Jeff Bezos is going to shoot Shatner into space

“We’re told Shatner will be on board in October for the 15-minute civilian flight — similar to the last launch. What we don’t know — BUT WHAT WOULD BE AWESOME — is if he wears his Capt. Kirk getup.”

6 thoughts on “Jeff Bezos is going to shoot Shatner into space

  1. Even without creating Blue Origin, purchasing the Washington Post, or charitable contributions (that I am assuming he makes) it can be argued Bezos benefited society. If a significant percentage of the American people didn’t find a benefit shopping on Amazon, Bezos would never have become the world’s richest man.

    Lots of people have criticized the billionaire space race because regular people can’t afford to buy tickets. But many new technologies can only be afforded by the rich in the beginning. Regular people couldn’t afford to purchase one of those new horseless carriages or to travel on expensive airlines. Today, many people argue that too many people drive cars and that airlines are a significant contributor to climate change. SpaceX has lowered the cost of launching a kilogram into low earth orbit from an average of almost $20,000 to $2,700. SpaceX has also cut the cost of bringing an astronaut to the ISS from $86 million (paid to the Russians) to about $55 million. That price will continue to fall as SpaceX’s reusable rockets and space capsules continue to lower the costs. Now that’s all SpaceX, but Blue Origin will serve as a competitor that will hopefully drive increased innovation. The best part of launching William Shatner into space on Blue Origin is that it won’t cost taxpayers anything. Well that and the fact that Shatner will hopefully still be alive for the trip. Gene Roddenberry rode a shuttle to space, but only after he had been cremated.

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    1. SpaceX didn’t innovate new rockets for space tourism, they did it to reduce the costs of already existing and useful space travel. Even then they don’t treat their employees well.

      Amazon meanwhile lowered costs on the backs of their employees and massive tax evasion. It’s hardly the same thing. Bezos is a prime example of how many necks do you step on to get where you are in life.

      1. The technology that allows a company to take tourists to space, will both allow and subsidize bringing other people (such as scientists and engineers) to space. I can’t speak to how How SpaceX, Amazon or Blue Origin treat their employees. But it seems a large number of people choose to work there. I doubt they are employing anyone incapable of finding and working at other jobs. That means those people find their present employment more desirable than alternate jobs.

        1. The technology that allows a company to take satellites to space (ie useful technology) subsidizes billionaires wasting their money. SpaceX at least did useful work. Blue Origin on the other hand is nothing more than a self indulgent toy created by a man who lacks the self-discipline to not send a dick-pic.

          Choosing the less evil path might be a “choice” but I would hardly describe that as a desirable job. Some people take what they can get even if it means employment from a man who cost his company millions because he couldn’t resist smoking a joint online or another man who’s dick-pic cost himself $50 billion.

          1. Elon Musk is far from a perfect man. He likes to make big promises that he doesn’t always deliver on. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. He takes big swings and more often than not accomplishes more than most thought was possible. It seems to me he has done more to promote electric cars than any other single person (not that he didn’t have the help of thousands of people). He promotes solar power, selling not just solar panels but also power wall batteries for homes. He is building a satellite network that will help spread Internet access more broadly. He has also drastically reduced the cost of going to space. I don’t care if he smokes pot. Of course, I don’t own stock in any of his companies.

            The Internet is an amazing tool that has done wonderful things, but brought along some problems.
            As a man retired on disability after a back injury, I have to say I really appreciate the amount of things I can get delivered to my door by not only Amazon, but by all the other businesses that compete with it. But one of the problems that it brought were newspapers that have closed or drastically reduced the number of reporters they employ. In my opinion the Washington Post is one of the two or three most important newspapers in the U.S. But it was losing money when Bezos bought it. Within 3 years, he had not only started turning a profit, he had increased the number of reporters employed by the Post by nearly 40%. He did it by expanding the Post’s online presence and selling digital subscriptions. Even if Bezos had created Blue Origin just so he could play around in space, I’d be fine with it. It’s his money and he spends it and employs people on Earth. But Blue Origin is developing rockets and capsules to compete with SpaceX and Boeing. His dream is to create O’Neill Cylinders (orbital habitats) where people can live off of Earth. I think that dream is even farther in the future than Musk’s Mars Colony. But so what? He’s spending his own money, not taxpayers. If he fails we lose nothing but still had the jobs he created at Blue Origin. If he succeeds? If Musk succeeds? The entire human race will benefit, even the people that never leave the ground.

  2. Wouldn’t it be nice if Bezos would do something to benefit society, especially those in need, instead of useless celebrity space flights.

    Say what you want about early 20th Century robber-barons, but at least they made *some* contributions to society, unlike most of the current crop.

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