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Blue Origin’s New Shepard capsule looks like a cushy ride for any space tourist flying high above the planet.
New illustrations show the comfortable looking seats and interior of the Jeff Bezos-backed spaceship.
“Every seat’s a window seat,” says an email from Bezos, Blue Origin founder and Amazon CEO. “The largest windows ever in space.”
The reusable rocket has flown to the atmosphere’s edge and landed successfully five times, most recently in October. For that trip, engineers tested the capsule’s crew-escape system, which proved successful. Crews continue to test New Shepard’s systems.
“Our flight test program continues to build experience with the New Shepard system in an uncrewed configuration, leading up to the day when we are ready for astronauts to climb on board for launch,” Blue Origin’s website says.
Bezos’ email continues:
“In parallel, we’ve been designing the capsule interior with an eye toward precision engineering, safety, and comfort.”
Blue Origin, which is based in Kent, revealed plans in the fall for a second rocket, called the New Glenn, to take commercial satellites and humans into orbit.
The New Shepard — named after Alan Shepard, the first American in space — is about 50 feet tall, with the company’s signature black feather logo painted on the outside.
A model of the capsule will be on display at the 33rd Space Symposium in Colorado next week, the email says.
Agencies/Canadajournal
