Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/905725
10 November 23 • 2017 jn Former Detroiter leads Blue Origin's privately funded quest for space flight. I n Rob Meyerson's bar mitzvah Torah portion — read on a colder-than-normal mid-April in 1978 at Temple Israel — Moses was given instruction on when to release a bird from the city so it could take flight over an open field. Meyerson has devoted his life to flight — not birds, but rockets. His biggest missions are yet-to-come. Meyerson's achievements in aeronautics started early. At 23, the Southfield High and University of Michigan alum was an aerospace engineer at the LBJ Space Center in Houston. He'd work on various NASA projec- tions throughout the United States. During his first week, he was sent to Reno, Nev., to give a speech in front of 20,000 aero- space engineers working on the shuttle program. Today, Meyerson is president of Blue Origin, one of the world's most ambitious privately funded aerospace manufacturing and spaceflight services compa- nies. The company is report- edly planning its first manned flight to take place by spring 2019. Headquartered in Kent, Wash., the business is funded by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos. Meyerson has never forgot- ten his family's deep roots in the Midwest. His grandfather, Meyer S. Meyerson, left Russia as a child with little money. He came to the United States and settled in Detroit, where he'd live for 48 years. Often referred to as "Buddy," he had three sons with his wife, Mary. Meyer became a restaurant legend in the area, with Buddy's Delicatessen and Buddy's Log Cabin Barbecue. Meyerson's parents, Arlyn and Hester, continued the tradition with Scotch 'n' Sirloin, Trio and Buddy's BBQ. Rob Meyerson still has a keen appreciation for his local roots. In response to Detroit's video pitch for the second Amazon headquarters, he remarked on LinkedIn: "I know this is a pitch for Amazon's HQ2 but, damn, I love this video. My hometown is looking good! #movetheworld." The JN chatted with Rob about his leadership at Blue Origin and his Detroit roots. Here are excerpts from the conversation. As you look toward the 20th anniversary of your leadership at Blue Origin in 2023, what do you envision your progress will look like? At Blue Origin, we visualize millions of people living and working in space. We can only make that happen by dramati- cally lowering the cost of access to space. We simply can't afford to throw rockets into the ocean after every launch. As such, we're making our systems operationally reusable, as we demonstrated with our New Shepard launch system, and our BE-3 and BE-4 engine programs. New Shepard was the first rocket in history to fly to space, return to Earth and land vertically, and then fly again and again. What we learned from designing, building and flying New Shepard, we're applying directly to our New Glenn Orbital Launch System. By 2023, I hope to see a future where we are reg- ularly and reliably taking people and payloads to space. If we can do this, then we will be well on our way to fulfilling our greater vision of millions of people living and working in space. How has your approach to innovation changed the most since you joined Blue Origin? I spent the first 10 years of my career working in the NASA human spaceflight culture, a culture where changes and risk are carefully managed. At Blue, we have a culture of develop- ment and invention, where new ideas are tried on relatively short timelines. This approach to inno- vation has enabled Blue Origin to develop and fly many unique flight vehicles and technologies over the course of a decade with a small team. As we have grown, we are maintaining this culture of innovation while also serving more traditional government customers. What has most surprised you as you reflect on the past decade of milestones? Well, it wasn't really a surprise, but a very important step for Blue Origin. It was two years ago in November when New Shepard became the first booster to ascend into space and success- fully return to Earth for a vertical landing. Then, that same New Shepard vehicle and BE-3 engine made four subsequent flights last year, historically demonstrating vertical-powered landing after return from space and re-flight of a booster. I never doubted we could do it, and to see it actu- ally happen and to be the first company in the world to achieve such a milestone was truly incredible. What has been your proud- ADAM FINKEL CONTRIBUTING WRITER TOP: Blue Origin funder Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, pops opens a bottle of champagne to celebrate the successful return of the company's reusable New Shepard booster in 2015 in West Texas. o n t h e c o v e r jews d in the continued on page 12 "At Blue Origin, we visualize millions of people living and working in space." — ROB MEYERSON, PRESIDENT, BLUE ORIGIN PHOTOS COURTESY BLUE ORIGINS Space Odyssey