Boldly going where just astronauts, a few civilians, and a couple of billionaires have gone before, William Shatner – that's Star Trek’s Captain Kirk to you – will be blasting into space next week aboard the next Blue Origin spaceflight, it has been confirmed.
While it was rumored to be the case last week, Blue Origin has officially announced the 90-year-old actor will be on its upcoming October 12 flight.
Shatner will not only become the first sci-fi actor to leave the atmosphere, but he will also be the oldest person to ever go to space, beating Mercury 13 legend Wally Funk, who at 82 was recently the oldest person to fly to space. Like Funk, Shatner has been invited as a guest of Blue Origin.
“Yes, it’s true; I’m going to be a ‘rocket man!’” Shatner tweeted. “It’s never too late to experience new things,” he added.
The commercial flight will also carry two other paying customers and Blue Origin’s Vice President of Mission & Flight Operations Audrey Powers, who will follow in the footsteps of Jeff Bezos on Blue Origin’s second trip.
In a similar fashion to the previous flight, the trip will last just 10 minutes, reaching no higher than about 106 kilometers (66 miles), and will include a short section of microgravity, allowing the actor to experience first-hand what space truly feels like.
Shatner would have been the first actor in space if Russia wasn't scheduled to launch the world's first film crew, including actor and director, to the ISS tomorrow morning to start filming the first feature-length movie in space. With Tom Cruise rumored to be in line for filming a movie in space too, it's going to start looking pretty crowded up there.
