- Jeff Bezos says taking off on his first spaceflight felt like attending his personal memorial service.
- Bezos instructed podcaster Lex Fridman that his family and friends have been visibly nervous earlier than the flight.
- “They’re saying goodbye to us, however perhaps they assume they’re saying goodbye to us endlessly,” he mentioned.
Taking off into area was an emotionally charged expertise for Jeff Bezos.
The Amazon founder was a member of the primary crewed flight for his spaceflight firm, Blue Origin’s rocket launch in July 2021.
For Bezos, the feelings began hitting him even earlier than he boarded his rocket.
“The folks on the bottom have been very nervous for us. It was truly probably the most emotionally highly effective elements of the expertise. It occurred even earlier than the flight,” Bezos mentioned on the most recent episode of the “Lex Fridman Podcast,” which aired on Thursday.
Bezos instructed Fridman that he wasn’t nervous then, however he might sense how fearful his family and friends members have been.
“They’re saying goodbye to us, however perhaps they assume they’re saying goodbye to us endlessly. We’d not have felt that approach, but it surely was apparent from their faces how nervous they have been, and so they felt that approach,” Bezos recounted to Fridman.
“It was virtually like attending your individual memorial service or one thing. You possibly can really feel how liked you have been in that second, and it was actually superb,” he mentioned.
Bezos flew to area with three different crew members — his youthful brother Mark, American aviator Wally Funk, and Dutch youth Oliver Daemen. The whole launch and flight took simply 11 minutes and was executed autonomously with none pilots.
House journey is now Bezos’ prime pursuit. The billionaire instructed Fridman that he stepped down as Amazon CEO in order that he might think about Blue Origin.
The rocket firm, which was based by Bezos in 2000, has developed three area automobiles so far — the New Shepard, New Glenn, and Blue Moon.
“Most of my time is spent on Blue Origin and I am so deeply concerned right here now for the final couple of years,” Bezos instructed Fridman.
Representatives for Bezos didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark from Enterprise Insider despatched outdoors common enterprise hours.
