HE’S AMAZON PRIMED FOR HIS SPACE FLIGHT
1 It’s the first human mission for Bezos’s Blue Origin company, set up in 2000 to pioneer cheap space travel.
2pm When the 59ft New Shepard, named after US astronaut Alan Shepard, will blast off our time. It’s fully automated with no pilots. You can watch on Blue Origin’s Youtube channel.
3minutes The time it takes for the rocket to detach from the capsule and how long those inside have to experience weightlessness before the craft heads back to Earth, floating down with three parachutes.
4 Number of passengers that will be aboard, including Bezos’s firefighter brother Mark, 53.
5ft How tall you must be to be a passenger. You can be up to 6ft 4in and have to weigh more than 7st 12lb but less than 16st. You also have to be able to climb seven flights of stairs in 90 seconds.
6 The number of 4ft-high observation
JAMES MOORE windows located in the capsule – the largest in space and three times as big as the ones on a 747 jet.
11minutes How long the entire flight is set to last, compared to Branson’s 90-minute journey.
15 The number of unmanned tests of the New Shepard rocket there have been to date.
18 The age of Dutch physics student Oliver Daemen who will fly with Bezos, after being gifted the place by his wealthy dad. He’ll become the youngest person in space.
55miles How high Branson went in VSS Unity – enough to make you an astronaut according to NASA.
62miles How far up New Shepard will go, across the Kármán line, which some say marks the real boundary of space.
82 Age of US female aviation pioneer Wally Funk, who will also be on board New Shepard.
She will become the oldest person in space.
2,300mph The speed New Shepard will reach.
23,000 How many people have signed a cheeky petition not to allow Bezos re-entry to Earth.
110,000 Pounds of thrust generated by New Shepard when it blasts off due to its liquid hydrogen-fuelled rocket engine.
£20million How much an original anonymous winner of an auction to fly with Bezos paid. They couldn’t take up the seat because of “scheduling conflicts” so Daeman got the nod instead.
£1billion How much Bezos has been investing in his space programme annually.
£27bn Value of his divorce settlement with wife Mackenzie in 2019. He now dates TV star Lauren Sanchez.
£132bn How much Bezos is estimated to be worth – currently the richest person in the world.