Jeff Bezos had posted a video on Instagram that showed him in an all-blue attire.
Just hours ahead of his maiden voyage to space in his company Blue Origin's New Shepard spacecraft, billionaire entrepreneur Jeff Bezos joked with mediapersons covering the rundown of the event and also delivered meals to them. When a correspondent asked him whether this was his last meal before he blasts off into space with his brother Mark Bezos, the Amazon founder said, “I don't think we've to put it that way.” And then everyone laughed. In a video shared by the correspondent who asked him the “last meal” question, Mr Bezos appeared relaxed and wore a cowboy hat and a pair of sunglasses.
After removing the cover off the meal, he said, “Now, if you don't like this, just keep it to yourself.” Just as he thought he was done with the joke, the correspondent asked him if this was his last meal? Mr Bezos reacted saying, “Hey, did somebody just say last meal?”
“I don't think you have to put it that way! Let's talk about it in a different way!” he added.
The correspondent clarified in another tweet that she meant “last meal before flight” since “the public has long been fascinated with what astronauts eat before flight”.
Mr Bezos and other members of his team, including his brother, had been undergoing astronaut training in the spacecraft's simulator ahead of the launch this evening. The launch sequence started around 6.30 PM India time and was broadcast live on Blue Origin's website. To watch the launch live, click here.
A day ago, Mr Bezos had posted a video on Instagram that showed him in an all-blue attire, preparing for the launch. “We have been practicing full missions in New Shepard's training simulator. Can't wait for liftoff,” he said.
The launch of Blue Origin is set to intensify the rivalry between Mr Bezos and Richard Branson of Virgin Galactic for the commercial space tourism market. Mr Branson flew to the edge of space aboard the VSS Unity SpaceShipTwo rocket plane on July 11. He spent a few minutes in zero gravity before returning to Earth.
Some, including Blue Origin, have questioned whether Mr Branson's voyage can be classified as a space flight as his plane did not cross the symbolic Karman Line at 100 km above the mean sea level. But Mr Bezos' spacecraft is likely to cross that barrier.