The 18-year-old Dutchman, Oliver Daemen, will travel into space today at 3:00 p.m. EDT with Jeff Bezos, his brother, Mark Bezos, and 82-year-old pilot Wally Funk.
The young man is the son of Joes Daemen, CEO of Somerset Capital Partners, and he got his ticket to space through a millionaire bid . Ahead of him was another person, who gave 28 million dollars to make this trip that will last about eleven minutes. Daemen took his place by declaring the winner of the bid his desire to participate in a later mission and not this one due to scheduling problems. Next on the list was Daemen’s father, who gave the honor to his son.
Daemen comes from a multi-million dollar family, holds a private pilot license and will begin studying physics and innovation management in the autumn at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands.
The crew of the New Shepard , the flagship of Blue Origin, an aerospace transport company owned by Jeff Bezos, is made up of the founder of Amazon, his brother Mark and 82-year-old pilot Wally Funk. Funk is the first American flight instructor in history , who was rejected by NASA in the 1960s for being a woman . The pilot will be the longest-lived person to travel to space . Therefore, two records will be broken on this trip: that of the youngest person to travel to space: Daemen and the oldest: Funk.
This will be New Shepard’s first crewed flight. The flight will last approximately eleven minutes and will reach a maximum height of 100 kilometers, compared to the 86 reached by Branson. The crew will enjoy privileged views that only a few have enjoyed and will experience the absence of gravity.
The launch is scheduled at 3:00 p.m. Spanish time and will take place from the Blue Origins facilities, in West Texas (United States). On the company’s website you can follow the broadcast from an hour and a half before the launch.
Bezos thus adds to the interest that several millionaires have shown to travel to space. Richard Branson already did it last Sunday aboard a plane from his company, Virgin Gallactic, and Elon Musk intends to found a city of one million inhabitants on Mars in 2050.
