Science News Roundup: Dutch teen on space flight told Bezos he had never ordered from Amazon; Modern crocodile's 'grandfather,' 150 million years old, discovered in Chile fossil and more

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Dutch teen on space flight told Bezos he had never ordered from Amazon

The Dutch teenager who became the world's youngest space traveler this week surprised billionaire Jeff Bezos on the flight by telling him he'd never ordered anything on Amazon.com.

Oliver Daemen, an 18-year-old physics student, accompanied Bezos, his brother Mark Bezos and 82-year-old female aviator Wally Funk - the oldest person to go to space - on a 10-minute trip beyond Earth's atmosphere.

Modern crocodile's 'grandfather,' 150 million years old, discovered in Chile fossil

A 150-million-year-old fossilized skeleton discovered in the mountains of southern Chile was determined to be the ancestor of the modern crocodile, the Argentine Museum of Natural Sciences announced on Friday. The species, named Burkesuchus mallingrandensis, was found in 2014 in an Andean fossil deposit near the Patagonian town of Mallin Grande by Argentine and Chilean researchers. Since then it has been analyzed at the Argentine Museum of Natural Sciences (MACN) in Buenos Aires.

Former Virgin Galactic CEO to fly to space - CNBC

Former chief executive officer of Virgin Galactic Holdings, George Whitesides, will fly to space on the aerospace company's next test spaceflight, CNBC reported on Friday. Richard Branson, the billionaire founder of Virgin Galactic, flew to space earlier this month, beating Amazon.com Inc's Jeff Bezos to the final frontier. Branson announced the news about Whitesides during a party in New Mexico on July 11, following his own spaceflight, the report said.

SpaceX lands NASA launch contract for mission to Jupiter's moon Europa

Elon Musk's private rocket company SpaceX was awarded a $178 million launch services contract for NASA's first mission focusing on Jupiter's icy moon Europa and whether it may host conditions suitable for life, the space agency said on Friday. The Europa Clipper mission is due for blastoff in October 2024 on a Falcon Heavy rocket owned by Musk's company, Space Exploration Technologies Corp, from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA said in a statement posted online.

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