William Shatner will become the oldest person to ever visit space when he boards Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket next week. Shatner, 90, will beat the current record holder Mary Wallace ‘Wally’ Funk, who headed out on Blue Origin’s first flight back in July at the age of 80. Given Shatner’s legendary role as Captain James T. Kirk on the original Star Trek TV series, it’s no surprise this is a journey he’s interested in taking!
iStock/3DSculptor- Shatner won’t be going up alone. Blue Origin will also be carrying the company’s Vice President of Mission & Flight Operations, Audrey Powers, along with Planet Labs co-founder Dr. Chris Boshuizen and Medidata co-founder Glen de Vries. Sounds like a fun trip!
- Shatner calls the opportunity to go into space a “miracle.” According to a statement obtained by the Daily Mail, William Shatner has been anxious for decades to see what lies outside of our earthly bounds. “I’ve heard about space for a long time now,” he said. “I’m taking the opportunity to see it for myself. What a miracle.”
- Blue Origins’ New Shepard is due to lift off next week. Weather conditions being ideal, the New Shepard is planning to launch from Launch Site One in West Texas on October 12 at 8:30 a.m. CDT. This could change depending on winds, storms, and other area forecasts.
- Shatner will reportedly be part of a documentary being filmed on the trip. The 15-minute civilian flight will reportedly be documented on video and Shatner will take part in the production, TMZ reports. It should be pretty cool to see how these flights will work in action. While space travel might be a very long way off for most laymen who aren’t millionaires and can therefore afford a ticket on one of Blue Origins’ rockets, it’s still a pretty neat concept.
