The anonymous winner of a ticket to join billionaire Jeff Bezos in space next week will no longer board the New Shepard spacecraft due to “scheduling conflicts”, Bezos’s Blue Origin company announced on Thursday. The winner, who paid $29.7m to join one of the world’s richest men in space, will instead be replaced by Oliver Daemen, a recent high school graduate. In addition to Jeff Bezos and his brother Mark Bezos, Daemen will be accompanied by Wally Funk, an 82-year-old American veteran pilot. Blue Origin has also announced that it is awarding $1m each to 19 non-profit and advocacy organizations including the National Space Society and International Astronautical Federation. The original ticket winner will fly out on a later New Shepard mission, according to Blue Origin.

Source: The Guardian July 15, 2021 21:31 UTC