5 ms·

Jeff Bezos successfully lands back on Earth

25 points by blackcat201 5y ago

sgt 5y ago
I watched the launch live. Inspirational to say the least. I am also glad the 82 year old Wally got to experience this. It may seem like just a quick launch and return, but this event is a milestone.
- gregoriol 5y ago
  Seeing it live indeed felt like it was so short. This is a milestone for that company, but not a milestone for much else: it really looked useless. Let's hope they will extend their technology for something bigger than this.
  - sgt 5y ago
    Sending people up is a good and solid first step. You can't really be doing or planning seriously ambitious stuff if you can't send people up 100 km. That's what they proved today.
    - ASalazarMX 5y ago
      I still think it's a fruitless waste of resources. At a quarter million per ticket, only the richest people can afford them. Maybe it will become more affordable in the future, so you can spend $50,000 and enjoy grazing space in a 20-30 people capsule. Maybe I don't have their vision, but this kind of space tourism seems like a dead end. Not useful enough to replace planes, not powerful enough to actually go to space. Maybe a testbed for space technologies?
      - frabcus 5y ago
        Profit to fund orbital technologies?
      - t0mbstone 5y ago
        ANY kind of competition in the field of space travel should be welcome. I think you are seriously underestimating the demand for a truly safe platform for shuttling people and payloads from earth's surface to outer space. Space is the final frontier, and we are literally just getting started. The more groups that are working on the problem, the better!
        ASalazarMX 5y ago
        > I think you are seriously underestimating the demand for a truly safe platform for shuttling people and payloads from earth's surface to outer space. Most likely I am. It seems like the logical progression would be increasingly bigger rockets to actually round-trip regularly to, say, the Moon, or a space station. Elon Musk has always made clear his final goal of colonizing Mars, while Branson and Bezos seem to have less defined goals.
        t0mbstone 5y ago
        Blue Origin is also working on New Glenn (a much larger reusable rocket), as well as Blue Moon (a flexible moon lander). I suspect that Bezos is following a little bit of the same playbook with Blue Origin that he did with Amazon. Amazon isn't just an online retailer. It's also an open marketplace for independent sellers. Additionally, all of the technology behind the scenes (the AWS platform) is being resold and used by countless other companies (generating a huge chunk of Amazon's revenue). By focusing on building these reusable components (with no single defined goal), I suspect that Bezos is envisioning a space "road" which will be utilized by third parties as they see fit. If you notice, they even use this "space road" terminology on the marketing for New Glenn. If a private company wants to start their own mining base on the moon, for example, they could simply pay Blue Origin to ship their building supplies there. They could then play Blue Origin to shuttle their people there. If Blue Origin can actually provide a safe and reliable "toll road" for third parties to get to space, they will make billions/trillions in the long run off of it. Edit: I just found something interesting to support this theory. Apparently Jeff Bezos recently stated that "We Need to Move All Polluting Industry Into Space". Now just imagine how much money Blue Origin would make from shuttling all those third party materials and people to and from space...
ffffwe3rq352y3 5y ago
Some dude said that they shorted amazon hoping Jeffy B would die. Looks like the bet didn't pay off!
- apetresc 5y ago
  He doesn't even work there anymore, why would that tank the stock price?
  - ffffwe3rq352y3 5y ago
    Never said It was a good idea! I personally think it was a dumb plan. However, I'm guessing if he did somehow die it would make amazon go down just because he is still related.
  - MisterBastahrd 5y ago
    He "stepped down" from the CEO role to a position of executive chairman. Which basically means he retains decision making power but doesn't have to actually show up to the office every day. It would definitely tank the stock price.
    - seba_dos1 5y ago
      Also, the assumption that markets react rationally and that the price wouldn't tank in such case if he actually didn't work there anymore is a pretty bold assumption to make.
bradhe 5y ago
Does the dailyrecord (whatever the hell that is) hijack the back button for anyone else??
- notyourwork 5y ago
  Appears so, had to click twice to get back. First click did nothing.
- e19293001 5y ago
  Happened to me.
mytailorisrich 5y ago
They mentioned that the rocket uses LOX/LOH as fuel, which makes it zero emission since a launch only produces water. That's quite interesting.
- samatman 5y ago
  We have to do embodied energy calculations for fuels as well, but yes, this is promising. While noting that methane and higher hydrocarbons can also be created from thin air and water...
- dragosmocrii 5y ago
  How is the fuel obtained though? Is that zero emission as well?
  - mytailorisrich 5y ago
    Well, that's like EV, isn't it? The point is that a rocket launch itself is zero emission and that LOX and LH2 may be produced using renewable energy, for instance.
- wumpus 5y ago
  Hydrogen is usually produced from natural gas ("brown hydrogen", see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_economy#Color_codes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_economy#Color_codes)
  - mytailorisrich 5y ago
