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?
I must unfortunately ask you for your financial support because I do not depend on ads and rely entirely on the generosity of readers to keep Behind the Black running. You can either make a one time donation for whatever amount you wish, or you sign up for a monthly subscription ranging from $2 to $15 through Paypal or $3 to $50 through Patreon.
Your support will allow me to continue covering science and culture as I have for the past twenty years, independent and free from any outside influence.
Your support is even more essential to me because I not only keep this site free from advertisements, I do not use the corrupt social media companies like Google, Twitter, and Facebook to promote my work. I depend wholly on the direct support of my readers.
You can provide that support to Behind The Black with a contribution via Patreon or PayPal. To use Patreon, go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation. For PayPal click one of the following buttons:
If Patreon or Paypal don't work for you, you can support Behind The Black directly by sending your donation by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman, to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
Or you can donate by using Zelle through your bank. You will need to give my name and email address (found at the bottom of the "About" page). The best part of this electronic option is that no fees will be deducted! What you donate will be what I receive.
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.