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Jeff Bezos may have been beaten to space by rival Richard Branson, but the billionaire American businessman is poised to make history next week aboard what would be the world’s first unpiloted suborbital flight with an all-civilian crew.

Bezos, the former CEO of Amazon, is due to be part of a four-person crew for a planned 11-minute ride to the edge of space on Tuesday inside his company Blue Origin’s New Shepard spacecraft, another milestone in the nascent and potentially lucrative space tourism sector.

He is set to be joined by his brother and private equity executive Mark Bezos, trailblazing octogenarian woman aviator Wally Funk, and an as-yet-unidentified person who paid $28 million (roughly Rs. 210 crores) for a spot aboard the spacecraft, scheduled to launch from a West Texas site.

New Shepard is a 60-foot-tall (18.3-meters-tall) and fully autonomous rocket-and-capsule combo that cannot be piloted from inside the spacecraft. The crew is set to include only civilians and none of Blue Origin’s employees or staff astronauts, three people familiar with the company’s plans told Reuters.

Blue Origin’s astronauts include NASA space shuttle veteran Nicholas Patrick.

“To see the Earth from space, it changes you, it changes your relationship with this planet, with humanity,” Bezos said in a video last month discussing the flight.

There has never before been a fully autonomous suborbital or orbital flight with an all-civilian crew, Teal Group space industry analyst Marco Caceres said.

Branson, the British billionaire businessman, was aboard his company Virgin Galactic’s rocket plane for its pioneering suborbital flight from New Mexico on Sunday. The Virgin Galactic flight included two pilots, as well as the company’s chief astronaut instructor and its lead operations engineer.

New Shepard lifts off from a standing position on a launch pad, like traditional rocket launches. With Virgin Galactic, a rocket-powered spaceplane was dropped from a carrier plane in mid-air.

New Shepard, like Virgin Galactic’s flight, will not enter into orbit around Earth, but will take the passengers some 62 miles up (100km) before the capsule returns by parachute. Virgin Galactic’s flight reached 53 miles (86km) above Earth.

Billionaire businessman Elon Musk’s space transportation company SpaceX is planning an even-more-ambitious mission in September, sending an all-civilian crew for a several-day orbital flight aboard its Crew Dragon capsule.

‘Simple math’

Blue Origin’s flight is two decades in the making. Bezos founded the company in 2000. A pilotless craft was a financial strategy adopted by Blue Origin executives years ago.

“It’s simple math,” said one of the people familiar with the company’s thinking. “If you design a system so that you don’t need a pilot or a co-pilot you can have more paying customers.”

New Shepard can accommodate six people. Blue Origin and industry insiders had previously discussed company employees going up on the first flight.

A Blue Origin spokesperson confirmed the decision was made for four seats to offer an enhanced customer experience for the first flight.

The decision to skip over Blue Origin’s staff astronauts and technical experts has caused frustration for some company insiders who viewed the first crewed flight as a crucial opportunity to gather data and technical feedback for a program in its infancy, and to evaluate the experience for future paying customers, the sources said.

A seasoned astronaut would provide a calming presence for civilian crew members as New Shepard blasts off at speeds upwards of 2,200 miles (3,540km) per hour, the sources added.

The crew members will receive two days of training. Blue Origin has assigned two staff members, on the ground, to help the passengers strap in and to provide point-by-point instructions over headsets during the mission.

“It’s kind of like getting on a ride at an amusement park,” Caceres said. “You just trust that everything has been checked out, is in good working order … and you just sit back and enjoy the ride.”

Some industry sources have expressed concerns that passengers – overwhelmed by the experience or in a state of euphoria – could be rattled by routine noises, miss key instructions, pass out or injure themselves floating around the cabin, potentially dangerous scenarios a trained astronaut could respond to.

Funk, 82, was one of 13 women who passed the same rigorous testing as the Mercury Seven male astronauts in NASA’s 1960s space programme but were denied the chance to become astronauts because of their gender.

Proving the safety of space travel is important to developing what Swiss investment bank UBS estimates will be a $3 billion (roughly Rs. 22,350 crores) annual tourism market a decade from now.

“One of the main goals of the New Shepard mission is to demonstrate that going to suborbital space is perfectly safe for the average person,” Caceres said. “So there is a benefit to having as many average people on these flights as possible.”

© Thomson Reuters 2021


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Massive Steam Plume Spotted at Alaska’s Mount Spurr as Volcano May Erupt Soon

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Massive Steam Plume Spotted at Alaska’s Mount Spurr as Volcano May Erupt Soon

A large steam plume has been seen emerging from Mount Spurr in Alaska, signalling increased volcanic activity. Images shared by the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) on March 28 confirmed steam and gas emissions visible from the volcano’s summit and a northern vent. The volcano is located around 80 miles west of Anchorage and stands at 11,070 feet high. The experts have revealed that there could be a possible eruption in the coming weeks or months. However, nothing is certain yet.

