Oliver Daemen became the youngest person to travel to space, but he has never shopped on the platform of the person responsible for his feat.
3 min read
This article was translated from our Spanish edition using AI technologies. Errors may exist due to this process.
On June 20, student Oliver Daemen took off with Jeff Bezos on Blue Origin’s first manned space trip . Thus, the 18-year-old Dutchman became the youngest person in history to travel to space. Despite this feat, the boy confessed to the tycoon that he has never bought through the Amazon platform.
“I told Jeff that I had never actually bought anything on Amazon,” Daemen revealed last Friday during an interview at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport. “And he was like, ‘Oh, I haven’t heard someone say that in a long time.’
Related: Jeff Bezos thanks Amazon employees after his space flight: ‘You paid for this’
Oliver is the son of Joes Daemen, CEO of Somerset Capital Partners, and was chosen to fly with Bezos after the mysterious millionaire who paid $28 million for the seat canceled at the last minute citing “scheduling problems.”
The boy received the news while on a family vacation in Italy. “They called and said, ‘Are you still interested?’ and we said ‘Yes! Yes! Yes!’” says Daemen, who added that since he was a child he had dreamed of traveling to space and therefore obtained his pilot’s license at an early age.
Welcome to the crew, Oliver! We’re grateful to have you as our first customer to mark the beginning of commercial operations. #NSFirstHumanFlight https://t.co/gwZ6qBOFpi pic.twitter.com/SuOwxe2353
– Blue Origin (@blueorigin) July 15, 2021
Daemen said his passage aboard Bezos’s New Shepard rocket cost much less than what the anonymous mogul would have paid.
“They chose me because I was the youngest and I was also a pilot and I already knew a lot about that,” he explained. “I don’t think I realized until I was on the rocket: ‘Wow, it’s really happening.’ It was my ultimate goal (…) but I never thought it would be so soon.”
Related: Are Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson Already Astronauts? America Says No
In addition to Jeff Bezos and Oliver Daemen, the crew included Mark Bezos (Jeff’s brother) and aviator Wally Funk, 82, who now holds the title of the oldest person to go into space. They all received two days of safety training for the historic 10-minute trip out of Earth’s atmosphere.
Our astronauts have completed training and are a go for launch. #NSFirstHumanFlight pic.twitter.com/rzkQgqVaB6
– Blue Origin (@blueorigin) July 19, 2021
For now, Daemen is enjoying the final weeks of his gap year before entering college. In September, he will begin a Physics degree at the University of Utrecht and, although he is not yet sure what he wants to do with his life, he said he would seriously consider a career in space travel.
Related: Millionaires In Space 2! Tourism off Earth
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