Blue Origin, the space flight company from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has released the first images of what the inside of its guest capsule will look like. Those envisioning cramped, utilitarian passenger quarters will be sorely disappointed; this is a space tourism outfit, after all.
The capsule is plenty spacious with posh accommodations for six. Each passenger gets a large window and a small tablet-style display used to track the flight's progress. That center bit isn't a table or an in-flight bar but rather, as Ars Technica highlights, the capsule's escape motor (Blue Origin tested this feature last October).
Pricing hasn't yet been revealed for the roughly 10-minute space flight (with around three minutes of weightlessness) although estimates peg it in the $100,000 to $200,000 range. At that price, most of us would never get to experience a ride but for those with the cash to burn (no pun intended), a flight on the New Shepard vehicle would most certainly be memorable.
Passengers would experience around 3 to 4Gs while blasting off into space. Bezos explained last year that the rocket engine, which produces more than 100,000 pounds of thrust, would feel more powerful as time elapsed due to constantly burning off propellant and the vehicle becoming lighter.
If given the opportunity, would you accept a once-in-a-lifetime ride to space or would you chicken out like me? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!