Blue Origin distributes $19 million of the $28 million earned for its July 20th suborbital flight
Blue Origin today announced the nineteen non-profits that will receive $1 million each, taken from the $28 million that a single as-yet unnamed person is paying to fly with Jeff Bezos on the first commercial suborbital manned flight of New Shepard on July 20, 2021.
All of the organizations are advocates for space exploration. A majority foster education for the young. Two are pro-women, pushing gender politics in space.
The remaining $9 million will be used by Blue Origin’s non-profit to encourage space-focused curriculum and its project to encourage people to send postcards into suborbital space on its New Shepard spacecraft.
All in all the list of recipients surprised me. I had expected this money to go to many of the very leftist environmental groups that Jeff Bezos loves. Instead, the list is entirely space-focused, though it does tend to favor organizations that mostly aim to maintain the status quo of a big government space program or push for gender or racial politics. That there is a large variety of organizations that push many different approaches to encouraging space exploration however is refreshing.
Nonetheless, except for a few that actually educate children, most are advocacy groups. Compare that to the charity being produced by SpaceX’s first manned commercial flight in September, dubbed Inspiration4. That flight is pumping big bucks directly into St. Jude’s Research Hospital to help it cure children from cancer.
Which do you think is doing more for the world?
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Blue Origin today announced the nineteen non-profits that will receive $1 million each, taken from the $28 million that a single as-yet unnamed person is paying to fly with Jeff Bezos on the first commercial suborbital manned flight of New Shepard on July 20, 2021.
All of the organizations are advocates for space exploration. A majority foster education for the young. Two are pro-women, pushing gender politics in space.
The remaining $9 million will be used by Blue Origin’s non-profit to encourage space-focused curriculum and its project to encourage people to send postcards into suborbital space on its New Shepard spacecraft.
All in all the list of recipients surprised me. I had expected this money to go to many of the very leftist environmental groups that Jeff Bezos loves. Instead, the list is entirely space-focused, though it does tend to favor organizations that mostly aim to maintain the status quo of a big government space program or push for gender or racial politics. That there is a large variety of organizations that push many different approaches to encouraging space exploration however is refreshing.
Nonetheless, except for a few that actually educate children, most are advocacy groups. Compare that to the charity being produced by SpaceX’s first manned commercial flight in September, dubbed Inspiration4. That flight is pumping big bucks directly into St. Jude’s Research Hospital to help it cure children from cancer.
Which do you think is doing more for the world?
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
I was one of those who contributed to St. Jude’s, so I’m biased. I couldn’t resist the idea of being able to participate in a contest where the prize was an actual flight in space. I knew I had little chance of winning, and no chance of passing the physical if I had. It’s just the chance to do something I’d read about as a kid was too cool to ignore. The Inspiration4 flight allowed me to live a small part of my dream and made a lot of money for a very worthwhile cause.
It was nice to see that the Challenger Center for Space Science Education was one of the 19.
Hate to be cynical here….but how much does it cost to buy a dragon flight outright and how much in total is St Jude’s getting from the effort? My guess is that if the intent was pure charity, the money would be best spent just giving to St. Jude’s directly. There is nothing wrong with space tourism or public relations. Heck, even a good tax write off is fair play. These people are most likely spending their own money for a ride to space, with a few favored companions. They should not be blamed for this, but neither should they be lauded for it.
@Cloudy
I’m not praising the Inspiration4 guy for his generosity, I’m praising him for his ingenuity. He wanted a trip into space and that’s what he’s paying for. Along the way, he figured out how to make it work for others, and not just the folks he’s bringing with him. St. Jude’s got a lot of very favorable press out of this, along with lots of donations from people who didn’t even know they existed before that Super Bowl ad. So the dude gets his space ride and some kids who need help get it. A win/win.
“Advocacy groups” are part slush fund and part transfer payment for otherwise unemployable “studies” majors.