Star Trek’s William Shatner boldly goes to space

Actor William Shatner has become the oldest person to boldly go to space as he blasted off on board the Blue Origin sub-orbital capsule.

The 90-year-old, who played Captain James T Kirk in the Star Trek TV series and films, took off from the Texas desert today (13 October).

Those aboard got to experience a short period of weightlessness as they climbed to a maximum altitude just above 100km (60 miles). From there they were able to see the curvature of the Earth through the capsule’s big windows. The trip on the rocket system – developed by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos – lasted about 10 minutes.

In a tweet Shatner scheduled to post during his flight, he said: “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.”

William Shatner was joined on the flight by Audrey Powers, a Blue Origin vice president; Chris Boshuizen, who co-founded the Earth-imaging satellite company Planet; and Glen de Vries, an executive with the French healthcare software corporation Dassault Systèmes.

They were given a couple of days’ training, although there wasn’t that much for them to do during the flight other than enjoy it. The rocket and capsule system, known as New Shepard, is fully automatic.

“Everybody in the world needs to do this,” the Canadian actor told Mr Bezos after landing back on Earth. “It was unbelievable.”

In tears, he added: “What you have given me is the most profound experience. I’m so filled with emotion about what just happened. I hope I never recover from this. I hope I can retain what I feel now. I don’t want to lose it.”

When the capsule touched down in the Texan desert, it was quickly surrounded by ground teams. Jeff Bezos himself opened the hatch to check everyone inside was OK.

Last week, Shatner spoke at New York’s Comic Con and said about the upcoming flight, “I’m terrified. I’m Captain Kirk, and I’m terrified. I’m not really terrified — yes, I am. It comes and goes like a summer cold. I’m planning on putting my nose against the window [once I’m in space], and my only hope is I won’t see someone else looking back.”

Boldly going to Star Trek

William Shatner may have been the first person to go from Star Trek’s version of space to the real thing – but three Nasa astronauts have made the opposite journey.

Mae Jemison appeared in an episode of TV sequel Star Trek: The Next Generation, while Mike Fincke and Terry Virts turned up in the final episode of Enterprise, the Star Trek prequel series.

Also providing a link are Gene Roddenberry, the franchise creator, and James Doohan, the actor who played Montgomery “Scotty” Scott in the original 1960s series and subsequent films. Both men had their ashes sent into space.