Jeff Bezos, theworld’s richest man, is going to go on a space walk in a few days. Apart fromhis brother Mark and 82-year-old pilot Volley Funk, Bezos was looking foranother companion to take with him. An auction was also held for this one seat,which a person also won for $ 28 million, but eventually an 18-year-old studentwill get a chance to touch the space.
Mr. Bezos, who juststepped down as chief executive of Amazon, announced last month that he wouldbe one of the passengers when his rocket company, Blue Origin, conducts itsfirst human spaceflight. The flight is scheduled for Tuesday, to coincide withthe 52nd anniversary of the landing of Apollo 11 on the moon. It is tofollow Richard Branson’s flight to the edge of space this past Sundayin a rocket plane built for the company he founded, Virgin Galactic.
When Mr. Bezos madethe announcement, he said one of the other seats on New Shepard, a reusablesuborbital capsule that goes up more than 62 miles before coming back down,would be auctioned to the highest bidder, with the proceeds going to Mr. Bezos’space-focused charity, Club for the Future.
More than 7,600people from 159 countries participated in the month long auction, whichconcluded on June 12. The winning bid was $28 million, and Blue Origin said itwould reveal the bidder at a later date.
The youngest personto fly in space is 18 years old from the Netherlands. Daeman, who graduatedfrom high school last year, took a gap year to obtain a private pilot’slicense. Daeman is Blue Origin’s first paying customer.
Mr. Daemen said in anews release from the family. “This is a dream come true!” He said further, “Ihadn’t counted on this at all until last week that surprising phone call fromBlue Origin came. This is so unbelievably cool! The flight to and into spaceonly takes 10 minutes, but I already know that these will be the most special10 minutes of my life.”
The Dutch teen willjoin Amazon and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos, Bezos’ brother Mark and aviatorValley Funk aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard spacecraft, which will carry humanpassengers for the first time.