Who's who on Blue Origin's first crewed flight

Blue Origin's maiden crewed flight on Tuesday involves four people who will cross the Karman line, which separates Earth's atmosphere from space, for the very first time.

Here is a brief look at the quartet of soon-to-be astronauts.

- The tycoon, Jeff Bezos -

Jeff Bezos, 57, will leave behind the planet where he made his vast fortune for a few minutes on a spaceship built by the company he founded in 2000, when he was still merely a single-digit billionaire.

Six years before that, he started a small online bookstore called Amazon.com out of his garage. Bezos' net worth is today estimated at more than $200 billion.

- The brother, Mark Bezos -

Jeff Bezos has invited along his brother Mark, a financier who directs the Bezos Family Foundation and works as a volunteer firefighter.

The pair are best friends, and Jeff shared the moment he surprised his sibling, six years his junior, by asking him to join the mission in a video that went viral on Instagram last month.

- Trailblazer Wally Funk -

At 82, barrier-breaking woman aviator Wally Funk is about to become the oldest ever astronaut, fulfilling a lifelong dream that was thwarted by the sexism of the early space era.

Funk, who took her first flying lesson aged nine, excelled in the Mercury 13 project which was intended to train women for space using the same standards as male astronauts, but the program was eventually nixed.

She nevertheless had an accomplished career in aviation, becoming the first female air safety investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board, and serving as chief pilot in several flight schools.

- Dutch teen Oliver Daemen -

Oliver Daemen, 18, is set to become the youngest astronaut. He holds a private pilot's license and is a space enthusiast who will study physics in university this fall.

The Dutch teen is flying in place of the still anonymous winner of a $28 million public auction, who asked to pass this time because of "scheduling conflicts," and will go on a later trip.

Daemen's ticket was paid for by his father, the CEO of a private equity firm, CNBC reported.

ia/dw/leg

AMAZON.COM

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Earth's richest man Bezos to blast off into space
Washington (AFP) July 19, 2021
Jeff Bezos, the richest person in the world, is set to join the astronaut club Tuesday on the first crewed launch by Blue Origin, another key moment in a big month for the fledgling space tourism industry. The mission comes days after Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson crossed the final frontier, narrowly besting the Amazon magnate in their battle of the billionaires. Blue Origin's sights are, however, set higher: both literally in terms of the altitude to which its reusable New Shepard cra ... read more