redOrbit: The New Shepard rocket and space capsule, belonging to billionaire Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, were successfully launched and returned to Earth on Father’s Day. This was Blue Origin’s fourth successful test of a reusable rocket, an achievement that Bezos puts down in no small part to his cowboy boots. The boots are emblazoned with Blue Origin’s motto: “Gradatim Ferociter” which is Latin for “Step by step, ferociously.” An image of them was posted on Twitter by Bezos, as he also highlighted “careful engineering” as a reason for the success. Careful engineering plus of course … the lucky boots. Successful mission. #RocketsReused #GradatimFerociter pic.twitter.com/ON5lhfGPSK — Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) June 19, 2016 As Fathers across the land awoke to lovingly prepared breakfast in bed, the rocket launched its crew capsule into suborbital space before both returned to Earth in separate landings. A peak altitude of 331,501 feet (101,041 meters) or 62.7 miles (101 kilometres) was reached, taking the New Shepard to just above the 62-mile boundary between Earth and space. The booster landed 8 minutes after takeoff, with the crew capsule landing a minute later with the help of two parachutes. The main purpose of this test was to see how well ...