Analysis: Jeff Bezos’s trip to space manages to be both historic and somewhat dull

The Amazon founder went up and came down again, doing the bare minimum to qualify him as an astronaut, but as space becomes a playground for billionaires, there are some concerns about the harm they could do

Jeff Bezos and 82-year-old Wally Funk celebrated as they leave Blue Origin’s New Shepard crew capsule after the first human spaceflight for the company. Picture: Getty

Blue Origin made minor history on Tuesday as the space company’s New Shepard craft brought both the oldest and youngest ever people to space. The mission resulted in Jeff Bezos, the Amazon founder, getting his wish and finally going to space, just about.

He was part of the New Shepard crew that barely breached the Carmen Line, the nominal area 100km above ground which is deemed to be the point when an object enters space.