Trekkies get ready, he’s about to boldly go where no 90-year-old man has gone before.
Ninety-year-old William Shatner is set to become the oldest human to launch into space on Wednesday.
The Canadian actor will take to the stars on billionaire Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket along with three civilian crew mates.
“I shall be entranced by the view of space,” Shatner says. “I want to look at that orb and appreciate its beauty and its tenacity. It’s sustaining this life of ours, which allows us to look with awe and wonder at the miracle of space. There is an adventure in my life that I would not have had, had I not have done this.”
Bezos is the founder of Amazon and the world’s wealthiest man. Shatner’s journey will mark the second crewed space mission under Bezos’ private spaceflight company.
“We are just at the beginning, but how miraculous the beginning is.” @WilliamShatner is ready to go to space. #NS18 pic.twitter.com/u3MnOAbWtW
— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) October 12, 2021
The 11-minute flight will allow the crew to feel weightless among the stars, before the capsule returns to Earth.
The descent will involve a parachute-assisted landing at Blue Origin’s West Texas facility.
Shatner is most famous for his role as Star Trek’s Captain James Kirk, the commander of the USS Enterprise.
“It looks like there is a great deal of curiosity about this fictional character, Captain Kirk, going into space,” Shatner says. “So let’s go along with it and enjoy the ride.”
He first graced televisions as Kirk in 1966.
Special delivery: #NS18 astronauts put pen to postcard ahead of their flight. When they take to the skies, they’ll boldly go where no mail carrier has gone before. #postcardstospace
pic.twitter.com/FjG4TR42we
— Club for the Future (@clubforfuture) October 12, 2021
Blue Origin will provide a live broadcast of the launch at its site in Van Horne, Texas about 90 minutes before liftoff.
The coverage begins at 8:30 a.m. local time.
