Blue Origin CEO, Monday, took to his official Twitter handle, @Jeff Bezos, to advise people against listening to failure mongers. Those who discourage you from embarking on a journey, especially of a new cause.
He made this known after the successful launch of the New Shepard space shuttle, which marks the beginning of Amazon’s space tourism vision.
“Listen and be open, but don’t let anybody tell you who you are. This was just one of the many stories telling us all the ways we were going to fail. Today, Amazon is one of the world’s most successful companies and has revolutionized two entirely different industries” He wrote.
The New Shepard launch
Blue Origin launched its New Shepard (NS-18) rocket on Wednesday. This official launch was scheduled for Tuesday but was rescheduled for Wednesday. The Blue Origin CEO on Sunday reported that the shift of the launch was due to the forecasted high winds.
The official launch time was 9:49 am CDT / 14:49 UTC, according to the @Blue Origin Twitter handle, which also added that the Capsule landing occurred at 9:59 am CDT /14:59 UTC. The mission lasted for 10 min 17 sec. The maximum ascent velocity was 2,235 mph /3,597 km/h.
Crew members of the New Shepard
Seven crew members boarded the rocket, including Hollywood actor William Shatner (Star Trek Captain James T. Kirk). Shatner, 90, has taken over the world record (the oldest person to go to space) from the previous aviation officer, Wally Funk who set the record a few months ago at 82 years old. Shatner released a statement on his Twitter handle and said:
“I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me”.