- Title: Excited spectators line up to watch Blue Origin flight
- Date: 20th July 2021
- Summary: VAN HORN, TEXAS, UNITED STATES (JULY 20, 2021) (REUTERS) VIEW OF DESERT WHERE PEOPLE HAVE STOPPED THEIR VEHICLES TO SEE BLUE ORIGIN'S NEW SHEPARD FLIGHT (SOUNDBITE) (English) JAMES PACHECO, VETERAN FROM EL PASO, TEXAS, SAYING: "Looking down in the desert valley, it was all kind of poorly lit and all of a sudden, you see this bright flare-up, big ball of, big ball of incandescent flames just sprouted up and, then all of a sudden, you see the smoke cloud surrounding it and you knew this was it." VIEW OF SKY WITH CONTRAIL FROM BLUE ORIGIN'S NEW SHEPARD GOING UP AND CHILDREN OFF-CAMERA SAYING 'WOW!' (SOUNDBITE) (English) MONIQUE CACERES, ENGINEER FROM HOUSTON, TEXAS, SAYING: "I think they were really excited. They didn't know what to expect and they were wondering kind of why we were going but I think now, after seeing it and hearing those booms, I got chills and I think they did. It's just so exciting. We're going to go next to see SpaceX." PEOPLE WATCHING LAUNCH ON THEIR CELL PHONE (SOUNDBITE) (English) MONIQUE CACERES, ENGINEER FROM HOUSTON, TEXAS, SAYING: "Maybe they could go on one. What if it's $10,000? I don't know. Twenty thousand? They could do that when they're in their fifties. I don't know but I really feel like they could do it. Or they might be going to the moon and to Venus. Why not" NEW SHEPARD CONTRAIL IN SKY (SOUNDBITE) (English) JAMES PACHECO, VETERAN FROM EL PASO, TEXAS, SAYING: "I figure once you start getting enough people paying for those high dollar tickets, eventually the price will come down, just like what happened with regular air travel." CONTRAIL IN SKY CACERES WITH HER TWO SONS AND NEPHEW ON ROOF OF VEHICLE TO SEE LAUNCH NEW SHEPARD IN SKY (SOUNDBITE) (English) MONIQUE CACERES, ENGINEER FROM HOUSTON, TEXAS, SAYING: "No, they're not. We have been to the space center. I guess I was the space nerd because I went to Space Camp when I was a kid so I always loved space, and I want them to love it too. And it kind of went (MOTIONS DOWNHILL WITH ARM) - you know, it wasn't as exciting for a while and now there are so many more opportunities for them and us that I want them to be excited about it too." PEOPLE LOOKING AT SKY WITH NEW SHEPARD DISAPPEARING OUT OF VISION WEST TEXAS, TEXAS, UNITED STATES (JULY 20, 2021) (REUTERS) TELEVISION SCREEN SHOWING BLUE ORIGIN'S NEW SHEPARD IN FLIGHT WITH VOICE SAYING: 'AWAITING SEPARATION HERE' WITH MEDIA IN REAR SCREEN SHOWING FLIGHT IN FRONT OF MICROWAVE TRUCK WITH VOICE SAYING: 'LOOK AT THAT VIEW' VIEW OF SKY WITH CONTRAIL FROM BLUE ORIGIN'S NEW SHEPARD IN FLIGHT (FROM LEFT TO RIGHT) MARK BEZOS, OLIVER DAEMEN, WALLY FUNK AND JEFF BEZOS WALKING PAST JOURNALIST AFTER GETTING OFF FLIGHT
- Embargoed: 3rd August 2021 19:07
- Keywords: Blue Origin Jeff Bezos New Shepard space flight space travel
- Location: VAN HORN AND WEST TEXAS, TEXAS, UNITED STATES
- City: VAN HORN AND WEST TEXAS, TEXAS, UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Science,Space Exploration,United States
- Reuters ID: LVA001EMNCND3
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:He calls himself a 'space nerd' but here in the desert of western Texas, U.S. veteran James Pacheco has found his tribe as space enthusiasts and future space nerds lined up to watch Blue Origin's New Shepard soar into space with Jeff Bezos, the world's richest man, his brother and both the youngest and oldest people to go into space.
Pacheco said looking up at the clear sky as New Shepard soared about 66.5 miles (107 km) above the desert, there was no missing the flight.
"Looking down in the desert valley, it was all kind of poorly lit and all of a sudden, you see this bright flare-up, big ball of, big ball of incandescent flames just sprouted up and, then all of a sudden, you see the smoke cloud surrounding it and you knew this was it."
Among the cars that lined the road was one driven by engineer Monique Caceres who drove for hours to pick up her nephew and take him and her two sons to watch the flight.
As the boys looked to the sky, they gasped "Wow!" and Caceres said they were thrilled to witness the inaugural flight.
"I think they were really excited. They didn't know what to expect and they were wondering kind of why we were going but I think now, after seeing it and hearing those booms, I got chills and I think they did," she said, adding that she anticipates the boys may someday have the opportunity to go into space themselves.
Pacheco also thought the flight could usher in a new era of space travel.
"I figure once you start getting enough people paying for those high dollar tickets, eventually the price will come down, just like what happened with regular air travel," he said.
The trip to the edge of space lasted about 10 minutes and 20 seconds.
Jeff Bezos, the world's richest man, founded Blue Origin two decades ago. This was the company's first crewed flight to space.
New Shepard was designed to hurtle at speeds upwards of 2,200 miles (3,540 km) per hour to an altitude reaching the so-called Kármán line - 62 miles (100 km) - set by an international aeronautics body as defining the boundary between Earth's atmosphere and space.
After the capsule separated from the booster, the crew unbuckled for the few minutes of weightlessness. The capsule then returned to Earth under parachutes, using a retro-thrust system that expelled a "pillow of air" for a soft landing.
The mission was part of a fiercely competitive battle between Bezos' Blue Origin and Branson's Virgin Galactic to tap a potentially lucrative space tourism market the Swiss bank UBS estimates will be worth $3 billion annually in a decade.
(Production: Julio Cesar-Chavez, Eric Johnson, Arlene Eiras) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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