Bezos: Travel to space is important for the environment 2:54
New York (CNN Business) -
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos met with CNN's Anderson Cooper after returning to Earth on Tuesday to reflect on his journey into space and the moments before liftoff.
Before leaving for space, Bezos and his team "told each other that we love each other," he told Cooper.
"It was a very emotional morning," he said.
Bezos also spoke to the crew about his early days with Amazon, founded in 1994, and drew a comparison between that experience and his journey with Blue Origin.
And he told the crew members that he wanted them to understand the importance of the trip.
"It's like the days of airshows," Jeff Bezos told Anderson Cooper, referring to the early days of aviation and the innovations that followed.
"And that eventually leads to 787."
Bezos also spoke about pollution and climate change after his space travel, emphasizing his idea of offloading industrial production from Earth.
"We really have to move heavy industry and polluting industry off Earth," Bezos said.
He said he wants to do "dirty and polluting things" like "chips and microchips" in space, but added that the timeline could span several decades.
"It won't be done while I'm alive," said Bezos, who is 57.
"We have many problems on Earth," he said, specifically pointing to poverty, hunger, climate disasters and pollution.
"We have to work in the here and now and we have to look to the future."
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Jeff Bezos donates US $ 100 million to Van Jones (CNN contributor) and Spanish chef José Andrés
Last year, Bezos used his vast wealth to launch the Bezos Earth Fund, which focuses on the transition to clean energy and equitable access to healthy air, water and land.
After his flight, he announced that he planned to give $ 100 million each to CNN contributor Van Jones and chef José Andrés to give to philanthropic causes as they saw fit.
For this Bezos donated US $ 100,000,000 to Van Jones, from CNN 1:35
"We have never focused solely on the present or have simply focused on the future," Bezos said, reflecting on history and innovation.
"If you don't focus on the future, then you don't have scouts."
Blue Origin Jeff Bezos