    That's one of the methods, not the only one. The point remains that a launch is zero emission because of the fuel used. In turn it is perfectly possible to produce that fuel 'cleanly'. I mentioned this because I thought that this was interesting as, IMHO, it shows that space launches are not necessarily ultra polluting.
    - wumpus 5y ago
      Yes, the Wikipedia article I referenced had 7 different methods of producing hydrogen. Of which 1 is popular now, the one that uses natural gas. Is any hydrogen-using rocket currently fueled with something other than hydrogen from natural gas? I totally get that it's interesting that it's possible that rocket launches might not be ultra polluting someday, but so far, ...
ck2 5y ago
I mean okay, it's really just a very very high plane ride to edge of space, not actual space? So assuming an evolution and not revolution in technology, how long until the first civilian orbits earth? 10 years?
- uoaei 5y ago
  Right, this is a publicity stunt more than a demonstration of useful technology. My suspicion is that Amazon is angling for a suborbital (Earth-to-Earth) delivery platform with "space" tourism as a side gig, while Branson is going full hog for "space" tourism and Musk is focusing on delivery to orbit. Of the three, going to orbit is definitely the most interesting and technologically advanced, and the others are just meant to get investors excited.
  - dwaltrip 5y ago
    This is definitely useful tech for space tourism. We can debate the size of the market and the exact demand curve, but I’m sure there are a decent number of people who will pay the expected sticker price of a few hundred K to go to space. And prices will only go down.
    - uoaei 5y ago
      Down to what? Branson advertises it as "democratizing space" but surely you can't expect even 99% of the world's population to comfortably afford space travel in the next 50-100 years?
      - dwaltrip 5y ago
        I’m 31 and I’d wager I’ll be able to go to orbit for $10k or less (in 2021 dollars) in my lifetime. I wouldn’t be surprised if it happens in the next 20 years. I would leap to do so :) Hell I would probably be willing to pay a bit more. It’s not that cheap but many people go on vacations for a similar price every few years. Of course, that is a step up from these sub-orbital flights. They are related though. Progress in sub-orbital tourism will help pave the way for orbital tourism and beyond. Many signs are pointing to the space ecosystem and related technologies growing and developing in an incredible way in the coming decades, after multiple decades of relative stagnation.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
eplanit 5y ago
It's intersting (sort of) to contrast Bezos with Musk on this: Musk wants to colonize other planets, and in his other work to convert from fossil fuels -- truly moving the species forward. Bezos, on the other hand, fancies himself as Jean-Luc Picard, made trip #1 about himself, and what he's really making happen is a lucrative space tourism business. Still cool, but not at all on par with Musk's work. Congrats Bezos, nonetheless (he gets a Nancy Pelosi clap, at least).
- oses 5y ago
  I'm not sure I agree that him being on this first trip is him making it 100% about himself. I think its more him trying to show that it is safe enough even for him to go on.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - eplanit 5y ago
    Hmmm.. the photo seems to indicate otherwise: https://twitter.com/blueorigin/status/1417251070989029376 https://twitter.com/blueorigin/status/1417251070989029376
- sebazzz 5y ago
  Regardless, I think Bezos is viewed in a worse daylight simply because of the way he used Amazon to exploit their workers and being anti-competitive. Now, that may be true of Musk also in a way, but there is certainly less news about it.
- CarelessExpert 5y ago
  Blue Origin made a point of taking shots at Branson and Virgin Galactic before he went up: https://twitter.com/blueorigin/status/1413521627116032001 https://twitter.com/blueorigin/status/1413521627116032001 Bezos is a hyper-competitive, winner-takes-all narcissist. Of course it's about him. That being said, let's not pretend Musk or Branson are particularly different in their essential makeup. Heck, Musk literally bought the right to be called Tesla's founder. If that isn't the action of someone deeply self-involved and vainglorious, I don't know what is. Bezos appears to be just a lot more petty.
mattowen_uk 5y ago
Saying what everyone is thinking here... How many Covid vaccines could have been made and sent to poorer countries for the cost of this vanity trip ?
- NoOneNew 5y ago
  How many covid vaccines have you donated?
- gorkish 5y ago
  The world is consuming the entire vaccine production supply already. The economic disparity is causing very difficult problems in allocation, but it's beyond ridiculous to suggest that the fight against COVID has a capital problem. "Everyone" is most certainly not thinking this.
chrisjc 5y ago
Here's a link to the NASASpaceflight video. https://youtu.be/PGl8MRJheiA?t=7844 https://youtu.be/PGl8MRJheiA?t=7844 Despite all the criticism about whether suborbital is to be consider space or not, I find this to be incredibly exciting time to be alive. On another note, the footage of these landings from either Blue Origin or Starship totally remind me of something out of the original Thunderbirds show when Thunderbird 1 is landing. https://youtu.be/tGMppsrZoJw?t=153 https://youtu.be/tGMppsrZoJw?t=153 Or maybe even something from Neill Blomkamp. https://youtu.be/Tm0V24IEHao?t=793 https://youtu.be/Tm0V24IEHao?t=793
- sprainedankles 5y ago
  Thanks for the links. I have to say, getting hit with an ad right as ignition was about to take place really encapsulated the whole experience for me. What a (weird) time to be alive.

