Jeff Bezos traveled to the edge of space Tuesday, the first step in what he has called a broader vision to transform the cost of space travel and tap resources across the solar system.
Here are a few observations from the Amazon . com founder and his fellow passengers—aviator Wally Funk, student Oliver Daemen and Mark Bezos, the co-founder of private-equity firm HighPost Capital and Jeff Bezos’ younger brother—from the news conference that followed the flight.
Why did Mr. Bezos do it?
“We’re going to build a road to space so our kids and their kids can build the future, and we need to do that to solve the problems here on Earth.”
Why does Mr. Bezos believe space flight is important for Earth?
“This is not about escaping Earth. This is the only good planet in the solar system. We’ve sent robotic probes to all of them. This is the only good one—I promise you—and we have to take care of it. If you go to space and see how fragile it is you’ll want to take care of it even more. That’s what this is about—and it’s going to take decades—this is a big vision—but big things start small.”
What role did Amazon play in the trip, according to Mr. Bezos?
“I want to thank every Amazon employee, and every Amazon customer, because you guys paid for all this. Seriously…Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”