Last month, an anonymous bidder won a seat onboard the first crewed spaceflight of New Shepherd, the ship that will take Jeff Bezos and his brother 100 kilometers (62 miles) above the Earth. The bidder has now canceled their flight, citing scheduling conflicts, having something more important to do that day than go to freaking space.
In a press release, Blue Origin revealed that the anonymous person will be replaced by 18-year-old Oliver Daemen. He will become the youngest person to go to space, while Wally Funk – also due to be aboard – will become the oldest, at 82-years-old.
Blue Origin announced more than a month ago that the auction for a seat on the trip had finished at $28 million. But it has refused to say who the winner was, even as the time of launch approached.
It did not say how it had chosen Daeman instead. It also refused to reveal how much he had paid for his ticket.
But it said that the trip would “fulfill a lifelong dream for Oliver”, who is currently on a gap year obtaining his private license before starting studied at the University of Utrecht this September.
The 11-minute flight saw the crew accelerate to over 3 Gs, before the capsule detached. At this point, they unbuckled and felt the effects of weightlessness, before rebuckling for reentry into the Earth's atmosphere three minutes later. The crew of four landed in West Texas desert with assistance from a parachute deployed by the capsule, where they met a landing crew.
Onboard was Jeff Bezos, his brother, Oliver Daemen, and Wally Funk.