25 points by blackcat201 5y ago

sgt 5y ago

I watched the launch live. Inspirational to say the least. I am also glad the 82 year old Wally got to experience this. It may seem like just a quick launch and return, but this event is a milestone.

gregoriol 5y ago
Seeing it live indeed felt like it was so short. This is a milestone for that company, but not a milestone for much else: it really looked useless. Let's hope they will extend their technology for something bigger than this.
- sgt 5y ago
  Sending people up is a good and solid first step. You can't really be doing or planning seriously ambitious stuff if you can't send people up 100 km. That's what they proved today.
  - ASalazarMX 5y ago
    I still think it's a fruitless waste of resources. At a quarter million per ticket, only the richest people can afford them. Maybe it will become more affordable in the future, so you can spend $50,000 and enjoy grazing space in a 20-30 people capsule. Maybe I don't have their vision, but this kind of space tourism seems like a dead end. Not useful enough to replace planes, not powerful enough to actually go to space. Maybe a testbed for space technologies?
    - frabcus 5y ago
      Profit to fund orbital technologies?
    - t0mbstone 5y ago
      ANY kind of competition in the field of space travel should be welcome. I think you are seriously underestimating the demand for a truly safe platform for shuttling people and payloads from earth's surface to outer space. Space is the final frontier, and we are literally just getting started. The more groups that are working on the problem, the better!
      - ASalazarMX 5y ago
        > I think you are seriously underestimating the demand for a truly safe platform for shuttling people and payloads from earth's surface to outer space. Most likely I am. It seems like the logical progression would be increasingly bigger rockets to actually round-trip regularly to, say, the Moon, or a space station. Elon Musk has always made clear his final goal of colonizing Mars, while Branson and Bezos seem to have less defined goals.
        t0mbstone 5y ago
        Blue Origin is also working on New Glenn (a much larger reusable rocket), as well as Blue Moon (a flexible moon lander). I suspect that Bezos is following a little bit of the same playbook with Blue Origin that he did with Amazon. Amazon isn't just an online retailer. It's also an open marketplace for independent sellers. Additionally, all of the technology behind the scenes (the AWS platform) is being resold and used by countless other companies (generating a huge chunk of Amazon's revenue). By focusing on building these reusable components (with no single defined goal), I suspect that Bezos is envisioning a space "road" which will be utilized by third parties as they see fit. If you notice, they even use this "space road" terminology on the marketing for New Glenn. If a private company wants to start their own mining base on the moon, for example, they could simply pay Blue Origin to ship their building supplies there. They could then play Blue Origin to shuttle their people there. If Blue Origin can actually provide a safe and reliable "toll road" for third parties to get to space, they will make billions/trillions in the long run off of it. Edit: I just found something interesting to support this theory. Apparently Jeff Bezos recently stated that "We Need to Move All Polluting Industry Into Space". Now just imagine how much money Blue Origin would make from shuttling all those third party materials and people to and from space...

