Jeff Bezos took Amelia Earhart's goggles, a piece of canvas from the Wright Flyer, and other priceless pieces of aviation history to space
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Katie Canales
Jul 20, 2021, 23:25 IST
Jeff Bezos holds Amelia Earhart's goggles with his brother, Mark, at his side.
Blue Origin
Jeff Bezos took Amelia Earhart's goggles with them to space on Tuesday.
He said Earhart wore the goggles when she became the first woman to cross the Atlantic solo.
They also brought canvas from the Wright Flyer and a medallion from the first hot air balloon flight.
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Jeff Bezos and the New Shepard crew brought Amelia Earhart's goggles with them to space during Tuesday's flight.
During a post-flight press conference, Bezos said the famous pilot flew across the Atlantic wearing the goggles, which had slivers of tape across the middle of each lens to block out the harsh sunlight.
"Thank you, Amelia, wherever you are - we hope you're watching all of this," Bezos said while holding the goggles up to his face.
Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean and set various other records in the aviation world. She disappeared in 1937 and her plane was never found, sparking a slew of conspiracy theories that are still discussed to this day.
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Bezos, his brother Mark, 18-year-old Oliver Daemen, and Funk took other priceless items in aviation history on their 11-minute flight on Tuesday.
Mark Bezos said they carried a piece of canvas from the Wright Flyer, the first powered airplane flown by the Wright brothers in 1903.
He also said they brought a bronze medallion to commemorate the first hot air balloon flight in 1783, when humankind left the earth in a controlled flight for the first time.
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