Jeff Bezos,
the world’s richest person touched down back on Earth after becoming the
second billionaire to visit outer space this month, as he briefly crossed the
Karman line on Tuesday aboard the New Shepard rocket developed by his aerospace
firm Blue Origin.

Along with
Bezos for the ride was his younger brother and best friend Mark, as well as the
world’s oldest and youngest-ever astronauts – 82-year-old female aviator Wally
Funk and 18-year-old Dutchman Oliver Daemen.

Also read: Want to fly on Blue Origin flight? Here are the physical requirements

Virgin Galactic
founder Richard Branson kicked off a new age of privatised space race on July
11, as he breached the boundary of Earth’s atmosphere aboard the VSS Unity. But Blue Origin’s mission exceeds Virgin Galactic both in terms of altitude which New Shepard reached and the company’s vision for the future.  

Bezos
founded Blue origin in the year 2000, with the aim to build space colonies. Working
towards that goal, the firm is building a heavy-lift orbital rocket called New
Glenn, along with a moon lander, and is hoping to land a contract with NASA
soon.

Also read: Dennis Tito, first space tourist, recalls ‘euphoric’ experience

The New Shephard
has flown 15 unmanned flights to test its safety mechanisms, like firing the
capsule away from the launchpad if the rocket explodes, or landing it with one
less parachute.

Also read: How can you become a space tourist?

The rocket
took off from a remote facility in West Texas called Launch Site One, around 25
miles from the town of Van Horn, at 8 am Central Time (13:00 GMT). After
speeding towards space at over 2,300 mph using a liquid hydrogen-liquid oxygen
engine, the capsule carrying the passengers separated from the booster.

It peaked
at an altitude of 65 miles and after a brief period of floating in outer space,
fell back on Earth, its landing in the desert aided by three parachutes and a
thruster.