This undated image provided by Blue Origin shows an illustration of the capsule that will be used to take tourists into space. Blue Origin announced Thursday, July 15, 2021, that instead of an auction winner launching with founder Jeff Bezos on Tuesday, Oliver Daemen, 18, will be on board. The company said he'll be the first paying customer, but did not disclose the cost of his ticket. (Blue Origin via AP)
By Marcia Dunn
An 18-year-old is about to become the youngest person in space, rocketing away with an aviation pioneer who will become the oldest at age 82.
Blue Origin announced Thursday that instead of a $28 million auction winner launching with founder Jeff Bezos on Tuesday, 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.
“I am super excited to experience zero-g and see the world from above," Daemen said in a video posted by Dutch broadcaster RTL.
Also soaring on Blue Origin’s first launch with passengers: Bezos’ brother and Wally Funk, one of 13 female pilots who went through the same studies in the early 1960s as NASA's Mercury 7 astronauts did, but were rejected for being women.
The four will blast off from West Texas atop a New Shepard rocket 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 U.S. 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.
The company has yet to open ticket sales or disclose its prices to the public. That’s expected following Bezos’ flight.
The Amazon founder will become the second person to ride his own rocket into space, following Virgin Galactic's Richard Branson by nine days.
Soviet cosmonaut Ghermon Titov holds the record for the youngest to fly in space. He was 25 when he blasted into orbit four months after Yuri Gagarin, the first person in space. John Glenn was 77 when he launched aboard space shuttle Discovery in 1998, 37 years after becoming the first American to orbit the world.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Jonathan Adler, Law Professor at Case Western Reserve University, joined Wake Up With Cheddar to discuss Tuesday's ruling and provide legal context to recent battles over vaccine mandates.
Carlo and Baker wrap up the week talking about the Biden economic boom that no one seems to notice, a verdict in the Jussie Smollett case, the first Starbucks union in America and the pleasures of the "dude nod."
Shelli Avenevoli, Ph.D., the deputy director for the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), joined Cheddar to discuss concerns about the devastating impact the pandemic has had on the nation's youth. While mental health issues have been a point of concern for the populace at large, Avenevoli talked about how vulnerable young people have been during the COVID-19 crisis. "It's important to keep in mind, for children and adolescents, that the pandemic is occurring during a time of very formative development when social connection is vital for health and optimal function," she said. Avenevoli also noted broad political and social upheavals that have contributed to the issue but also things that can be done to help minors with their mental wellbeing.
Cheddar Innovates gets a look at the satellite that's searching for the earliest light from the big bang, plus a former Nike executive breaks down what the new era of sportswear looks like.
A packed Thursday pod: Carlo and Baker cover the latest developments in the Ghislaine Maxwell, Jussie Smollett and Elizabeth Holmes trials. Plus, Dems are losing the Hispanic vote, Boris Johnson in trouble again, and is it possible that Adele has peaked?
A mental health crisis among young people is looming, and a large part of it is online. Cheddar News speaks with digital policy expert Karen Kornbluh on the issue.
Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, faced withering questions on Capitol Hill about the reports the social media app was aware of the severe mental health impacts it was having on teenage girls. Karen Kornbluh, the director of digital innovation and democracy for the German Marshall Fund, joined Cheddar to discuss the rare show of bipartisan outrage on display at the Senate hearing. "The senators came really loaded for bear on both sides of the aisle," she said. Kornbluh explained how senators like Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) set up fake Instagram accounts with teen girl profiles in order to research the effects firsthand.
Back in 2010, several large companies pledged to work towards stopping deforestation by 2020. Companies like Nestle and Carrefour even went further to say that they would eliminate deforestation from their supply chains altogether. However, fast forward to 2020, many of these companies have failed to reach that goal. Associate Director of Forest at the CDP Nadia Bishai, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
