When Hollywood actor William Shatner flies to space on a Blue Origin suborbital rocket tomorrow, he will carry a bit of StarTrek with him. Shatner, who played Captain James T Kirk in the cult classic Television series StarTrek, is due to turn out to be the initial member of the iconic show’s cast to journey to the final frontier as a guest aboard a Blue Origin suborbital rocket. The Star Trek star will carry with him paper tricorders and communicators that have been crafted by Blue Origin founder, Jeff Bezos, when he was just nine-years-old. Mr Bezos revealed this in an Instagram post shared this morning, thanking William Shatner — or “Bill” — for agreeing to take his childhood toys to space.
“I made these tricorders and communicator to play Star Trek with my friends when I was 9 years old, and my incredible mom saved them for 48 years,” Jeff Bezos wrote, sharing a photo with William Shatner and then a glimpse of the Star Trek devices he crafted nearly 5 decades ago.
In the fictional universe of Star Trek, a tricorder is a multifunction hand-held device issued by the Starfleet organisation, although communicators have been made use of for voice communication.
Mr Bezos revealed that his mother dug out his old Star Trek paper devices and William Shatner agreed to take them to space. “Please don’t judge me for the artwork. Thank you, Bill!” the Blue Origin founder wrote.
“That’s an incredible story. Kudos to you, your mom and Mr. Shatner. May the flight be a successful one tomorrow!” wrote one Instagram user.
“What a moment,” yet another mentioned.
Blue Origin’s choice to invite one of the most recognizable galaxy-faring characters from science fiction for its second crewed flight has helped keep excitement about the nascent space tourism sector.
At 90, William Shatner will turn out to be the oldest individual to ever go to space. His trip will take him and the NS-18 rocket crew just beyond the Karman line, 62 miles (one hundred kilometers) higher, exactly where they will practical experience 4 minutes of weightlessness and gaze out at the curvature of the planet.