Jan 2 2007
From The Space Library
Jeffrey P. Bezos, founder of Amazon.com and the commercial spaceflight company Blue Origin, released images of the 13 November 2006 test launch of the space capsule Goddard, the first vehicle of Blue Origin’s New Shepard program. Goddard was a vertical-takeoff, vertical-landing vehicle, shaped like a cone, with a square base sitting on four legs. During the successful test launch, which lasted 25 seconds, the craft ascended to 300 feet (91.4 meters) before descending to land gently on the launchpad, approximately 120 miles (193 kilometers) east of El Paso, Texas. Bezos, who had founded Blue Origin in 2000, planned for the craft eventually to carry several astronauts into suborbital flight. However, he clearly stated that he intended for these plans to proceed slowly, choosing as Blue Origin’s motto “Gradatim Ferociter” or “Step by Step, Fiercely.”
Jeff Bezos, “Development Flight, and We Are Hiring,” Blue Origin, 2 January 2007, http://www.blueorigin.com/letter.htm (accessed 9 November 2009); Aero-News Network, “Bezos Releases Details of November’s Goddard Launch,” 5 January 2007; Stefanie Olsen, “Bezos Unleashes Space Rocket Prototype,” New York Times, 4 January 2007.
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