Branson Versus Bezos

Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson are about to head to space on revolutionary missions.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin group, are sprinting toward the future through extraordinary means. The two have invested time and money into their individual space teams that aim to reach space this month.

Branson is set to embark on the Virgin Atlantic VSS Unity Spacecraft July 11, nine days ahead of his competitor’s planned July 20 trip aboard the Blue Origin New Shepard Capsule. Joining Branson will be two pilots and three specialists including Chief Astronaut instructor Beth Moses and Lead Operations Engineer Collin Bennet. The mission to space is not the only experiment being conducted. Sirisha Bandla, Vice President of Government Affairs and Research Operations, will be running a University of Florida experiment from the ship that will utilize handheld tubes, activated throughout the flight, to analyze microgravity.

The mission to space did not occur overnight; Branson and his team have ensued months of preparation to ready them for the out-of-this-world experience. The training that Branson and his companions underwent for the mission will be the same one that will be required of future Virgin Atlantic space tourists.

The Virgin Atlantic Spacecraft has already been to space with test pilots and astronauts, but this flight will be the first that a passenger has flown on the Blue Origin New Shepard Rocket. Interestingly, Elon Musk of SpaceX has never flown on one of his spacecrafts, making the New Shepard Rocket mission and its passengers that much bolder.

Bezos plans on bringing his brother Mark along for the ride in addition to one special passenger, an undisclosed recipient that paid $2.8 million in an online auction. Wally Funk, 82, the first graduate of NASA’s women astronaut Mercury 13 program, will join Bezos as well. The Mercury 13 program was stopped in 1962 before completion, and Funk was never able to visit space. Participating in this flight is the fulfillment of a lifelong dream.

"Ever since I was five years old, I've dreamed of traveling to space,” said Bezos.

This sprint may almost be over, but privatized space travel is only at its inception.