ffffwe3rq352y3 5y ago

Some dude said that they shorted amazon hoping Jeffy B would die. Looks like the bet didn't pay off!

apetresc 5y ago
He doesn't even work there anymore, why would that tank the stock price?
- ffffwe3rq352y3 5y ago
  Never said It was a good idea! I personally think it was a dumb plan. However, I'm guessing if he did somehow die it would make amazon go down just because he is still related.
- MisterBastahrd 5y ago
  He "stepped down" from the CEO role to a position of executive chairman. Which basically means he retains decision making power but doesn't have to actually show up to the office every day. It would definitely tank the stock price.
  - seba_dos1 5y ago
    Also, the assumption that markets react rationally and that the price wouldn't tank in such case if he actually didn't work there anymore is a pretty bold assumption to make.

bradhe 5y ago

Does the dailyrecord (whatever the hell that is) hijack the back button for anyone else??

notyourwork 5y ago
Appears so, had to click twice to get back. First click did nothing.
e19293001 5y ago
Happened to me.

mytailorisrich 5y ago

They mentioned that the rocket uses LOX/LOH as fuel, which makes it zero emission since a launch only produces water. That's quite interesting.

samatman 5y ago
We have to do embodied energy calculations for fuels as well, but yes, this is promising. While noting that methane and higher hydrocarbons can also be created from thin air and water...
dragosmocrii 5y ago
How is the fuel obtained though? Is that zero emission as well?
- mytailorisrich 5y ago
  Well, that's like EV, isn't it? The point is that a rocket launch itself is zero emission and that LOX and LH2 may be produced using renewable energy, for instance.
wumpus 5y ago
Hydrogen is usually produced from natural gas ("brown hydrogen", see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_economy#Color_codes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_economy#Color_codes)
- mytailorisrich 5y ago
  That's one of the methods, not the only one. The point remains that a launch is zero emission because of the fuel used. In turn it is perfectly possible to produce that fuel 'cleanly'. I mentioned this because I thought that this was interesting as, IMHO, it shows that space launches are not necessarily ultra polluting.
  - wumpus 5y ago
    Yes, the Wikipedia article I referenced had 7 different methods of producing hydrogen. Of which 1 is popular now, the one that uses natural gas. Is any hydrogen-using rocket currently fueled with something other than hydrogen from natural gas? I totally get that it's interesting that it's possible that rocket launches might not be ultra polluting someday, but so far, ...

ck2 5y ago

I mean okay, it's really just a very very high plane ride to edge of space, not actual space? So assuming an evolution and not revolution in technology, how long until the first civilian orbits earth? 10 years?

