Rich People Toys

Jeff Bezos and Tim Dodd, also known as The Everyday Astronaut, provide an exclusive tour of Blue Origin’s new factory, showcasing the next vehicle, New Glenn. The tour covers various aspects of the rocket, including its reusable ring fin, landing legs, interstage of the main tanks, engines, fairings, and the use of inertial navigation for high-altitude wind measurement during ascent. Bezos emphasizes the importance of making space travel more affordable through innovations and improved manufacturing techniques. He also shares his personal story of recovering Apollo 11 F1 engines from the Atlantic Ocean and invites the audience to tour the factory. During the tour, Bezos discusses the manufacturing process of the reusable rocket tank using friction stir welding and the use of markers and machine vision technology for increased efficiency and accuracy. He also explains the design of the New Glenn rocket, including its thermal protection system, landing gear, and the challenges of landing on the moon. The tour concludes with a discussion on the trade-offs between reusability and expendability in Blue Origin’s rocket development and the production ramp-up of their V4 engines.