18-Year-Old to Get Space Flight Because of ‘Scheduling Conflict’

An 18-year-old Dutch kid is about to get a space flight on Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin rocket thanks to a scheduling conflict.

According to a Tweet by the New York Times, Oliver Daemen is the lucky recipient of a seat on the Blue Origin rocket that is set to launch on Tuesday. Daemen was "given" the seat by someone who reportedly paid $28 million for the extremely rare opportunity but had a "scheduling conflict" and is unable to go.

Can you imagine having enough money to be able to shell out $28M for a ride into space and not checking your calendar to make certain that it's clear?

On the other hand, can you imagine being an 18-year-old kid who just got handed a world record? If Daemen makes that flight (which is scheduled for this Tuesday), he will become the youngest human to go to space.

Wait: I just read more into the story. According to a subsequent Tweet, Daemen was already scheduled to be on the second flight. A spokesperson for Blue Origin said that they "moved him up" when the $28M seat became available.

This kid already bought a seat on the second flight, and they just bumped him up to the first flight. What this means is: there's an 18-year-old kid out there who has more money now than I will ever have in my life. That information is slightly deflating, to say the least.

It appears the gentleman with the scheduling conflict will still get his $28M's worth of a space flight at a later date.

The closest I'll ever come to a story like this is when I had the opportunity to fly with the United States Air Force Precision Aerial Demonstration Team, the Thunderbirds. Another media personality in the market had been given the flight but was unable to go, and I was picked to fill the seat. What a ride that was!

Anyway, I'm happy that this kid will be getting the ride of his life.