An 18-year-old physics student is about to become the youngest person in space?when he makes the journey in the inaugural space tourism flight onboard Blue Origin.?
The company announced on Thursday that instead of the person who put up $28 million in an auction to fly into space with Jeff Bezos, Dutch runner-up Oliver Daemen will be on board. The company said he¡¯ll be the first paying customer, but did not disclose the price of his ticket, Reuters reported.?
¡°I am super excited to experience zero-g and see the world from above,¡± Daemen said in a video posted by Dutch broadcaster RTL.
Oliver Daemen will join the Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, his brother, Mark Bezos, and pilot Wally Funk when they launch into space aboard the New Shepard rocket on July 20.
When Daemen becomes the youngest astronaut, Funk, 82, will become the oldest.??
The four will blast off from West Texas for a 10-minute flight.
According to Blue Origin, Daemen took a year off after graduating from high school last year to obtain his private pilot¡¯s license. He¡¯ll attend the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands in September.
His father is Joes Daemen, founder and CEO of Somerset Capital Partners, a private equity firm in Oisterwijk, Netherlands. Both father and son are already in the US preparing for the launch, according to a company representative.
¡°This marks the beginning of commercial operations for New Shepard, and Oliver represents a new generation of people who will help us build a road to space,¡± Blue Origin CEO Bob Smith said in a statement.
Blue Origin said the yet-to-be-identified winner of the charity auction is stepping aside because of a scheduling conflict and will catch a future flight. Daemen was going to be on the second launch for paying customers.