County Abuzz As Bezos Plans Spaceport

[Mark Reiff <markreiff@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

FYI,

"County Abuzz As Bezos Plans Spaceport"
Associated Press
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1894&e=1&u=/ap/20050313/ap_on_sc/bezos__spaceport

: Even skeptical locals, who've become wary over the years of city
: slickers with big ideas for their town, perked up when Amazon.com
: founder Jeff Bezos made his pitch — a spaceport for commercial
: travel into the beyond.

: Bezos flew into this West Texas town a few weeks ago to tell key
: leaders how he planned to use his newly acquired 165,000 acres of
: desolate ranch land. He also gave his only interview so far on the
: spaceport to the Van Horn Advocate, the weekly newspaper Larry
: Simpson runs from the back of his Radio Shack store.

: "He walked in and said: 'Hi, I'm Jeff Bezos,' and sat down right in
: that chair there," Simpson said, pointing to spot in his small
: cluttered office.

: Over the next 30 to 40 minutes, Simpson said Bezos told him the
: goal of his venture — known as Blue Origin — was to send a
: spaceship into orbit that launches and lands vertically, like a
: rocket.

: "He told me their first spacecraft is going to carry three people
: up to the edge of space and back," Simpson said. "But ultimately,
: his thing is space colonization."

: Bezos, 41, was accompanied by Rob Meyerson, Blue Origin's program
: manager, whose history includes stints as a manager on the space
: shuttle emergency return vehicle project and lead aerodynamics
: engineer developing the shuttle's parachute landing system.

: Bezos said Blue Origin would first build basic structures at the
: Texas site, such as an engine test stand, fuel and water tanks and
: an office building, then begin flight tests in six to seven years,
: Simpson said.

: He said most of its initial research and development would be done
: in Seattle, where Bezos and his companies are based.

: Bezos has said nothing else publicly about his project, and did not
: grant an interview request made by The Associated Press.

: A Houston-based spokesman for Blue Origin, which was incorporated
: in September 2000 in Washington state, said there was "not much to
: see or tell" and that the project "won't go anywhere any time
: soon."

: The spokesman, Bruce Hicks, provided a short news release and a
: company fact sheet, which included Blue Origin's mission statement
: — to "facilitate an enduring human presence in space."

: Bezos isn't the only tech industry billionaire with stars in his
: eyes and ties to Texas, where Bezos attended elementary school for
: three years in Houston while his stepfather was an engineer at
: Exxon.

: SpaceX, started by PayPal founder Elon Musk, plans to launch and
: deploy a military satellite this year using a rocket. The
: California-based company has conducted much of its testing in
: McGregor, Texas, near the Fort Hood military base.

: John Carmack, who made a fortune on "Doom" and "Quake" through his
: video game company ID Software, owns Armadillo Aerospace based in
: suburban Dallas. The venture also hopes to launch its own brand of
: space rockets.

: Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen spent $20 million to fund the
: SpaceShipOne rocket plane that last fall successfully reached the
: edge of space and returned.

: Winning the space race takes talented people, and Blue Origin's Web
: site lists several job ads for engineers — "highly qualified and
: dedicated individuals ... among the most technically gifted in his
: or her field."

: "After meeting and visiting with him, I have every confidence in
: the world he will do what he says he will do," the judge said. "I
: know he's going to have some of the best minds for this project. He
: doesn't do things halfway or second class."

: On Bezos' new property, the only noticeable change, residents say,
: are the new "No Trespassing" signs posted every mile or so on the
: rusty barbed wire cattle fences bordering Texas Highway 54.

: Conoly said people aren't real excited yet, but that could change
: once construction begins.

: "With (Bezos) coming out here, this is going to force this town to
: change for the better," he said. "If you've lived a hard life, this
: is a place you can live in peace. But if you're used to the high-
: tech lifestyle, you might not want to come here.

: Blue Origin: http://www.blueorigin.com

--
Mark Reiff <markreiff@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>

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