William Shatner becomes world's oldest person to travel to space
William Shatner, best known for his role in the Star Trek universe as Captain Kirk, has made history becoming the world's oldest person to space travel on Blue Origin's New Shepard spaceflight. This was the second human spaceflight for billionaire Jeff Bezos-owned company Blue Origin. The space mission with four people, including Shatner, onboard was successfully completed on Wednesday. Here's more.
Shatner got emotional after his trip to space
After completing his maiden space trip, the veteran actor became emotional. Speaking of his latest experience, the actor said, "It was so moving. This experience has been something unbelievable. Everybody in the world needs to see [this]." "What you have given me is the most profound experience I can imagine. I'm so filled with emotion about what just happened," he told Bezos.
Why did Shatner want to go to space?
When asked by BBC why the 90-year-old wanted to go to space, the actor said, "I want to have the vision... I want to see what we need to do to save the Earth... I want to have a perspective that hasn't been shown to me before." Shatner also praised Bezos's practical concept and said that it's worth getting behind.
Other passengers on Blue Origin's second human mission
The mission dubbed NS-18 lasted for 10 minutes and 17 seconds. Blue Origin Vice-President Audrey Powers, Planet Labs co-founder Chris Boshuizen, and Medidata Solutions co-founder Glen de Vries were the other three passengers. Shatner and his fellow passengers, inside a fully automated capsule, hurtled to an altitude above 66.5 miles (107 km) over the West Texas desert before safely parachuting back to Earth.
Blue Origin is planning another human mission to space?
According to reports, Bezos's space company is planning another human spaceflight this year and several more the next year. The space company has also stated that its goal is to "democratize space." Meanwhile, actor Shatner has featured in several popular projects during his six-decade Hollywood career. Apart from Star Trek, his other notable works include Rescue 911, The Practice, and T.J. Hooker.
