{"id":19354,"date":"2016-06-16T01:30:50","date_gmt":"2016-06-15T17:30:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/jeff-bezos-says-a-big-government-prize-could-generate-more-public-interest-in-space-exploration\/"},"modified":"2016-06-16T01:30:50","modified_gmt":"2016-06-15T17:30:50","slug":"jeff-bezos-says-a-big-government-prize-could-generate-more-public-interest-in-space-exploration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/jeff-bezos-says-a-big-government-prize-could-generate-more-public-interest-in-space-exploration\/","title":{"rendered":"Jeff Bezos says a big government \u2018prize\u2019 could generate more public interest in space exploration"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_255281\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-255281\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-255281\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/collinsbezos-630x322.png\" alt=\"Bezos and Collins\" width=\"630\" height=\"322\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/collinsbezos-630x322.png 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/collinsbezos-768x392.png 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/collinsbezos.png 840w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-255281\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Amazon and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos, right, shares the stage with former astronaut Maj. Gen. Michael Collins. (Via NASA \/ YouTube)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Amazon&nbsp;founder Jeff Bezos thinks the government could offer \u201ca very large prize\u201d as an incentive to parties&nbsp;involved in the modern space race as a way to generate competition and spur public interest.<\/p>\n<p>Bezos\u2019 idea was shared&nbsp;during&nbsp;a&nbsp;conversation between the \u201cvisionary rocket entrepreneur\u201d who founded Blue Origin and \u201clegendary space pioneer\u201d Michael Collins, a retired NASA astronaut and USAF major general. They shared the stage at the&nbsp;2016 John H. Glenn Lecture in Space History at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think big prizes would be an interesting thing to do,\u201d Bezos said, citing a potential contest to&nbsp;bring samples back from Mars as an example. \u201cIt would be very interesting. \u2026 That kind of horse race would create lots of attention.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bezos also said that he thinks NASA needs to go after \u201cgigantic, hard technology goals\u201d as he cited examples for that thinking.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAn in-space qualified nuclear reactor for deep-space missions \u2014 very difficult, very challenging, not something private enterprise is going to undertake anytime soon,\u201d Bezos said. \u201cAnother gigantically hard mission that NASA could undertake that would be very exciting would be hypersonic point-to-point travel on Earth, because NASA isn\u2019t just about space.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Spaceflight Then, Now, and Next\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ex-ui7ldnD0?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>During the hour-long talk, Bezos shed more light on his beliefs involving everything&nbsp;from moon landings to Mars to UFOs to&nbsp;Blue Origin. Here are some highlights:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Why do the people trying to build great space companies (Bezos, Richard Branson, Elon Musk) all have day jobs doing something else?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor one thing it\u2019s expensive. You need a lucrative day job so you can afford your night job. Blue Origin is, I think, going to be a profitable business one day \u2026 but it needs a lot of funding and it needs a lot of funding for a long time. I can only do it because I was lucky with Amazon.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Why has the U.S. government receded in its interest to get back to the moon?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy gut instinct is that we as humanity pulled that moon landing way forward, out of sequence from where it actually should have been. It was a gigantic effort with what in many ways should have been impossible.&nbsp;Once it was done we kind of had to wait and let technology catch up. \u2026 I believe that we are entering a new golden age of space and space exploration and that the time has come for that to happen because we as a species have upleveled ourselves in terms of technology. We\u2019re ready to do it now. It\u2019s amazing that we did it in 1969.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Do you believe in UFOs? Do you think there is life elsewhere in the galaxy?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes, I believe there is life elsewhere in the galaxy but I do not think they have visited&nbsp;us and they\u2019re not abducting people, and it\u2019s not a giant government conspiracy. I think when the UFOs come, if they ever do, they\u2019ll make themselves quite visible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Would you go on a space trip yourself?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cAbsolutely. I fully expect to go into space myself someday. I think that space travel&nbsp;can be both much lower cost and much more reliable and safe.\u201d<\/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=kslosh&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=742348210266509312&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.geekwire.com%2F2016%2Fjeff-bezos-space-prize%2F&amp;sessionId=9f4da01f0675d49bf10f7227a73bd34cde09b207&amp;siteScreenName=geekwire&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&amp;width=550px\" data-tweet-id=\"742348210266509312\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\" data-twitter-extracted-i1782804502500679597=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Trying for 4th flight of same hardware this Friday. Live webcast at https:\/\/t.co\/XlqW03DcEB #GradatimFerociter pic.twitter.com\/AKyv3newmN<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) June 13, 2016<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><strong>Will you be able to order something on Amazon from up there?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cYeah, but you won\u2019t be able to get it delivered up there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Do you think [Blue Origin]&nbsp;could be your greater legacy than even Amazon?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have lots of things that are important to me and important to my heart. If you\u2019re talking just about professional life, I think that if Blue Origin could enable that next generation&nbsp;to really have&nbsp;entrepreneurial dynamism in space, that would be something, when I\u2019m 80 years old, I would look back on, I would be so happy.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Amazon and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos, right, shares the stage with former astronaut Maj. Gen. Michael Collins. (Via NASA \/ YouTube) Amazon&nbsp;founder Jeff Bezos thinks the government could offer \u201ca very large prize\u201d as an incentive to parties&nbsp;involved in the modern space race as a way to generate competition and spur public interest. Bezos\u2019 [&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":[275,509,1046,190],"class_list":["post-19354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-amazon","tag-blue-origin","tag-jeff-bezos","tag-nasa"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19354"}],"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=19354"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19354\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}