More than 7,000 people have signed a petition calling for Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to be denied re-entry to Earth after he launches for space next month.
Bezos plans to fly with his brother and two other people on the first crewed flight of the autonomous New Shepard vehicle, which will be powered by a Blue Origin rocket.
The online petition, entitled "Do not allow Jeff Bezos to return to Earth" on change.org, compares Bezos to superman villain Lex Luthor, according to the Daily Mail.
"Billionaire's should not exist ... on earth, or in space, but should they decide the latter they should stay there," said the petition, which was started last week.
Bezos founded Blue Origin in 2000, two years before SpaceX was formed by Elon Musk.
Bezos, the world's wealthiest man and a lifelong space enthusiast, has been competing against fellow aspiring billionaire aeronauts Musk and Richard Branson to be the first of the three to travel beyond earth's atmosphere.
Based in Kent, Washington, Blue Origin originally focused on sub-orbital spaceflight services, building cheaper, more reliable, and reusable launch vehicles. It has completed 15 unmanned flights, the Daily Mail reported.
Bezos and his brother Mark will be on that first crewed flight July 20 along with the winner of an auction — who paid $28 million for the honor — and a fourth, yet-to-be named crew member. They will travel up to 62 miles above the earth's surface — the point believed to be the boundary between the world and outer space, although NASA recognizes 50 miles above the surface as the edge of space.
After a brief orbit and a few minutes of weightlessness, the New Shepard is expected to float back to earth on parachutes and land upright, the Daily Mail reported
Blue Origin currently has two launch vehicles: the suborbital New Shepard, named for the first American in space, Alan Shepherd, and the New Glenn, named for John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth.
The Daily Mail said Blue Origin also is developing a New Armstrong, named after Neil Armstrong, the first man on the Moon.
July 20 will mark the 52nd anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.
"Jeff Bezos is actually Lex Luthor, disguised as the supposed owner of a super successful online retail store," the petition description says, according to the Daily Mail, adding he is "actually an evil overlord hellbent on global domination.
"He's also in bed with the flat earth deniers," the petition jokingly claims, adding "it's the only way they'll allow him to leave the atmosphere."
Many signers of the petition added comments.
"Jeff Bezos = Dr. Evil," one signer said.
"Earth does not need him whatsoever. He pays no taxes and just look at his face. Treated his workers like crap," another wrote.
Not all comments were critical or were to get a laugh.
"Do you guys realize he created a company that everyone said would fail ... he made the internet what it is today with online shopping and changed most people’s lives on earth. He purposely loses money to keep prices low, can’t hate him just cuz he’s rich lol, he worked his ass off for it and earned it," one comment said.
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