At AirVenture, Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin shows the future of space travel at EAA AirVenture

OSHKOSH – Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is betting enough people are willing to pay for the privilege of flying in space without going through arduous astronaut training.

Like Adam Schuett and Jim Christensen.

Shortly after they clambered out of the Blue Origin crew capsule Monday afternoon at EAA AirVenture, they grinned and talked excitedly about a day not too far in the future when tickets to space will be sold like plane tickets to Orlando or Las Vegas.

“Can we afford it? That’s the question,” said Christensen, of Palatine, Ill.

“They’re making the joke that Amazon Prime members might get a discount, so I guess I’ll keep my Prime membership,” added Schuett, of Hartford.

This is the first time the privately funded aerospace manufacturer and space company started by Bezos has brought its New Shepard rocket — named after first American in space Alan Shepard — and the recently unveiled civilian astronaut capsule to EAA AirVenture.

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On the first day of the weeklong aviation convention and fly-in in Oshkosh, folks patiently waited in line for a chance to spend a few minutes in the capsule as a Blue Origin employee described what flights will feel like.

After entering through a hatch, visitors sat prone in half a dozen comfy chairs facing up to the ceiling, which features hand rails. The rails will be needed on the ceiling when people are floating around in zero gravity.

With large windows next to each seat, customers will be able to take a nice gander while slipping free from Earth’s gravity. Next to each window is a small tablet computer that shows the speed, altitude and G forces as well as video from cameras on the outside of the spacecraft.

Visitors listened to a rumbling sound as the compressed spaceflight simulation started and watched the rocket lift off and head skyward. Within half a minute the tablets showed “Unfasten seat harness” which will be the signal it’s OK to float around like Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong. Then the screen turned black to signify reaching the Karman line at 62 miles above terra firma, the boundary between atmosphere and outer space followed by the message “Return to seat” with a countdown clock and then: “Strap in now.”

Next to the crew capsule is the New Shepard rocket, which looms tall at the edge of Boeing Plaza on the sprawling AirVenture grounds. It features  a booster powered by a new liquid hydrogen-fueled rocket engine. Paint spelling the company’s name on the side of the rocket looked streaked and dirty as if it has already flown in space.

It has. Five times.

And that’s the key to Bezos’ vision — to keep costs low by reusing rocket boosters through a vertical takeoff and vertical landing system. So instead of blasting into space and letting the rocket boosters separate and float off to add to the growing amount of orbiting space debris, Blue Origin aims to recycle them for flights that will last around 11 minutes. New Shepard is built to last for as many as 100 flights.

Blue Origin President Rob Meyerson said the firm decided to come to Oshkosh so more people can experience what it’s like to be an astronaut.

“It’s great to see the looks on people faces when they experience a simulated ride to space. Once you recline in the flight seats and watch actual flight footage, you truly get a glimpse of what a trip to space will be like with Blue Origin,” said Meyerson.

Ticket cost and a timetable for the first paying customers has not yet been set since Blue Origin is still testing its rockets. Noting that only around 550 people have flown into space, Meyerson said he’s confident there’s a large untapped market of people who will want to book a Blue Origin flight.

Blue Origin astronauts will arrive at the takeoff and landing site in West Texas for a day-long training session before blasting off and returning to the planet courtesy of three parachutes that will deploy to slow the craft to 20 mph before a retro-thrust system fires shortly before landing at a speed of 3 mph.

Justin Bilsland and his 10-year-old son Cooper walked in the shadow of the rocket and peered up, envisioning the future.

“I think it’s neat that little capsule can detach and float back down to Earth,” said Cooper, who was at his fourth AirVenture while his father was visiting for the 30th time from their New Jersey home.

“You don’t see this sort of thing every year at Oshkosh. You see something new here every year,” Justin Bilsland said. “A lot more people will be able to experience space."