Star Trek legend William Shatner has become the oldest man to ever visit space today, as he and three others ventured to the cosmos with Jeff Bezo Blue Origin.
The suborbital launch sees Shatner travel to the stratosphere in zero gravity for around 11 minutes. He is joined by wealthy paying customer Glen De Vries, former NASA engineer Chris Boshuizen, and Blue Origin Vice President Audrey Power.
The shuttle has a number of important safety features, including a capsule escape function to break the crew free in case anything goes wrong.
Shatner and the crew embarked on the voyage with just a few days of training, which focused on how to move in zero gravity and venture around inside the suborbital shuttle.
William Shatner is best known for his portrayal of Captain James T. Kirk in the original Star Trek series alongside Leonard Nimoy as Spock.
During a panel at last week’s New York Comic Con, Shatner—who will be the 5,97th person in space—admitted he was nervous to fly.
“I’m terrified,” Shatner said. “I know!… I’m Captain bloody Kirk and I’m terrified!”
Shatner said “There is this mystique of being in space and that much closer to the stars and being weightless. I shall be entranced by the view of space,” .
“I want to look at that orb and appreciate its beauty and its tenacity, that’s sustaining this life of ours.”
He added: “Having played the role of Captain Kirk people assign me the knowledge that a futuristic space captain would have, but I’ve always been filled with curiosity.”
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