FYI,

"Amazon Boss Shows Off Spacecraft"
BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6230245.stm

: The billionaire founder of Amazon.com has released the first images
: of the launch of a private spacecraft that could bring space travel
: to the masses.

: A video of the cone-shaped Goddard vehicle shows it climbing to
: about 85m (285ft) before returning back to Earth.

: The test launch took place in November 2006 in a remote part of
: Texas, but details have only now been released.

: The images mark the first time Jeff Bezos has broken his silence on
: the work of his space company, Blue Origin.

: Writing on the company's website, Mr Bezos said: "We're working,
: patiently and step-by-step, to lower the cost of spaceflight so
: that many people can afford to go; and so that we humans can better
: continue exploring the Solar System."

: "Accomplishing this mission will take a long time, and we're
: working on it methodically."

: Short trip

: Mr Bezos founded Blue Origin in 2000 with the intention of
: developing a vertical take-off and landing vehicle, called New
: Shepard, able to take passengers to the edge of space.

: No timescale for commercial trips has been announced but documents
: released by the US Federal Aviation Administration suggest they
: could start as early as 2010.

: The latest videos show there is still a lot of development work to
: do before the company reaches that stage.

: The footage shot on 13 November 2006 from a site about 200km
: (120 miles) east of El Paso in Texas shows the first craft to
: launch under the New Shepard programme.

: Called Goddard, the retro-looking development vehicle is shown
: standing on four legs before blasting off in a cloud of smoke from
: thrusters on its base. The vehicle continues to ascend for
: approximately 10 seconds, reaching a height of nearly 300ft (90m).

: It then starts to descend before making a controlled landing back
: on its feet approximately 25 seconds after take-off.

: The launch, described by Mr Bezos as "both useful and fun", was
: watched by friends, family and a team of engineers.

: "My only job at the launch was to open the champagne," said Mr
: Bezos.

: The website message does not say whether the vehicle contained any
: passengers or why there was a delay between the launch and release
: of the footage.

: Commercial space

: Mr Bezos now hopes to recruit a team of engineers to the New
: Shepard programme to develop the design and increase the altitude
: and duration of flights.

: In particular, he is looking for "experienced propulsion engineers"
: and people with "experience on large, modern vehicles such as Delta
: IV or Atlas V".

: Blue Origin is one of several private companies vying to open up
: space to the public.

: US-based Space Adventures has already taken four space tourists to
: the International Space Station, while in September 2006, Sir
: Richard Branson unveiled a mock-up of a rocket powered vehicle that
: will carry six passengers and two pilots to an altitude of about
: 140km (85 miles).

: His Virgin Galactic design is based on SpaceShipOne, the craft
: designed by Scaled Composites that won the Ansari X-Prize in 2005.
: The first passengers could take off in 2009.

: Other entrepreneurs jostling for their place in space include hotel
: tycoon Robert Bigelow who launched Genesis 1, an experimental
: inflatable spacecraft, in July 2006.

: Mr Bigelow hopes the water-melon shaped craft could form the basis
: of a future space hotel.

Blue Origin flight photos and video
http://public.blueorigin.com/index.html

Mark Reiff