{"id":19191,"date":"2016-10-24T20:09:19","date_gmt":"2016-10-24T12:09:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/gradatim-ferociter-jeff-bezos-explains-blue-origins-motto-logo-and-the-boots\/"},"modified":"2016-10-24T20:09:19","modified_gmt":"2016-10-24T12:09:19","slug":"gradatim-ferociter-jeff-bezos-explains-blue-origins-motto-logo-and-the-boots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/gradatim-ferociter-jeff-bezos-explains-blue-origins-motto-logo-and-the-boots\/","title":{"rendered":"Gradatim Ferociter! Jeff Bezos explains Blue Origin\u2019s motto, logo \u2026 and the boots"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_284401\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-284401\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-284401 size-full-width\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/161024-blue-origin-2-630x471.jpg\" alt=\"Blue Origin coat of arms\" width=\"630\" height=\"471\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/161024-blue-origin-2-630x471.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/161024-blue-origin-2.jpg 670w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-284401\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Blue Origin\u2019s coat of arms is packed with symbolism. (Credit: Blue Origin)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>You can\u2019t buy stuff from billionaire Jeff Bezos\u2019 Blue Origin space venture on Amazon just yet, but just wait: Sixteen years after its founding,&nbsp;Blue Origin offers&nbsp;enough symbols, mottos and mascots&nbsp;to keep the folks who make caps, shirts, coffee mugs&nbsp;\u2013 and yes, even cowboy boots&nbsp;\u2013 busy for years.<\/p>\n<p>The symbolism adds a sense of tradition to Blue Origin\u2019s 21st-century mission of getting millions of people living and working in space.<\/p>\n<p>So far, the company has conducted five fully successful test flights of its New Shepard suborbital rocket ship, and it\u2019s working on an orbital rocket as well as a super-rocket designed to carry people and payloads beyond Earth orbit.<\/p>\n<p>During last weekend\u2019s Pathfinder Awards banquet at Seattle\u2019s Museum of Flight, Bezos provided a guide to Blue Origin symbology, which we\u2019re supplementing here with some extra bits of background. Before you know it, you\u2019ll be shouting \u201cGradatim Ferociter\u201d like a pro (preferably as you brandish a Lady Vivamus sword).<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Jeff Bezos discusses space flight and his vision for Blue Origin\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VNwE3sRWxHw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" data-ratio=\"0.5625\" data-width=\"800\" data-height=\"450\" style=\"display: block; margin: 0px; width: 800px; height: 450px;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>What\u2019s Blue Origin\u2019s motto?<\/strong>&nbsp;\u201cGradatim Ferociter\u201d is Latin for \u201cStep by Step, Ferociously.\u201d Bezos says that\u2019s his approach to spaceflight. \u201cIf you\u2019re building a flying vehicle, you can\u2019t cut any corners. If you do, it\u2019s going to be [just] an illusion that it\u2019s going to make it faster. \u2026 You have to do it step by step, but you do want to do it ferociously.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Why is there a winged hourglass on Blue Origin\u2019s coat of arms?<\/strong> Bezos says that\u2019s \u201ca Victorian cemetery symbol which means \u2018time is fleeting.\u2019 We don\u2019t have forever.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Why is Blue Origin\u2019s mascot a tortoise?<\/strong> The lesson from the fable of the hare and the tortoise is that \u201cslow and steady wins the race.\u201d Bezos puts a different twist on the tale: \u201cSlow is smooth, and smooth is fast.\u201d The mascot also may be a commentary on other commercial space ventures that leap into aggressive schedules but don\u2019t end up meeting them, like the hare in the fable.&nbsp;After each successful New Shepard flight, Blue Origin\u2019s team paints a tortoise on the capsule\u2019s hatch. And during last weekend\u2019s banquet, Bezos showed off a pair of tortoise cufflinks (which you can buy on Etsy for $48).<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_283942\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-283942\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-283942 size-full-width\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/161023-bezos1-630x618.jpg\" alt=\"Jeff Bezos with tortoise cufflink\" width=\"630\" height=\"618\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/161023-bezos1-630x618.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/161023-bezos1-768x754.