Blue Origin/MEGA
More than 75,000 people have signed a petition to stop Amazon founder and CEO, Jeff Bezos from returning to Earth after he flies to space next month on a reusable rocket made by his space company, Blue Origin.
Recall that earlier this month, Jeff Bezos announced on his Instagram page that he would be traveling to space on July 20 along with his brother, Mark, and another person, presumably an ultra-wealthy space aficionado who won the bid for the third berth on the spaceship for a whopping $28million.
The amount received will be donated to Blue Origin’s foundation called “Club for the Future” that aims to inspire future generations to pursue careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) industry.
Bezos is the founder of the space exploration company, which built New Shepard rocket which is reusable and has capacity for six passengers in its capsule.
While on New Shepard suborbital rocket system, the Bezos brothers, auction winner, and a fourth person will become the first crew aboard the reusable rocket for its 11-minute voyage to space.
The name of the auction winner will be released in the weeks following the auction’s conclusion. Then, the fourth and final crew member will be announced – stay tuned.
— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) June 12, 2021
The name of the auction winner will be released in the weeks following the auction’s conclusion. Then, the fourth and final crew member will be announced – stay tuned.
— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) June 12, 2021
However, since Bezos made the announcement, tens of thousands of people have come together to petition against his return to the planet.
There are multiple petitions out there, but the front-runner published on change.org, a popular US-based petition website created created an unknown person called “Ric G” is titled ‘Do not allow Jeff Bezos to return to Earth’. As at Tuesday evening, it had collected more than 84,000 signatures.
The description of the period reads;
Billionaires should not exist. On Earth, or in space, but should they decide the latter they should stay there. [sic]
Another petition, signed by over 20,000 people so far, claims;
“… he’s actually an evil overlord hellbent on global domination. We’ve known this for years. Jeff has worked with the Epsteins and the Knights Templar, as well as the Free Masons to gain control over the whole world. He’s also in bed with the flat earth deniers; it’s the only way they’ll allow him to leave the atmosphere.
One petitioner also wrote;
Being let back into earth is a privilege— not a right. If he wants back in he’s gotta work for it. Go back whence you came, and do not return unless you’re willing to PAY YOUR GODDAMN TAXES!!!.
Blue Origin was founded by Bezos and the company says on its website that its aim is to enable, “a future where millions of people are living and working in space to benefit Earth. In order to preserve Earth, Blue Origin believes that humanity will need to expand, explore, find new energy and material resources, and move industries that stress Earth into space.”
Considering this, the space company is currently working on developing partially and fully reusable launch vehicles that are safe and low-cost.
Bezos isn’t the only billionaire with his sights set on out-of-this-world endeavours.
Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX, has racked up a number of firsts for private spaceflight, including being the first private company to transport astronauts to the International Space Station last year. The company’s website advertises trips to space for paying customers.
The billionaire has not announced any immediate space travel plans. However, a Japanese billionaire, Yusaku Maezawa, booked a trip with SpaceX to travel around the moon in 2023.
Also, Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, has a space program — Virgin Galactic, which has a reusable spacecraft intended for commercial space travel. Branson plans to be on one of Virgin Galactic’s upcoming flights.
