Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos Unveil Plans For Space Colonization

[appalachiablue]

Source: ABC News

Billionaire Jeff Bezos announced his plans for space colonization on Thursday, starting with the moon. The world's richest man revealed the plans for the secretive project from his spaceflight company, Blue Origin, and announced his plan to create the building blocks for interplanetary travel and settlement.

"We're going to build a road to space," Bezos said at a press conference in Washington, D.C., Thursday afternoon, adding that he doesn't know how the colonies would be built but there are "certain gates, certain precursors" that would need to be established to ultimately meet that goal and Blue Origin was going to lead the way.

One key piece of infrastructure is "Blue Moon," the company's lunar lander, which has been in the works for three years, a jeans and blazer-clad Bezos said. "It's time to go back to the moon, this time to stay," Bezos said, as a part of a rambling, long-winded talk about space, which planets are best (Earth), and comparing Amazon Prime deliveries to space payloads.

The Amazon founder was referring to comments by Vice President Mike Pence, who said it is the mission of the United States to return Americans to space in the next five years. Despite repeatedly praising Earth as "the best planet," Bezos identified pressing problems such as hunger, poverty, pollution and rampant energy use -- and said he intends to focus on finding solutions for long-range problems before they become "urgent problems." -Read More plus Video.

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/Business/blue-origin-jeff-bezos-unveils-lunar-lander-mission/story?id=62941981

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Bezos said he strongly believes that humans could live in ideal environments and create colonies that use heavy industry without subjecting the earth to atmospheric pollution. He also included coming back to Earth, "Earth is the best planet. It is not even close. Don't even get me started on Venus," Bezos said.

Blue Origin's initial goals are a radical reduction in launch costs and establishing resources for space. Blue Origin would begin by sending human's into space in 2019 on New Shepard -- a suborbital vehicle designed for space tourism -- which uses liquid hydrogen, an incredibly efficient fuel source.

(MORE: Thousands of Amazon employees call on CEO Jeff Bezos to tackle climate change).

[Yavin4]

1. This is why we need higher taxes on the rich

To stop dumb bullshit like this from happening.

[appalachiablue]

2. Maybe he's one of the humans going into space this year..

[Yavin4]

3. Sure.

Cannot pay ALL of his employees middle class wages, but he can take a vacation in space.

[2naSalit]

8. +1

[Gore1FL]

6. Actually, I find this much better than investing in tax havens.

I'd much rather this happen. At least there is investment, research, and forward-thinking involved.

I absolutely think we need higher taxes for the rich, but I'll never object to them spending money rather than hoarding it.

[Yavin4]

14. I'd rather that he pay his workers salaries comensurate with the performance of Amazon.

ALL of his workers, not just a few. His workers are the ones providing value far beyond what Bezos could do on his own.

[Gore1FL]

17. I agree that would be great too, but livable wages is a different topic than his side projects.

If his side projects create science jobs, he's doing better than most billionaires.

[Yavin4]

19. No. It's not a different topic at all.

Bezos and Amazon investors are stealing the value of their labor force. For a company that sucessful on a global scale, NO ONE who works there should EVER be poor or even near poverty.

Labor is labor whether it's science or pulling items from shelves all day long. I'm sick of the labor bigotry in this country where some labor is valued higher than others. If someone's labor results in the company doing historically well and the CEO is the richest man ever in the history of the planet, then his labor force should be paid, on average, wages that exceed the cost of living.

[Gore1FL]

21. Yeah, it's a quite a different topic.

You suggested we needed higher taxes to "To stop dumb bullshit like this from happening." I submit that science and exploration isn't all that dumb, and that it is better than shoving the money in tax havens. I am not really interested in expanding the scope of my observation past that.

[rampartc]

26. +1 exactly

[Thekaspervote]

10. +1000 why doesn't he put his money to doing some real good in the world..so many needy causes

[Yavin4]

16. Most of his money is not his money.

It's stolen value from his workers who should ALL be paid much higher wages.

[zipplewrath]

4. He's got someone who knows what they're talking about

The path is through the moon, and the resources there.

[Red Mountain]

5. Meh

He can afford it but doesn't seem to be in any hurry.

I'd place my wager on SpaceX.

[LuvLoogie]

7. For the US, the space age has come and gone.

If we take NASA's budget as a metric, we see that it's highest percentage of total federal spending had peaked in '67 at 4.4%.

It quickly tapered off after JFK's commitment to putting men on the moon.

Now it's at about half a percent. We would need to spend about $150 - $180 Billion a year to meet the same level of commitment the US had in the 60s.

These science hobbyist billionaires aren't rich enough to endulge their whims on their own. I always think they're trying to con government into paying for their transcontinental space shuttles and personal mag-lev transports.

[2naSalit]

9. Hey Jeff,

Why don't you use all that $$ for something useful like investing in jobs that create infrastructure and renewable resources? You can't get away from climate change by trying to jump off the planet,though many of us would entertain the notion. You have enough money to help us all in a big way but this is what you choose to spend it on.

[YOHABLO]

11. Why don't these billionaires use their money to solve the problems of poverty, pollution, disease?

I guess they can create a planet for the ultra rich where they can look down at the blue marble and say ''oh what a waste''.

[yaesu]

13. well said!. nt

[TexasBushwhacker]

24. Bill and Melinda Gates do n/t

[yaesu]

12. More escape options for the rich elite after they destroy the planet with their greed, how nice. nt

[appalachiablue]

15. 'You broke it, you fix it,' the old saying...maybe long gone

[Locrian]

22. fixed it for ya

[appalachiablue]

29. That's it

[eggplant]

18. I just love how much he sounds like trump.

"It's time to go back to the moon, this time to stay," Bezos said, as a part of a rambling, long-winded talk about space, which planets are best (Earth), and comparing Amazon Prime deliveries to space payloads.

"Earth is the best planet. It is not even close. Don't even get me started on Venus," Bezos said.

[lagomorph777]

25. I had exactly the same thought.

Earth needs to "be best."

[patphil]

20. Somebody should warn the Galaxy

[muriel_volestrangler]

23. ABC bought the hype - liquid hydrogen is not "an incredibly efficient fuel source"

It's OK as a rocket fuel, for energy-to-mass ratio. It's a problem keeping it cold enough. But it's not a 'source' - you have to make it, using some other form of energy (eg PV solar). And while they use it for their New Shepard suborbital vehicle, the engine for their orbiting New Glenn's 1st stage is going to use liquid methane.

[Basic LA]

27. Without earth gravity, we're not colonizing anything.

Everything else is doable, but reproducing 1G on the surface remains the stumbling block, IMHO.

[eggplant]

28. We'll just use our artificial gravity generators, just like on tv...

...and in the movies, books, and so on. How hard could it be?