“Star Trek” actor William Shatner ultimately became a actual space traveler on Blue Origin’s second crewed mission Wednesday, calling it the most profound practical experience of his life.
“It was unbelievable,” mentioned the 90-year-old Canadian, recognized to the sci-fi show’s legion of “Trekkies” as the daring Captain James T. Kirk, a function he 1st played more than half a century ago.
He was joined on the 11-minute journey beyond Earth’s atmosphere and back once more by 3 other folks: Blue Origin executive Audrey Powers, Planet Labs co-founder Chris Boshuizen, and Glen de Vries of Medidata Solutions.
A New Shepard rocket took off from the company’s West Texas base about 9:49 am (1449 GMT) immediately after experiencing two short delays, at some point soaring to 66 miles (106 kilometers) above sea level.
Founder Jeff Bezos was on hand to greet the crew members as they climbed out of the capsule, which parachute-landed in desert, and have been showered with applause and champagne.
Like the nearly 600 astronauts who have gone prior to him, Shatner marveled at the practical experience of weightlessness and the beautiful view of our world from space.
“What you have given me is the most profound experience I can imagine. I’m so filled with emotion about what just happened,” he mentioned, moved to tears.
“What you’re looking down on is Mother Earth, and it needs protecting,” he later told reporters.
The mission was a replay of the company’s maiden human flight in July, which integrated Bezos and was seen as a breakthrough moment for the nascent space tourism sector.
This time about, all focus was focused on Shatner, who became the oldest-ever astronaut, in spite of an look suggesting a man decades younger.
The intergalactic voyages of the USS Enterprise, commanded by Shatner’s character Kirk, helped turn American focus to the stars as the US space plan was beginning out.
“Captain Kirk… represents ‘the final frontier’ perhaps more than anyone else for a couple different generations of people, in the US and worldwide,” screenwriter and Trek historian Marc Cushman told AFP.
Shatner, also recognized for his function as lawyer Denny Crane in “Boston Legal,” amongst quite a few other folks, has spoken in the previous about an at-instances challenging relationship with Star Trek and its fan culture.
But in current years, the actor has leaned into the fame brought about by his most renowned function.
“I’m overwhelmed by the response,” mentioned Shatner, when asked by AFP about the outpouring of help he has received from fans and the wider space neighborhood due to the fact the mission was announced.
– Space tourism heating up –
For Blue Origin, meanwhile, a second mission in significantly less than 3 months represents one more step forward as it tries to establish itself as space tourism’s top player.
Boshuizen and Vries brought the company’s total quantity of paying prospects to 3, immediately after Dutch teen Oliver Daemen who was on board the 1st flight.
Competition in the sector is heating up.
Virgin Galactic, which provides a equivalent practical experience of a handful of minutes’ weightlessness and a view of the Earth’s curvature from the cosmos, launched its founder Richard Branson in July, a handful of days prior to Bezos.
And in September, SpaceX sent 4 private citizens on a 3-day trip whizzing about the planet — an altogether more ambitious, but also probably far more high-priced endeavor.
For quite a few space enthusiasts, Shatner’s voyage was a fitting coda for a pop culture phenomenon that inspired generations of astronauts, scientists and engineers.
The show has had a lengthy-operating association with NASA, whose scientists have been sent early scripts to vet their accuracy, according to Cushman.
“Those scientists, as well as nearly everyone at those space agencies, were avid Star Trek watchers, and they well understood that the popularity of the series helped spark growing interest and funding for the space program,” he mentioned.
Another mega-fan: Bezos himself.
The Amazon founder shared an Instagram post of Star Trek artwork he made when he was nine years old.
Bezos has mentioned Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant was inspired by the conversational personal computer on the Enterprise, and he even made a cameo as an alien in the 2016 film “Star Trek Beyond,” sporting an egg-shaped head.
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