Blue Origin announces first crewed flight will include youngest person to visit space

Blue Origin’s first crewed flight will carry several superlatives into space with its four passengers. Inside the New Shepard crew capsule will be not only the richest man in the world – Blue Origin and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos – but also the oldest person to ever be in. space, 82 years old. aeronautic pioneer Wally Funk, and the youngest, an 18-year-old student in the Netherlands named Oliver Daemen.

Daemen was announced Thursday as the last passenger on the historic mission (Bezos’ brother Mark will also be on board). Blue Origin said in a statement that the aspiring pilot will be the company’s first paying customer, but is not the winner of an auction that paid $ 28 million for the lien.

“The winner of the Blue Origin auction, who has requested to remain anonymous for the time being, has chosen to fly for a future New Shepard assignment due to scheduling conflicts,” the statement said.

A spokesperson for Blue Origin told CNET that Daemen was an auction participant who got a seat on the second flight and was subsequently supplanted when the top bidder was unavailable to fly on Tuesday.

Daemen graduated from high school in 2020 and plans to attend the Dutch University of Utrecht to study physics and innovation management. He is the son of hedge fund founder Joes Daemen, who appears to be giving his son an epic graduation gift.

The announcement comes shortly after Blue Origin’s nonprofit, Club for the Future, revealed on Wednesday that it was donating $ 19 million of auction proceeds to 19 space and education organizations, including the Mars Society, Planetary Society, Space Camp and Teachers in Space.

We’ll be live streaming the Blue Origin Mission on Tuesday and you can Get all the details here.

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