORIGINTHIS SUMMER IN THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE IS THE ****** SEASON FOR BILLIONAIRES TO FULFILL THEIR DREAMS OF SPACE EXPLORATION. PERHAPS DECADES FROM NOW, WHEN EVERY ORDINARY PERSON HAS THE OPPORTUNITY TO TRAVEL IN SPACE, WE WILL ALSO RECALL THIS BEAUTIFUL SUMMER.IN THE PAST, ORDINARY PEOPLE HAD ALMOST NO CHANCE TO GO TO SPACE. AND TODAY, THESE BILLIONAIRES HAVE PROVEN THAT SPACE TRAVEL IS NOT AN UNATTAINABLE DREAM, YOU JUST NEED TO BE WEALTHY ENOUGHFIRSTLY, LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT A SET OF DATA GRAPHS FOR THIS FLIGHT MISSION.ACCORDING TO GARY LAI, CHIEF DESIGNER OF THE BLUE ORIGIN NEW SHEPARD PROJECT, ANY PAUSE AND WAIT FOR THE NEW SHEPARD ROCKET IS POSITIVE AND DOES NOT HAVE ANY NEGATIVE IMPACT, NOR DOES IT MEAN THAT THERE IS A PROBLEM WITH THE MISSION.THIS IS BECAUSE THE NEW SHEPARD ROCKET PERFORMS LOW ALTITUDE FLIGHT, WITH MUCH FEWER RESTRICTIONS COMPARED TO WHAT WE GENERALLY UNDERSTAND AS ORBITAL ROCKET LAUNCHES, AND THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A LAUNCH WINDOW. THEREFORE, IN PRINCIPLE, IT CAN BE LAUNCHED AT ANY TIME SUITABLE FOR WEATHER AND ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS. WE SPENT OVER A DECADE DESIGNING ROCKETS AND SEVERAL MONTHS PLANNING MISSIONS. IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE A SUCCESSFUL LAUNCH, WE CAN WAIT A LITTLE LONGERAT THE SAME TIME, THE MISSION CONTROL ROOM "BLUE CONTROL" IS ALSO BUSY COMPLETING VARIOUS PRE LAUNCH INSPECTIONS AND TASK ARRANGEMENTS.THE COUNTDOWN TO T-0 HAS ENDED, AND THE NEW SHEPARD ROCKET HAS IGNITED. BUT ABOUT 5-7 SECONDS LATER, THE LAUNCH PAD WAS RELEASED AND THE ROCKET OFFICIALLY TOOK OFF;AFTER IGNITION, THE ROCKET CONTINUED TO ACCELERATE, AND IN ABOUT 2 MINUTES, THE SPACECRAFT CARRYING THE ASTRONAUTS ALSO UNDERWENT ATTITUDE CHANGE IGNITION, ADJUSTED THE DIRECTION OF RETURN TO THE ATMOSPHERE, AND QUICKLY LANDED TOWARDS THE SET LANDING SITE. AT AN ALTITUDE OF AROUND 10000 FEET, THE SPACECRAFT'S DECELERATION PARACHUTE AND PARACHUTE DEPLOY ONE AFTER ANOTHER. AT HALFTIME, PERFORM "MECO", WHICH MEANS THE MAIN ENGINE IS CUT OFF AND CLIMB WITH THE HELP OF INERTIA.AFTER THE MAIN ENGINE SHUTS DOWN FOR 30 SECONDS, THE SPACECRAFT AND ROCKET BOOSTERS SEPARATE, AND THE SPACECRAFT CONTINUES TO MOVE TOWARDS THE CARMEN LINE ALTITUDE, AND THE "SEAT BELT" INDICATOR LIGHT INSIDE THE CABIN WILL TURN OFF. THIS MEANS THAT ASTRONAUTS CAN BEGIN TO UNFASTEN THEIR SEAT BELTS, FEEL THE DECREASING GRAVITY, AND PREPARE FOR THE IMPENDING MOMENT OF WEIGHTLESSNESS.THE THRUSTER GRADUALLY DECELERATES UNDER THE EFFECT OF GRAVITY AND WEAK AIR RESISTANCE, RETURNS TO THE ATMOSPHERE BEFORE THE SPACECRAFT, AND LANDS AT THE DESIGNATED