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.
Jennifer Lotito, president and COO at the non-profit (RED), joined Cheddar to discuss the CODE (RED) campaign as the organization looks to expand its mission to support both AIDS and COVID-19 relief. She explained that people can get involved in the campaign for Giving Tuesday and ahead of World AIDS Day by shopping (RED) branded products and even using credit card rewards points to add their own support. Lotito also pointed out that COVID-19 has also impacted HIV testing as people avoid clinics out of fear of the other pandemic.
NASA indefinitely delayed a spacewalk to repair an ISS antenna, citing concerns about space debris. It was unclear if the warning from the space agency to astronauts aboard the ISS was related to the recent destruction of a non-functioning Russian satellite.
Dr. Farhan Bhatti, a family physician and Michigan State lead for the Committee to Protect Health Care, joined Cheddar to discuss the newly discovered and highly transmissible omicron variant of COVID-19. Bhatti said it is too early to draw any conclusions about the new variant but there is concern that it could eventually mutate and develop a resistance to vaccines. "Time will tell, but for now, it looks like, still, the best thing that we can do to try to limit the spread of this disease is make sure everybody gets a vaccine and make sure everybody avoids large gatherings indoors and wears masks during the wintertime especially," he said.
Jill and Carlo cover the latest developments with the Omicron variant that are spooking markets once again. Twitter's @Jack is leaving, SCOTUS takes up abortion rights and the world has a brand new republic.
A CDC panel unanimously endorsed Moderna and Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine boosters for all U.S. adults. This comes after the FDA gave its own authorization for everyone 18 and older, scrapping previous eligibility factors like age and underlying conditions. Dr. Shereef Elnahal, President and CEO of University Hospital and former New Jersey Health Commissioner, joined Cheddar News to break down the development.
The Biden Administration is set to buy 10 million courses of Pfizer's Covid pill if it gains emergency use authorization from the FDA. With this purchase, the U.S. will receive more than 13 million courses of antiviral pills aimed at treating Covid and reducing severe illness and death. Pfizer's pill has been shown to reduce risk of hospitalization and death by 89 percent, proving it could be a key tool in the fight against the pandemic. Dr. Soumi Eachempati, Co-Founder, CEO & CMO of Cleared4, joined Cheddar News to discuss.
Dr. David Dodson, Infectious Disease Specialist at Carden & Dodson MD, joined Wake Up With Cheddar to break down what we know so far about the Omicron Covid-19 variant, and why you shouldn't wait for an Omicron-specific shot to get vaccinated.
Friday saw big sell offs, with the Dow Jones posting its worst day since October 2020, falling 905 points, with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 each tumbling more than two percent as well. Much of that due to investor concerns over the new Covid-19 'Omicron' variant first detected in South Africa. Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda explains what investors should expect this week.
The ocean is an important topic when it comes to the climate. It plays a vital role in shaping our environment, with rising sea levels causing a 35% increase in natural disasters around the world, affecting 1.7 billion people. Dr. Sylvia Earle has been called perhaps the greatest advocate our oceans have ever had, with Time magazine dubbing her its first 'hero of the planet' and the Library of Congress naming her a living legend. She is also the founder of Mission Blue, an organization that inspires action to explore and protect the ocean. Dr. Earle joined Cheddar Climate for more on the importance of caring for the ocean and its impact on climate change.
Scientists are racing to understand the Omicron variant of covid-19 and find out just how dangerous it really is. Omicron, dubbed a variant of concern by the WHO, was first detected in South Africa last week and has already spread to multiple countries, including the UK, Canada, Australia and more. Dr. Jonathan Javitt, CEO of Nrx and adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, joined Cheddar to discuss what we know and don't know about this new variant.
