- The technologist Lane Bess reflects on her two Blue space trips.
- Bess said that each trip has renewed its sense of what matters in life.
- He called for more visionary investments in space technology and exploration.
This test also told is based on a conversation with the veteran of the Lane Bess technological industry. He founded Bess Ventures and is CEO of Deep Instinct, a cybersecurity company fueled by in -depth learning. He is also the president of Blaize AI, the former CEO of Palo Alto Networks and the former chief of the Zscaler. He has no financial links with Blue. This interview has been modified for duration and clarity.
I went to space twice in about three years. Each time, I came back with a renewed feeling of what matters in life.
I took My first trip In December 2021 and my second last February. Each flight was only 10 minutes, but the earth is completely different when you take off and when you land.
I came back this time with several questions about the state of our world. Since my first trip, war has intensified. I thought that – and I still do it now – the only limitation to what humanity can achieve is our ability to hear us with each other.
What I see instead is a thirst for power, a change in the way people see politics and people compromising the founding ideas of our constitutional ancestors for things that simply benefit from one country on another.
US President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese chief Xi Jinping should not be the only three on Earth, knowing how the rest of humanity lives their lives.
All this might make you think that we should find another place to go because we are going to spoil this. We will not do it coloniser From any time, but maybe it should start now.
A curiosity for life
I have been fascinated by rockets since I was a child. Even before being a teenager, I remember having gone to the local leisure store – where I should lie about my age – to buy these model rocket engines (which were obviously flammable). It was a passion that I grew up to share with my son, Cameron, who also accompanied me My first space trip.
Years later, it has become possible for civilians to go to space. Fortunately, at that time, I had made big outings of my previous cybersecurity companies, Palo Alto Networks and Zscaller, so that I can afford to tend to bid on a headquarters of blue origin during an auction. I also tried to invest in space technology through my family office, Bess Ventures.
In 2021, just before Thanksgiving, Blue Origin’s operations and the Director of Civil Sales contacted me to join his third flight. I was contacted in January of this year when a seat opened the 10th flight.
I cannot disclose exactly how much my last trip cost, but it was in millions. It is clear that my five passenger colleagues also had good financial results in life. Richard Scott is a reproductive endocrinologist who sold his reproductive medicine group, Ivirma, to the KKR capital-investment company. Elaine Chia Hyde, physicist, pilot and founder of the Chicago Star media society and the only woman on a trip, had saved for years to do something like that.
We spent about two and a half days in class training before takeoff. Unlike astronauts who are preparing for longer orbital trips, we have not spent time training in a centrifuge or swimming in a reservoir to understand the weightlessness. It was more about learning engineering behind the rocket so that you know how sure it is. Until two and a half minutes before shooting the gang-gang, you can bail out.
Before takeoff, we enter the designated crew capsule of the rocket. During the first five to seven seconds, you do not feel much movement because the engine ignites. You have headphones to soften the engine sound, but you still hear a lot of strike. Then the capsule is ejected in the air.
In two and a half minutes, you cross the Kármán line and you start to achieve how thin and fragile the earth’s atmosphere is. Until then, you are also weightless. I used my GoPro to get a photo of the view.
The ascent is smooth, but the descent can become a junk. You are fired in your seat with a gravitational acceleration as high as you cannot move physically – and even less take a deep inspiration.
Once we landed, our families were there to welcome us. We had a champagne toast and took the fact that we were one of the few hundred civilians who had ventured into space.
Billionaires for space travel
I first interacted with Jeff Bezos“The Amazon company return in the 90s when I was product manager launching the Internet activity of AT&T and Amazon launched sales of online books.
I would not say that we are close friends, but I know him well enough to say that he is sincere in his commitment to space and science. To his ranchHe told me once he felt blessed that his companies had generated enough wealth so that he could really think of things that most people will not think.
There are billions of billionaires around the world, but only a dozen people who have put their money in things really forward. I guess each generation needs it.