Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin astronaut and Tech. major Medidata's Co- Founder Glen de Vries was Killed in an Aircraft Accident !

Sad News , a Visionary lost !

Glen de Vries, CEO of Tech. major Medidata and Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin astronaut who flew with William Shatner to space last month, was one of two people killed in a Cessna 172 Skyhawk crash in New Jersey on 10th Nov.

The aircraft (N90559) , that belonged to Hanuman Aviation was destined to Sussex Airport (KFWN) from Caldwell Wright Airport, NJ (CDW).

Glen M. Devries, 49, of New York, NY, and Thomas P. Fisher, 54, of Hopatcong, NJ, were both aboard the single-engine Cessna 172 that crashed in a wooded area of a state park near Lake Kemah around 4 p.m., according to New Jersey State Police spokeswoman Brandi Slota and the FAA.

De Vries accompanied Shatner on the highly-publicized Oct. 13 mission with Jeff Bezos' company, Blue Origin, online records show. His plane had been reported missing nearly an hour before it went down on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Oct. 13, the Carnegie Mellon University trustee and alumnus and co-founder of Medidata Solutions travelled into the space aboard Blue Origin's New Shepard Spacecraft. A lifelong fascination with all things space-related culminated in the flight, just the vehicle's second to carry humans.

"Trying to be an astronaut through fairly conventional means had passed by a long time ago. I was very focused on molecules and health," de Vries said. "To be fortunate enough where I could actually make this happen is an unbelievable opportunity. I've spent years talking about the need for equity and access in the world of health care, and I think space needs to be democratized in the same way."

On 7th Novemner, he was seen tweeting about a flight experience !

Nadia M. Bracken said ,

A 1994 graduate of the Mellon College of Science, de Vries' self-described obsession with aerospace aviation grew from childhood. He pored over every book about rockets, aircraft and spaceships — past, present and future — that he could. He's trained to pilot his own single-engine plane.