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By Edward Deitch, NBC Nightly News

Good Tuesday afternoon. Billionaire Jeff Bezos and three other civilians successfully rocketed to space, a White House official tested positive for Covid-19, and members of the men’s and women’s U.S. Olympic basketball team were sidelined by the virus as a top Olympics official refuses to rule out a last-minute cancelation of the games.

Here is what’s in our Nightly Rundown.

Spectacular first human flight for Bezos and New Shepard spacecraft

Billionaire Jeff Bezos and three other civilians flew into space today aboard the New Shepard rocket, reaching an altitude of just over 66 miles.

The 10-minute flight was the first with people on board for Bezos’s company, Blue Origin, and came on the 52nd anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.

New Shepard, named after NASA astronaut Alan Shepard, spent just a few minutes in orbit before descending back to Earth. The separated rocket made a perfect landing back on the launch pad while the capsule, supported by parachutes, glided down to a gentle landing in the desert of West Texas.

“Best day ever!” Bezos said after New Shepard touched down. He was accompanied on the flight by his brother Mark, an 18-year-old from the Netherlands and an 82-year-old aviation pioneer who became the youngest and oldest ever to fly in space.

Blue Origin plans two more passenger flights before year’s end and hasn’t revealed what it will charge for a ride to space. Today’s flight came nine days after Richard Branson flew into space on a rocket-powered plane.

Despite the success of today’s flight, some analysts dismissed it as an enormous ad for Blue Origin, pointing out that space travel won’t be viable for most Americans and is potentially dangerous.

The White House said a fully vaccinated White House official had tested positive for Covid-19 and has mild symptoms. Press Secretary Jenn Psaki also said there had been previous undisclosed breakthrough cases among White House staff. She did not provide a number.

A senior aide to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tested positive after contact with Texas state legislators last week.

Dr. Anthony Fauci and the director of the CDC, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, appeared before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

On the question of vaccinating children under 12, Fauci said it was ”very likely” that there would be enough data on the vaccine in this group by late fall or early winter, but said it could take some time to grant emergency approval.

Walensky, when asked about the fact that only 400 children had died of Covid-19, said that “400 is a huge amount” because “children are not supposed to die.”

Fauci pointed out that when you hear about a breakthrough infection, it doesn’t mean the vaccine is failing because the purpose of the vaccine is to prevent severe infection and death, but does not necessarily prevent infection.

On the upcoming school year, Walensky said it was “crucially important that schools be open for full in-person learning.” She repeated the CDC’s guidance that children who are not vaccinated should wear masks.

She also said testing needs to play a critical role in the school year ahead and said she worries that children will again be getting upper respiratory infections as they congregate. She pointed to the challenge of understanding what is a Covid infection and what is a simple cold.

More Covid headlines:

Katie Lou Samuelson, a member of the U.S. Olympics 3x3 women’s basketball team, announced that she will not be able to compete in the games after testing positive.
And Zach LaVine, a member of the men’s basketball team, was not able to travel to Japan with the team because he has entered Covid health and safety protocols.
The head of the Tokyo Olympics organizing committee refused to rule out a last-minute cancelation of the games depending on the Covid situation.
Olympic organizers reported 71 cases of Covid-19 linked to the event, just three days before the opening ceremony.

What else we’re watching:

As many as 200 Americans have now described possible symptoms of directed energy attacks, part of a wave of new reports that includes newly identified incidents around the world. A U.S. official said a steady stream of cables has been coming in from overseas posts reporting new incidents of so-called Havana Syndrome, often multiple times each week.
Former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein was extradited to California today to face charges of sexual assault there.
President Biden welcomed the Super Bowl-winning Tampa Bay Buccaneers to the White House. Quarterback Tom Brady may have stolen the show with this comment to the president: "Not a lot of people think that we could have won; in fact about 40 percent of people still don’t think we won. Do you understand that Mr. President?”
Today marked six months since President Biden took office.
Stocks were higher today after a sell-off on Monday prompted by concern about the Delta Covid variant.

Watch us this evening at 6:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. CT on NBC, or check your local NBC station listing. After the broadcast, access Nightly News video on NBCNightlyNews.com or the NBC News app.

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