Star Trek's William Shatner to fly to space in Blue Origin's New Shepard

• Published date: 12 October 2021
• Author: AARON REICH
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

Shatner's flight is set to take off on Wednesday, October 13, at 9:30 a.m. EST after it was delayed due to high winds. The actor arrived at Blue Origin's astronaut village on Sunday in preparation of the anticipated mission.

Reports had surfaced in late September that Shatner, famous for portraying one of pop culture's most identifiable spacefaring science fiction heroes: Captain James T. Kirk, would have a seat on this mission. This was later confirmed in early October by Blue Origin and then by Shatner himself, writing on Twitter: "Yes, it's true; I'm going to be a 'rocket man!'" referencing the Elton John song of the same name.

But while Captain Kirk may have been famous for being the youngest captain in Starfleet history, Shatner is doing the exact opposite, with the 90-year-old actor set to be the oldest person to ever head to space. Until now, the current record-holder is Wally Funk, an 82-year-old test pilot who accompanied Bezos on his July flight.

But Shatner is more excited about getting to see the final frontier in person rather than at the age at which he gets to go. Speaking to CBS, the actor said his desire to go to space, something he has expressed interest in before, was "to have the vision. I want to see space. I want to see the Earth. I want to see what we need to do to save Earth."

"I want to have a perspective that hasn't been shown to me before," he said in an interview on CBS Mornings. "That's what I'm interested in seeing."

He later elaborated on this further in another interview.

"I'm looking forward to the whole thing," he told CNN's Anderson Cooper. "Imagine being weightless and staring into the blackness and seeing the Earth, that's what I want to absorb."

However, he then voiced a bit of concern, adding: "Things like that go up and boom in the night. It's a little scary, I'll tell you."

Despite his age, Shatner seems to be in good enough health that there doesn't seem to be a risk factor, as far as Blue Origin is concerned. Since the capsule itself is automated, their medical requirements are relatively relaxed, as noted by CBS, whose report added that his biggest challenge might be climbing the seven flights of stairs to be able to board the capsule in the first place.

But regardless of why he wants to go, several celebrities came out to express their congratulations to the sci-fi icon who helped solidify the genre.

"I just can't get over it. I'm just so happy for you," tweeted famed actor Vincent D'Onofrio in...