On July 20, 2021 Jeff Bezos will set sail for space aboard the ‘New Shepard’ ship, designed and built by his own company, Blue Origin. The former CEO of Amazon will not be alone in the adventure. He will be accompanied by his brother, Mark Bezos and an 82-year-old pilot, Wally Funk. The fourth crew member was to be a mysterious bidder who paid $ 28 million for the ticket . However, as reported by Blue Origin, it has backed down at the last minute due to “scheduling problems.” Instead, Oliver Daemen, an 18-year-old student, will accompany Jeff Bezos and the rest of the crew into space. He will become the youngest astronaut in history!
Now, Oliver Daemen has not been selected at random. The fourth place in the ‘New Shepard’ ship was reserved for the highest bidder in an open auction. The winner paid $ 28 million but, by resigning, Blue Origin has yielded the position to the person who had placed the second highest bid, Oliver’s father, who gave the honor of traveling into space to his son.
“This marks the beginning of the commercial operations of the New Shepard spacecraft and Oliver represents a new generation of people who will help us build a path to space,” said Bob Smith, CEO of the company .
Welcome to the crew, Oliver! We’re grateful to have you as our first customer to mark the beginning of commercial operations. #NSFirstHumanFlight https://t.co/gwZ6qBOFpi pic.twitter.com/SuOwxe2353
— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) July 15, 2021
But who is Oliver Daemen, the student who will accompany Jeff Bezos into space? A young man who, according to a statement, since he was four years old, has had a great fascination for space, rockets and the Moon. Next September he will begin his studies in physics and innovation management at the University of Utrecht, in the Netherlands. Although his nationality has not been revealed, on his Instagram account most of the comments are written in Dutch.
What will the flight to space be like?
The New Shepard spacecraft is 18 meters long and 4 meters high, and is capable of reaching a height of more than 100 kilometers above the earth’s surface . The four crew members will travel in a self-contained capsule, and each will have their own seat by a window. The vehicle is 100% autonomous, so it does not need a driver.
It will take off on July 20 in a desert area in Van Horn, Texas, and will rise to a height of 76 kilometers. Once there, the propulsion unit will separate from the passenger capsule, the latter continuing its trajectory into space and then falling back to Earth with a parachute .
