Like his mythical character from the Star Trek series, actor William Shatner has fulfilled his dream of traveling into space, and has also broken a record.
The mission New Shepard NS-18 it has been a great success. The Blue Origin’s second space sightseeing flight has been a copy of the first, and despite doubts about security that some employees of the company exposed, no incident has been registered.
The most prominent passenger on the New Shepard rocket is actor William Shatner, known worldwide for his role as the Captain Kirk in the first Star Trek series of the 60s, and in 7 subsequent films.
At 90 years old, William Shatner has become the oldest person to go into space, surpassing just a few weeks later Wally Funk (82 years old). A record that seems difficult to beat, at least in the short term. Here you can the highlight of the flight:
The New Shepard rocket lifted off from the Blue Origin launch base in Van Horn, Texas, at 3:30 p.m. today, and it ascended to a height of 100 kilometers.
It is the distance that is considered the limit of outer space, where weightlessness is experienced, and the curvature of the Earth can be seen.
After spending about 5 minutes in space, the capsule returned to Earth and landed softly with the help of parachutes. In total, the mission lasted about 10 minutes.
After touching Earth again, as we can see in the video, William Shatner was very excited: “I am so full of emotion for what just happened. It is extraordinary, extraordinary. I hope I never recover from this“.
What impressed Shatner most was the exit from the atmosphere, and the change from the blue sky to the blackness of space. We do not know if in a macabre or poetic tone, he said: “Is that what death is?“.
Along with the legendary actor, the Vice President of Mission and Flight Operations of Blue Origin, Audrey Powers, and the CEOs of Planet Lab and Medidata also received his space baptism.