Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, a Hawaii Democrat, told Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to “stay” in space Tuesday after the mogul flew out of Earth’s atmosphere through his company Blue Origin.
Bezos launched 62 miles into suborbital space on the New Shepard rocket as he became the second billionaire to make the trek. The 57-year-old was accompanied by his brother, Mark Bezos, 53, aerospace pioneer Wally Funk, 82, and Dutch teenager Oliver Daemen, 18, before the trio arrived back on the planet at about 9:20 a.m.
“Bezos, please stay up there,” Gabbard wrote in a tweet. “Do the world a favor.”
AMAZON FOUNDER JEFF BEZOS MAKES IT TO SPACE, LANDS SAFELY
Bezos, please stay up there. Do the world a favor.
— Tulsi Gabbard ? (@TulsiGabbard) July 20, 2021
It’s unclear what prompted the former politician’s statement, but Bezos and other billionaires have faced criticism for “joy rides” to space. Some have insisted they should invest more in businesses on Earth before exploring the galaxy.
“They’re largely right,” Bezos said in an interview on Monday when asked about the backlash. “We have to do both.”
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Richard Branson, the founder of the Virgin Group, jetted into space on July 11 as part of his company’s first full-crewed spaceflight, the Unity 22 mission, beating Bezos as the first billionaire to make the move by eight days. The winged mothership, called the VMS Eve, took off from the Spaceport America runway in New Mexico and climbed nearly 300,000 feet above Earth at speeds slightly over Mach 3.
Branson’s excursion lasted roughly 90 minutes before he touched down at the same runway.
