Jeff Bezos: No Bathrooms, Barf Bags for Blue Origin Space Tourists

REUTERS/Isaiah J. Downing
REUTERS/Isaiah J. Downing

Tourists aboard Blue Origin’s upcoming commercial “New Shepard” space flights won’t find accommodations onboard if they need to use the restroom or feel sick, according to CEO Jeff Bezos.

Blue Origin’s New Shepard, which is owned by Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos, hopes to fly tourists up to space by 2018, and allows passengers to experience weightlessness while watching the Earth from above.

“The company has no plans to install systems to deal with human waste,” reports Space.com. “The crewmembers will board the vehicle only about 30 minutes before takeoff, Bezos said, which is part of the reason the company is not planning to have any kind of system in place for the passengers to urinate or defecate.”

Despite the lack of bathroom facilities aboard the New Shepard, Bezos insists that the experience is so short, it is likely unnecessary if passengers relieve themselves beforehand.

“Go to the bathroom in advance,” said Bezos. “The whole thing, from boarding until you’re back on the ground, is probably 40 or 41 minutes. So you’re going to be fine. You could dehydrate ever so slightly if you have a weak bladder.”

“[People] don’t throw up right away,” he continued on the topic of being sick. “We’re not going to worry about it… It’s a delayed effect, and this journey takes 10 or 11 minutes. So you’re going to be fine.”

Charlie Nash is a reporter for Breitbart Tech. You can follow him on Twitter @MrNashington or like his page at Facebook.

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