So where have you been on vacation? I flew into space. This is what an interview with new classmates that 18-year-old Dutchman Oliver Daemen will meet in September when he starts his first year at Utrecht University may look like this.
But that will probably not be the case, because Oliver, who has a chance to become the youngest astronaut, is already known all over the world after the announcement of his participation in the first commercial Blue Origin flight. At home, he will probably be a super-celebrity.
And it owes this to the fact that the flight will break the record of Soviet cosmonaut German Titov, who entered space in 1961 at the age of twenty-five. Daemen was not originally supposed to fly – at least not in the closely watched Tuesday flight of the New Shepard rocket.
Oliver’s seat in a six-seater module measuring 105 kilometers above the planet’s surface belongs to the man who won it in an auction in which he offered $ 28 million, ie more than 600 million crowns. Since then, it has been expected who it will be, but this question will remain unanswered.
On the one hand, the winner of the auction decided to remain anonymous, but mainly canceled his participation in Tuesday’s flight. Family vacation? Maybe a woman’s birthday. Or an important business meeting. He won’t fly anyway. Now. They say next time.
According to Blue Origin, it is planned in the next mission. Priority was given to teenager Daemen, who, according to the AP agency, offered the second highest amount in a charity auction.
Not much is known about the future youngest space tourist. His father Joes Daemen, who founded the investment group Somerset Capital Partners, donated money to him for perhaps the most exclusive ticket at the moment. The exact amount was not disclosed, but the recalculation was certainly hundreds of millions of crowns.
“I’ve dreamed about it my whole life. I am extremely excited to experience weightlessness and see the world from above, “said Daemen Jr. in the above video, which he posted on Twitter.
Blue Origin reported in a report on the new passenger that Oliver graduated from high school last year and took a year-long break before continuing his college studies, during which he obtained a private pilot’s license. From September this year, he will start studying physics and innovation management at the University of Utrecht.
Daemena takes Blue Origin as its first paying customer. “It’s the beginning of commercial operations for New Shepard and Oliver is a representative of a new generation of people who will help us build a journey into space,” said Blue Origin chief Bob Smith.
The New Shepard rocket module has six seats. So far, four are occupied. In addition to Jeff Bezos and his brother Mark, he will also fly aviation pioneer, American Wally Funkwho has the ambition to become the oldest man to enter the universe at the age of 82. Who will be the other two passengers, Blue Origin is still hiding.
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