Increased Signs of Unrest Reported

According to the latest update by the Alaska Volcano Observatory steam was observed rising from the summit on March 26. A smaller plume was also recorded from a fumarole on the volcano’s northern flank. No immediate changes in seismic activity or gas levels were detected during these observations as per the AVO statement.

The AVO had earlier mentioned in a March 11 update that a noticeable rise in gas emissions indicates fresh magma has moved into the crust beneath Mount Spurr. This has led scientists to assess the chance of an eruption in the near future. The observatory clarified that the exact timing of any eruption cannot be predicted yet.

Hazards and Possible Alerts

The observatory has cautioned that the volcano’s alert level might be raised if there are further signs of escalation. According to AVO, this may include persistent seismic tremors, increased gas emissions or visible surface changes. If an eruption occurs, possible hazards include ash clouds impacting flights, ashfall across nearby areas, pyroclastic flows and mudflows known as lahars.

The volcano last erupted in 1992. That eruption resulted in heavy ashfall and affected air travel in the region. AVO has advised residents and visitors to stay informed and follow safety instructions if alerts are raised.

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Study Identifies Plasma Formation as a Pseudostreamer

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Study Identifies Plasma Formation as a Pseudostreamer

A towering spiral of plasma has been recorded extending millions of kilometres from the Sun. The video was taken by the European Space Agency’s Solar Orbiter during an eight-hour period on October 12, 2022. A coronal mass ejection caused the plasma to rise from the Sun’s surface. The footage captured something which was never observed before. It showed a swirling motion in the solar wind. As per the latest report, scientists also recorded bright streaks that were moving across the frame. Researchers also revealed that these streaks appeared as pixelated lines, which might also ressemble like UFOs. Scientists later confirmed they were distant stars visible due to the imaging process.

Study Identifies Plasma Formation as a Pseudostreamer

The study published in The Astrophysical Journal revealed that the massive structure that appeared in the photos was a large pseudostreamer. It was formed near the Sun’s north pole after a solar flare erupted. The report further highlighted that the plasma reached 1.5 times the Sun’s width and remained visible for three hours. Scientists believes the twisting movement of the plasma was due to Alfvénic fluctuations. These fluctuations happen when waves of charged particles respond to magnetic disturbances. Scientists says the pseudostreamer’s location influenced its unique shape. Magnetic fields at the Sun’s poles are stronger than those near the equator.

Unusual Streaks Explained

The video also showed bright, half-dark lines crossing the screen. These lines appeared to move in a pattern similar to arcade game graphics. ESA confirmed that these were distant stars. The video’s editing technique made them appear as streaks rather than points of light. The Solar Orbiter’s movement against the background created this effect.

Solar Activity Expected to Intensify

The Sun is currently experiencing solar maximum. Flares and solar winds have increased since early 2024. The pseudostreamer in the video formed before this peak. Scientists were surprised by its early appearance. ESA’s Solar Orbiter continues to capture detailed images of solar wind. NASA’s Parker Solar Probe and ESA’s Proba-3 mission are also studying these phenomena. More extreme solar winds are expected in the coming years.

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SpaceX Launches 27 Starlink Satellites on Falcon 9 Rocket, Booster Lands Safely

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SpaceX Launches 27 Starlink Satellites on Falcon 9 Rocket, Booster Lands Safely

SpaceX has sent another batch of satellites into orbit. On April 3, a Falcon 9 rocket launched 27 Starlink satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The rocket lifted off at 9.02 p.m. Eastern Time and was followed by a successful landing of the first-stage booster on a drone ship stationed in the Pacific Ocean. This booster had already been used on four earlier flights. The satellites are expected to be deployed nearly an hour after takeoff if mission steps proceed as planned. The launch formed part of SpaceX’s continued effort to expand its low Earth orbit network.

Details from the Launch Mission Description

According to the mission information provided by SpaceX, the launch marked the fifth use of the same Falcon 9 booster. The drone ship used for recovery was named “Of Course I Still Love You”. This reusable system has become a routine part of SpaceX operations. The booster’s return was completed around eight minutes after liftoff. The launch contributed to the growing total of Starlink satellites which is aimed at building a global broadband network.

Launch Activity in 2025

This latest mission has brought the number of Falcon 9 launches in 2025 to 38. About two-thirds of those have supported the expansion of the Starlink constellation. Earlier this week, two separate launches were also completed. One of them included the Fram2 private astronaut mission, which carried crew members into orbit over Earth’s poles. That mission marked a new milestone in human spaceflight.

Starlink Satellite Network

Over 7100 satellites are now part of the Starlink constellation. The system is already the largest of its kind. SpaceX continues to work on expanding its coverage by launching more satellites regularly. The objective remains to provide consistent internet access worldwide, especially in regions with limited connectivity options.

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who’sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.


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