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/161023-bezos1-1240x1217.jpg 1240w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-283942\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos shows off a tortoise cufflink during the Pathfinder Awards banquet at Seattle\u2019s Museum of Flight. (Credit: Tania Shepard \/ Azzura Photography)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>What\u2019s the meaning of the numbers on the shield in the coat of arms?<\/strong> Those correspond to the velocities required to reach various altitudes. A suborbital rocket might achieve a velocity of 3 kilometers per second, for example, but it would take somewhere around 9.5 km\/s to reach Earth orbit. Escaping Earth orbit and heading for other celestial destinations would require even higher velocities. (Also notice the rocket taking off from Blue Origin\u2019s West Texas launch site.)<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-284402 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/161024-blue-origin-feather-300x180.jpg\" alt=\"161024-blue-origin-feather\" width=\"300\" height=\"180\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/161024-blue-origin-feather-300x180.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/161024-blue-origin-feather.jpg 399w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\"><\/p>\n<p><strong>What\u2019s the meaning of Blue Origin\u2019s feather logo?<\/strong> \u201cThe feather is simple,\u201d Bezos said. \u201cIt\u2019s just a symbol of the perfection of flight. For thousands of years, we humans have been looking up at the birds, and wondering what it would be like to fly. \u2026 I think it\u2019s representative of freedom and exploration and mobility and progress. For the people who are in love with flight, there is no substitute.\u201d Blue Origin employees can sometimes be seen&nbsp;wearing&nbsp;silver feather lapel pins (flown in space, of course!).<\/p>\n<p><strong>What\u2019s the meaning of New Shepard\u2019s name?<\/strong> Blue Origin\u2019s suborbital rocket is named after Alan Shepard, who became the first NASA astronaut to take a suborbital trip to space in 1961. The company\u2019s orbital rocket will be named New Glenn, which pays tribute to John Glenn, the first American in orbit. And the first human to walk on the moon, Neil Armstrong, provides the inspiration for New Armstrong, the super-rocket that Blue Origin is developing to send payloads beyond Earth orbit.<\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" class=\"\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden; width: 0px; height: 0px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=b0yle&amp;dnt=true&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=783867231620870144&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.geekwire.com%2F2016%2Fjeff-bezos-blue-origin-motto-logo-boots%2F&amp;sessionId=94c0809d113393c0cd7895b24cc75a7a2ea09eba&amp;siteScreenName=geekwire&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&amp;width=550px\" data-tweet-id=\"783867231620870144\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\" data-twitter-extracted-i1782803944935324377=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Reflecting on an incredible day. Toasting all 800 of the passionate, brilliant folks at Blue Origin. #InFlightEscape #GradatimFerociter pic.twitter.com\/KHJMYHvPud<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) October 6, 2016<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><strong>And the boots?<\/strong> After this month\u2019s successful test flight of the New Shepard rocket ship, Bezos tweeted a picture that showed him with a drink in his hand, putting his feet up by the fire in West Texas. He was wearing a pair of cowboy boots emblazoned with the \u201cGradatim Ferociter\u201d motto. At the banquet, emcee Steve Taylor asked whether Amazon was&nbsp;selling those branded boots. \u201cNo, but that\u2019s a damn good idea,\u201d Bezos said with a laugh. \u201cWe should think about that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Blue Origin\u2019s coat of arms is packed with symbolism. (Credit: Blue Origin) You can\u2019t buy stuff from billionaire Jeff Bezos\u2019 Blue Origin space venture on Amazon just yet, but just wait: Sixteen years after its founding,&nbsp;Blue Origin offers&nbsp;enough symbols, mottos and mascots&nbsp;to keep the folks who make caps, shirts, coffee mugs&nbsp;\u2013 and yes, even cowboy [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[509,291,1046,4450,1250],"class_list":["post-19191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-blue-origin","tag-commercial-space","tag-jeff-bezos","tag-museum-of-flight","tag-new-shepard"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19191"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19191"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19191\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}