Jeff Bezos and crewmates prepare for inaugural Blue Origin space flight

The suborbital launch from a site in the high desert plains of West Texas marks a crucial test for Blue Origin`s New Shepard spacecraft, a 60-foot-tall (18.3 meters) and fully autonomous rocket-and-capsule combo that is central to plans by Bezos to tap a potentially lucrative space tourism market.

New Delhi: Billionaire American businessman Jeff Bezos and his three crewmates are engaging in a crash course of training on Sunday in preparation for his company Blue Origin`s inaugural flight to the edge of space planned for Tuesday. The suborbital launch from a site in the high desert plains of West Texas marks a crucial test for Blue Origin`s New Shepard spacecraft, a 60-foot-tall (18.3 meters) and fully autonomous rocket-and-capsule combo that is central to plans by Bezos to tap a potentially lucrative space tourism market. The planned 11-minute trip from the company`s Launch Site One facility is set to include the oldest person ever to go to space - 82-year-old trailblazing female aviator Wally Funk - and the youngest - 18-year-old physics student Oliver Daemen.