Captain Kirk, William Shatner, 90, of Star Trek fame, launched into space on a ship manufactured by Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin company on Wednesday, bringing science fiction and science reality together.
The fully automated capsule took the “Star Trek” actor and three other passengers to an altitude of 66.5 miles (107 kilometers) over the West Texas desert, then safely parachuted back to Earth in a voyage that lasted just over 10 minutes.
After climbing out of the hatch, an ecstatic Shatner informed Bezos, “What you have given me is the most profound experience,” his words gushing out him in a soliloquy almost as lengthy as the journey. “I’m hoping I’ll never be able to recover from this.” I’m hoping to keep the feelings I’m experiencing right now. I don’t want to throw it away.”
“In an instant, you go, ‘Whoa, that’s death,'” he said of the transition from the blue sky to the total blackness of space. That’s what I noticed.”
Shatner set a new record for the oldest person in space, surpassing an eight-year-old mark set by a passenger on a comparable trip on a Bezos spaceship in July. Three minutes of weightlessness and a view of the Earth’s curvature were featured in the voyage.
Fans of science fiction were ecstatic at the prospect of seeing the man best known as the sturdy commander of the starship Enterprise boldly go where no other American television star had gone before.
Before liftoff, Blue Origin launch commentator Jacki Cortese observed, “This is a pinch-me moment for all of us to see Capt. James Tiberius Kirk travel to space.” She added that shows like “Star Trek” inspired her to pursue a career in space, as did many others.