LANDING SITE.THE MOST EXCITING MOMENT HAS ARRIVED! AT THE PEAK OF THE PREDETERMINED FLIGHT TRAJECTORY (APPROXIMATELY 105-106 KILOMETERS ABOVE SEA LEVEL), ASTRONAUTS EXPERIENCED A WEIGHTLESSNESS TIME OF 3-4 MINUTES. THEY CAN FLOAT FREELY INSIDE THE CABIN. UNFORTUNATELY, BLUE ORIGIN DID NOT PREPARE A LIVE VIDEO BROADCAST INSIDE THE SPACECRAFT, SO WE WERE UNABLE TO WITNESS THE ASTRONAUT'S EXPERIENCE IN REAL TIME.BUT AT LEAST WE CAN HEAR BEZOS SHOUTING, "HOLY SH * T GOD!" AT THE MOMENT HE EXPERIENCED ZERO GRAVITYWHILE ASTRONAUTS EXPERIENCE A BRIEF, EXPENSIVE, YET UNFORGETTABLE EXPERIENCE OF WEIGHTLESSNESS IN SPACE, THE ROCKET PROPULSION SYSTEM IS RAPIDLY RETURNING TO THE ATMOSPHERE AND AIMING FOR THE LANDING SITE. DURING THE DESCENT, THE SPEED DECREASED FROM MACH 3 TO ZERO, AND SEVERAL SUPER LOUD NOISES WERE HEARD DURING THE LIVE BROADCAST.AFTERWARDS, THE ROCKET SUCCESSFULLY LANDED!SUBSEQUENTLY, THE SPACECRAFT CARRYING THE ASTRONAUTS ALSO UNDERWENT A CHANGE OF ATTITUDE IGNITION, ADJUSTED THE DIRECTION OF RETURN TO THE ATMOSPHERE, AND RAPIDLY LANDED TOWARDS THE DESIGNATED LANDING SITE. AT AN ALTITUDE OF AROUND 10000 FEET, THE SPACECRAFT'S DECELERATION PARACHUTE AND PARACHUTE DEPLOY ONE AFTER ANOTHER.FINALLY, AT AN ALTITUDE OF APPROXIMATELY 6 FEET ABOVE THE GROUND, THE SPACECRAFT UNDERWENT A RAPID IGNITION, REDUCING ITS SPEED TO 1-2 MILES PER HOUR, ACHIEVING THE FINAL 'SOFT LANDING'.THE ENTIRE PROCESS FROM THE COUNTDOWN TO IGNITION, TAKEOFF ACCELERATION, SPACECRAFT SEPARATION, REACHING ALTITUDE LIMIT, AND RETURNING TO THE GROUND TOOK ONLY 10 MINUTES AND 20 SECONDS.THESE 10 MINUTES ARE EXACTLY WHAT BEZOS, WHO LOVES PHYSICS AND SPACE, HAS BEEN WAITING FOR ALL HIS LIFE. AFTER LANDING, HE SHOUTED LOUDLY, "CONTROL CENTER, THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!" (BLUE CONTROL, BEZOS. BEST DAY EVER!)BEZOS PARTICIPATED IN VARIOUS PHYSICS RELATED TUTORING AND COMPETITIONS AT HIGH SCHOOL, AND INITIALLY STUDIED THEORETICAL PHYSICS DURING HIS UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES AT PRINCETON. BUT COMPARED WITH COMPUTERS AND THE INTERNET, HE FOUND THAT HIS TALENT WAS NOT PHYSICAL. (BEZOS ONCE REVEALED THAT DURING HIS UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES, HE HAD A PARTIAL EQUATION THAT HE COULDN'T SOLVE. HE WENT TO FIND A TOP STUDENT AND FOUND OUT THAT SOMEONE ELSE HAD ALREADY SOLVED A SIMILAR EQUATION WHEN HE WAS A CHILD. THIS MADE HIM REALIZE THAT HE WASN'T CUT OUT FOR IT...)AFTER LEAVING THE CABIN, BEZOS HUGGED HIS MOTHER. DAMON EMBRACED HIS FATHER. IN THE BACKGROUND, FENG KEGANG HAD JUST STEPPED OUT OF THE CABIN AND EXCITEDLY RAISED HIS ARMS, SHOUTING:DURING THE ON-SITE CELEBRATION, BEZOS ALSO ORGANIZED A "CHAMPAGNE RAIN".