Fancy a trip to space?
Billionaire Jeff Bezos’ space firm is auctioning off one of the six seats on its New Shepard spacecraft that will fly passengers to the edge of space on an eleven minute trip.
The rocket is designed to autonomously take six passengers more than a 100 kilometres above the Earth into suborbital space, high enough to experience a few minutes of weightlessness and see the curvature of the planet.
Passengers will be allowed to unbuckle and float around in zero gravity for about 3 minutes, just enough time to get a couple somersaults in. The capsule also has the largest windows ever to go into space, so passengers are sure to have unparalleled views of the earth.
The bidding for the seat is taking place in three phases –
- Sealed online bidding – where the bid amounts are not visible
- Unsealed online bidding – where the current high bid is visible and bidding continues
- Live auction – the bidding continues in a live auction and the highest bidder
The current high bid is $2,800,000 and the winning bid amount will be donated to Blue Origin’s foundation, Club For The Future.
The mission is scheduled for July 20, the anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing which took place in 1969.
