Jeff Bezos and brother Mark Bezos traveled to space on Tuesday aboard the New Shepard from Blue Origin. Along with the brothers, the flight made records with the youngest and oldest people to travel to space.
What Happened: Oliver Daemen became the youngest person to travel to space at the age of 18. Passenger Mary Wallace “Wally” Funk became the oldest to travel to space at the age of 82.
The four passengers traveled aboard the New Shepard from Blue Origin, a company founded by Amazon.com Inc AMZN founder Jeff Bezos.
The passengers spent 10 minutes, 10 seconds in space passing 100km (62 miles) — what is usually considered the beginning of outer space — after a liftoff time of 9:11 a.m. ET.
Watch the full space launch stream here!
About Oliver Daemen: He the son of Somerset Capital Partners founder and CEO Joes Daemen.
According to a New York Times article, “He [Oliver Daemen] was a participant in the auction and had secured a seat on the second flight,” Sara Black, a Blue Origin spokeswoman, said in an email. “We moved him up when this seat on the first flight became available.”
The winner of the seat for the first flight, who bid $28 million, had a scheduling conflict.
“We thank the auction winner for their generous support of Club for the Future and are honored to welcome Oliver to fly with us on New Shepard,” Blue Origin CEO Bob Smith said.
Daemen took a year off after graduating high school last year to obtain his private pilot’s license. In the fall, Oliver will attend the University of Utrecht, one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands to study physics and innovation management.
Joes Daemen has a net worth of more than $500 million, according to ExactNetWorth. Oliver’s mother is a former KLM Royal Dutch Airlines crew member.
Oliver enjoys snorkeling, wakeboarding, scuba diving and surfing according to Sportkeeda. Oliver enjoys traveling and sharing pictures of places he’s been on social media. Time will tell if Oliver gets some good pictures from space to share.
Related Link: What You Should Know About Wally Funk, The 82-Year-Old Woman Flying To Space Alongside Jeff Bezos
Oliver on Going To Space: In a video, Oliver said his first memories of space were watching “The Thunderbirds” show on television. From the age of four on, Oliver was fascinated by space, the Moon and rockets, according to the Blue Origin press release.
“I think it’s the ultimate dream for so many people to go to space,” Daemen said.
Daemen has spent some time training with the other passengers on the flight and had positive words to say about the other people going to space with him: “Wally is like one of the best pilots ever” and “Jeff is one of the best businessmen ever.”
Oliver said he will likely be speechless when the flight touches down after going to space. Not lost on Oliver is his role as the youngest to space potentially getting young people to love space and wanting to follow his lead someday.
“I feel a responsibility,” he said.
At the time of the auction from Blue Origin, an age requirement was not listed. The winning bidder had to commit to three days of training and meeting several physical requirements. The winning bidder also had to weigh between 110 pounds and 223 pounds and have a height between 5'0" and 6’4".
Photo: Blue Origin
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