A successful space-enthusiast will join Jeff Bezos and his brother on their Blue Origin spacecraft after placing a bid of $28 million.
Bezos’ company Blue Origin offered up the opportunity for one lucky – and wealthy – person to join the brothers on their space flight by putting a spare seat up for auction on Saturday, June 12.
As many as 7,600 people from 159 countries originally registered to bid, but the auction ultimately boiled down to 20 active bidders who started the race at $4.8 million.
Hear more about the spaceflight below:
The auction lasted just 10 minutes, with bids escalating in the final three minutes, before the winning bid of $28 million was placed. The winner’s identity has not been announced, but they will soon be up close with Amazon founder Bezos and his brother Mark as they settle in for the out-of-this-world journey.
Set to take place on July 20, the trip will mark the Blue Origin’s 16th flight into space, but the first carrying humans. After blasting off from Van Horn, Texas, the automated flight will last 11 minutes.
The company has not yet revealed who will be joining Bezos, his brother and the successful bidder in the capsule, which will carry as many as six passengers, however per the company’s terms those on board must be between 5ft and 6ft 4in tall and weigh 110-223lb.
Those looking to join Bezos in space must also be able to climb seven flights of stairs at the launch tower in less than 90 seconds and sit strapped in the vehicle for as long as 90 minutes without access to a toilet.
As well as all of those stipulations, they must also be able to withstand gravitational forces of as much as 5.5 times the person’s normal weight during descent, and three times the weight for as long as two minutes on ascent, The Guardian reports.
Bezos made clear his excitement for the flight in a post on Instagram last week, where he explained that he’s ‘dreamed of travelling to space’ ever since he was five years old.
He wrote: ‘On July 20th, I will take that journey with my brother. The greatest adventure, with my best friend.’
The money raised from yesterday’s auction will be donated to Blue Origin’s foundation, Club for the Future, which aims to inspire young people to take part in STEM subjects and help ‘invent the future of life in space.’
Featured Image Credit: PA Images/Blue Origin
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from UNILAD https://www.unilad.co.uk/news/bidder-pays-28-million-for-seat-on-jeff-bezos-11-minute-flight-to-space/
By Emily Brown June 13, 2021 at 02:43PM
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