The person who paid $30 million for a ticket into space with Jeff Bezos can't go due to...

midian182

midian182

Posts: 9,741   +121
Staff member
Facepalm: If you handed over $30 million to take part in something, one would imagine it being a pretty high priority in your diary. But the person who paid that amount to go into space with Jeff Bezos next week won’t be on the spacecraft due to “scheduling conflicts.”

Bezos’ Blue Origin company announced that the anonymous winner, who paid $27.9 million for their ticket, has other plans on July 20. Their replacement will be Oliver Daemen, an 18-year-old recent high school graduate. He took a gap year in 2020 to obtain his private pilot’s license and plans to study physics and innovation management at the Netherlands-based University of Utrecht in September

Daemen’s father, Joes Daemen, CEO of Netherlands-based investment firm Somerset Capital Partners BV, paid an undisclosed sum for the ticket; it doubtlessly would have been a significant amount. Blue Origin confirmed to Forbes that Daemen was a participant in the June auction.

I am super excited to go into space,” Daemen said in a video posted to Twitter. “I’ve been dreaming about this all my life.”

Daemen will be joining the world’s richest man along with the Amazon founder’s brother, Mark Bezos, on the New Shepard spacecraft. 82-year-old veteran pilot Wally Funk will also be onboard. The rocket will launch in West Texas next Tuesday and travel 62 miles above the Earth’s surface, reaching the Kármán line, recognized as the start of space.

“At 18 years old and 82 years young, Oliver Daemen and Wally Funk represent the youngest and oldest astronauts to travel to space,” wrote Blue Origin.

The mission is expected to last just 10 minutes, three of which will be spent weightless in space. Blue Origin will be flown autonomously, removing the need for other personnel to pilot the craft, and it will descend to Earth using parachutes.

Blue Origin said that the original winner with the busy schedule would fly “on a future New Shepard mission,” so at least they’ll get their wish eventually.

In related news, the petition to stop Bezos returning to the planet's surface has reached almost 160,000 signatures.

If you would like to fly to the edge of space but aren’t rich, Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic is running a sweepstake that will see one winner and friend travel to around 250,000 feet in the VSS Unity, where they’ll experience weightlessness.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/90444-person-who-paid-30-million-ticket-space-jeff.html

 
TheBigT42 said:
Probably chickened out
Click to expand...

Likely and why wouldn't you? There's a not-insignificant chance you'll die during this trip no matter how many millions you pay.

My guess is that if you're rich enough to pay 30 million for a ticket you're probably rich enough to basically just use it as a flex privately because let's face it: As a rich bastard there's not a bigger flex than saying "I could have gone into space but I had to cancel" by telling people both the 30 million and the possibility of going into space doesn't faces you at all enough to drop your other activities.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mbrowne5061, arrowflash and Avro Arrow
VitalyT said:
Your man probably had a Zumba lesson scheduled on the same day.
Click to expand...

Zumba - is that still a thing? I remember when the PS3 I purchased came with the motion controller and a Zumba game/workout disc. The wife and daughter (who was 3 at the time used it for a while, they thought it was great at the time...but that only lasted about 6 months and they stopped using it. I figured Zumba had died off some time ago.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Reehahs
Dimitriid said:
Likely and why wouldn't you? There's a not-insignificant chance you'll die during this trip no matter how many millions you pay.

My guess is that if you're rich enough to pay 30 million for a ticket you're probably rich enough to basically just use it as a flex privately because let's face it: As a rich bastard there's not a bigger flex than saying "I could have gone into space but I had to cancel" by telling people both the 30 million and the possibility of going into space doesn't faces you at all enough to drop your other activities.
Click to expand...
Who are you arguing with. Are you winning?
 
  • Like
Reactions: nismo91, Reehahs and BadThad
Dimitriid said:
Likely and why wouldn't you? There's a not-insignificant chance you'll die during this trip no matter how many millions you pay.

My guess is that if you're rich enough to pay 30 million for a ticket you're probably rich enough to basically just use it as a flex privately because let's face it: As a rich bastard there's not a bigger flex than saying "I could have gone into space but I had to cancel" by telling people both the 30 million and the possibility of going into space doesn't faces you at all enough to drop your other activities.
Click to expand...
You could definitely be right because it does seem to be something that would fit perfectly into the general character of someone who is opulently wealthy.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Dimitriid
I honestly think that he paid the $30,000,000 to reserve a seat but then he saw the ship itself and said:
7jyqr.gif
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mjswooosh, Lionvibez and VitalyT
Lionvibez said:
This term astronauts should be put in quotation.

Just getting to space does not make you an astronaut and to label these people that because they have money is an insult to real astronauts.
Click to expand...
Space-monkeys is better :) The super-rich who like throwing feces at the poor, now get to do it from up high. Better watch out!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Godel, BadThad and okie11
Loons of the world rejoice, Elon Musk is not only a god, but he's your god. (He's told us as much).

He's managed to bring space travel all the way back to pre-Gemini status. But then again, the later Gemini missions were actually orbital. (!962 to 1966) https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/gemini/index.html with their 50 th anniversary rapidly approaching. :rolleyes:

So, "forward into the past, o' ye Musk disciples, remember your god will be with you.

Meanwhile, Jeff Bezos was probably muttering to himself. "Oh Mackenzie, had you not grown old, all this could have been yours".

60c0e510fde7960018aacf45
 
Lionvibez said:
This term astronauts should be put in quotation.

Just getting to space does not make you an astronaut and to label these people that because they have money is an insult to real astronauts.
Click to expand...
NASA disagrees with you.

"The term "astronaut" derives from the Greek words meaning "space sailor," and refers to all who have been launched as crew members aboard NASA spacecraft bound for orbit and beyond." - nasa.gov/astronauts
 
ScottSoapbox said:
NASA disagrees with you.

"The term "astronaut" derives from the Greek words meaning "space sailor," and refers to all who have been launched as crew members aboard NASA spacecraft bound for orbit and beyond." - nasa.gov/astronauts
Click to expand...
If you want to split hairs, then technically the Virgin Galactic flight didn't get "to space", but rather the, "edge of space".

Thus, (obviously arguably), you can't be a "space sailor", if you didn't actually go there..
 
  • Like
Reactions: Lionvibez
Look at that . 18 and 82 on the same flight. 100. His scheduling conflict was he wasn't 18. Something money making will be made out of the 100.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Shawn Knight
Boldly go: William Shatner is heading to Antarctica, and you can join him
Replies
13
Views
219
Hotlynx16
H
midian182
Despite increasing to $16.8 million, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger's compensation still pales in comparison to AMD's Lisa Su
Replies
9
Views
190
Silkaura
S
D
Steam hits a new record of over 34 million concurrent users
Replies
11
Views
242
lesovers
L

Latest posts

Back