It is everybody's dream to go to space, and 'Star Trek' actor William Shatner just achieved that dream.
Shatner, also known as Captain James T. Kirk, is considered the oldest person to travel to space. Through Amazon founder and Blue Origin owner Jeff Bezos, Shatner has reached space on Wednesday.
William Shatner Goes to Space
Shatner blasted off above a Blue Origin's New Shephard rocket on Wednesday at 7:50 a.m. Pacific Time from a West Texas region 25 miles north of Van Horn, per Cnet. This experience lasted about 10 minutes. After the separation of the capsule from its booster, Blue Origin's New Shepard crew experienced zero gravity and saw the view of the Earth.
ABC News said that the New Shepard reached a height of 347,539 feet above ground level with a maximum velocity of 2,235 mph.
The tourist spacecraft carried Shatner and three other astronauts. Among those included are Blue Origin vice president of mission and flight operations and a former NASA engineer and flight controller Audrey Powers; co-founder of a life science company Medidata Solutions Glen de Vries; as well as a former space mission architect for NASA Chris Boshuizen.
The actor William Shatner became the oldest person to travel to space. The “Star Trek” star traveled to space with three other passengers on a mission that lasted about 10 minutes. Champagne corks popped. There was lots of laughter, high-spirited relief. https://t.co/usxXJKBDs7 pic.twitter.com/SPH1Inv6F9
— The New York Times (@nytimes) October 13, 2021
According to Cnet, the launch was originally planned for October 12, but it was postponed due to the wind forecast. Aside from the said launch postponement, the lift-off was also delayed by 30 minutes.
On the other hand, the 90-year-old actor Shatner is now the oldest person to travel to space, beating the record of the 82-years-old Wally Funk who only held the title for almost three months.
Moreover, Shatner was overwhelmed by this 10-minute travel to space experience and talked to Bezos, saying that everybody in the world should have this moment in their life. He also suggested putting it on 3D so the people could watch it through goggles.
"I am so filled with emotion. It was extraordinary. I hope I never recover from this. I hope that I can maintain what I feel now. I don't want to lose it. It's so much larger than me and life." Shatner furthered, per ABC News.
Shatner also tweeted a quote from Sir Isaac Newton after this experience.
I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, diverting myself in now & then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.🚀 pic.twitter.com/ZY2Ka8ij7z
— William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) October 13, 2021
Read Also: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 Screen Durability an Epic Fail? Users Complain Over Cracking Issue
Blue Origin New Shepard: Everything You Need to Know
For those who don't know, this is the second crewed flight of the New Shepard. The first flight carried Bezos together with his brother Mark, a Dutch teenager Oliver Daemen, as well as Wally Funk. For background information of Funk, she is a pioneer pilot who was denied entry to NASA's astronaut corps in the 1960s due to her gender, per New York Times.
Moreover, New Shepard is the centerpiece rocket of Bezos' space tourism business.
Its name originated from one of the astronauts who walked on the moon and the first American to reach space in 1961, Alan Shepard.
Here's a look at Shatner's journey to space--from his launch to splashdown.
