CEO Glen de Vries said time “feels more precious” in a chilling Blue Origins interview a month before his fatal plane crash.
On Friday, de Vries was confirmed to be one of two people who died in a fatal plane crash in Hampton, New Jersey, on November 11.
Thomas Fischer, 54, a second-generation flight instructor, was identified as the second victim in the crash.
However, one month before his death, de Vries, 49, boarded the Blue Origin on October 13 and completed the mission alongside Star Trek actor William Shatner, who became the oldest man in space.
De Vries spoke about his space experience in an interview with Carnegie Mellon University a week after his Blue Origin mission.
When asked by the publication what advice he would give for making the most with the time you are given, de Vries said the passage of time “feels more precious” after spending minutes in space.
“I had that heightened sense of time in my mind starting from the countdown. I think I’ve taken that perspective back down with me to our planet, and into my relationships.
“The passage of time, just like the resources on Earth, feels more precious with expanded perspective,” the Medidata Solutions co-CEO said.
When asked if he would want to return to space in the future, the 49-year-old said: “I honestly don’t think anybody could go to space and not want to go to space more, so I would love to again.”
The Federal Aviation Administration alerted public safety authorities at around 3pm on Thursday that a single-engine Cessna 172 had gone missing near Kemah Lake.
Emergency crews later found the wreckage at around 4pm. The victims were identified today.
Police said that the aircraft was headed toward Sussex Airport from Essex County Airport.
The aircraft was “destroyed” in the crash, which occurred “under unknown circumstances,” an initial report from the FAA said.
De Vries began his private pilot training with Fischer back in February 2016. It is unclear who was flying the plane at the time of the crash.
Following his trip to space last month, de Vries said in an interview: “You go from the horizon being a straight line, to the horizon being curved and back in an extraordinarily short amount of time.
“That sense of speed and that sense of transition was just something that was unexpected, really exciting part of the flight.”
Alongside him on the space-flight was renowned actor Shatner, Blue Origin Vice President of Mission and Flight Operations Audrey Powers, who helped lead the team, and fellow paying customer entrepreneur Chris Boshuizen.
Over a million people came together to watch the live stream of the 10-minute launch.
Video shows the actor floating and looking down at the earth from the Blue Origin mission, dubbed NS-18. It was the second human-crewed mission aboard Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos‘ company’s rocket.
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