uoaei 5y ago
Right, this is a publicity stunt more than a demonstration of useful technology. My suspicion is that Amazon is angling for a suborbital (Earth-to-Earth) delivery platform with "space" tourism as a side gig, while Branson is going full hog for "space" tourism and Musk is focusing on delivery to orbit. Of the three, going to orbit is definitely the most interesting and technologically advanced, and the others are just meant to get investors excited.
- dwaltrip 5y ago
  This is definitely useful tech for space tourism. We can debate the size of the market and the exact demand curve, but I’m sure there are a decent number of people who will pay the expected sticker price of a few hundred K to go to space. And prices will only go down.
  - uoaei 5y ago
    Down to what? Branson advertises it as "democratizing space" but surely you can't expect even 99% of the world's population to comfortably afford space travel in the next 50-100 years?
    - dwaltrip 5y ago
      I’m 31 and I’d wager I’ll be able to go to orbit for $10k or less (in 2021 dollars) in my lifetime. I wouldn’t be surprised if it happens in the next 20 years. I would leap to do so :) Hell I would probably be willing to pay a bit more. It’s not that cheap but many people go on vacations for a similar price every few years. Of course, that is a step up from these sub-orbital flights. They are related though. Progress in sub-orbital tourism will help pave the way for orbital tourism and beyond. Many signs are pointing to the space ecosystem and related technologies growing and developing in an incredible way in the coming decades, after multiple decades of relative stagnation.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

eplanit 5y ago

It's intersting (sort of) to contrast Bezos with Musk on this: Musk wants to colonize other planets, and in his other work to convert from fossil fuels -- truly moving the species forward. Bezos, on the other hand, fancies himself as Jean-Luc Picard, made trip #1 about himself, and what he's really making happen is a lucrative space tourism business. Still cool, but not at all on par with Musk's work. Congrats Bezos, nonetheless (he gets a Nancy Pelosi clap, at least).

oses 5y ago
I'm not sure I agree that him being on this first trip is him making it 100% about himself. I think its more him trying to show that it is safe enough even for him to go on.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- eplanit 5y ago
  Hmmm.. the photo seems to indicate otherwise: https://twitter.com/blueorigin/status/1417251070989029376 https://twitter.com/blueorigin/status/1417251070989029376
sebazzz 5y ago
Regardless, I think Bezos is viewed in a worse daylight simply because of the way he used Amazon to exploit their workers and being anti-competitive. Now, that may be true of Musk also in a way, but there is certainly less news about it.
CarelessExpert 5y ago
Blue Origin made a point of taking shots at Branson and Virgin Galactic before he went up: https://twitter.com/blueorigin/status/1413521627116032001 https://twitter.com/blueorigin/status/1413521627116032001 Bezos is a hyper-competitive, winner-takes-all narcissist. Of course it's about him. That being said, let's not pretend Musk or Branson are particularly different in their essential makeup. Heck, Musk literally bought the right to be called Tesla's founder. If that isn't the action of someone deeply self-involved and vainglorious, I don't know what is. Bezos appears to be just a lot more petty.

mattowen_uk 5y ago

Saying what everyone is thinking here... How many Covid vaccines could have been made and sent to poorer countries for the cost of this vanity trip ?

NoOneNew 5y ago
How many covid vaccines have you donated?
gorkish 5y ago
The world is consuming the entire vaccine production supply already. The economic disparity is causing very difficult problems in allocation, but it's beyond ridiculous to suggest that the fight against COVID has a capital problem. "Everyone" is most certainly not thinking this.

chrisjc 5y ago

Here's a link to the NASASpaceflight video. https://youtu.be/PGl8MRJheiA?t=7844 https://youtu.be/PGl8MRJheiA?t=7844 Despite all the criticism about whether suborbital is to be consider space or not, I find this to be incredibly exciting time to be alive. On another note, the footage of these landings from either Blue Origin or Starship totally remind me of something out of the original Thunderbirds show when Thunderbird 1 is landing. https://youtu.be/tGMppsrZoJw?t=153 https://youtu.be/tGMppsrZoJw?t=153 Or maybe even something from Neill Blomkamp. https://youtu.be/Tm0V24IEHao?t=793 https://youtu.be/Tm0V24IEHao?t=793

sprainedankles 5y ago
Thanks for the links. I have to say, getting hit with an ad right as ignition was about to take place really encapsulated the whole experience for me. What a (weird) time to be alive.