‘Captain Kirk’ is going to space: William Shatner, 90, will fly to space on Blue Origin

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (NEXSTAR) — Star Trek’s Captain Kirk is rocketing into space next week — boldly going where no other sci-fi actors have gone.

Jeff Bezos’ space travel company, Blue Origin, announced Monday that William Shatner will blast off from West Texas on Oct. 12.

At age 90, Shatner will become the oldest person in space. He’ll join three others — two of them paying customers — aboard a Blue Origin capsule. It will be the company’s second launch with a crew.

William Shatner is going to space next week (for real)

Captain James T. Kirk is blasting off into the final frontier. In the latest sign of the strange new world we inhabit, the actor William Shatner will join the crew of Blue Origin’s New Shepard on a spaceflight that’s slated to launch on Oct. 12.

“Yes, it’s true,” Shatner said on Twitter. “I’m going to be a ‘rocket man!’ “

At 90 years old, Shatner is more than twice the average age of NASA’s astronauts. The Canadian actor, singer and writer “will become the oldest person to have flown to space,” Blue Origin said as it announced his upcoming trip into space.

Blue Origin is officially sending William Shatner to space

Jeff Bezos’ spaceflight venture Blue Origin is launching William Shatner — aka Captain James T. Kirk of the USS Enterprise — to space on the company’s New Shepard rocket. At 90 years old, he’ll become the oldest person to fly to space, surpassing legendary aviator Wally Funk, who flew on the first crewed flight of New Shepard this summer.

TMZ first broke the news that Shatner would be flying on the next New Shepard flight, which is currently scheduled for October 12th out of Blue Origin’s launch facility in West Texas. The outlet claimed the Shatner’s flight will be filmed as part of a documentary. Shatner will be joined by two other customers announced earlier by Blue Origin: Chris Boshuizen, a former NASA engineer who co-founded the small satellite company Planet Labs, and Glen de Vries, the co-founder of software company Medidata and vice chair of life sciences at Dassault Systèmes, a French software company. Blue Origin also announced today that Audrey Powers, the company’s vice president of mission and flight operations, will become the fourth passenger on the flight.

William Shatner, 90, is headed to space with Audrey Powers on Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin mission

(CNN)Captain Kirk is headed to space.Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin announced Monday actor William Shatner, 90, will be on the next Blue Origin flight alongside Audrey Powers, Blue Origin’s vice president of mission and flight operations, Chris Boshuizen and Glen de Vries.

William Shatner and Audrey Powers.”I’ve heard about space for a long time now,” Shatner said in a press release. “I’m taking the opportunity to see it for myself. What a miracle.”

And it has been a long time coming.

Shatner has been pretending to live in space since the 1960s, when he played Captain James T. Kirk on the hit television series “Star Trek.” He went on to star in seven “Star Trek” films.

‘Star Trek’ actor Shatner on board for Blue Origin rocket launch

WASHINGTON, Oct 4 (Reuters) – William Shatner, the “Star Trek” actor who found fame by pretending a Hollywood soundstage was a spaceship exploring the galaxy, will be launched to the edge of space for real next week in a rocket built by Blue Origin, billionaire Jeff Bezos’ space company.

Shatner, best known as Captain Kirk in the original “Star Trek” television series, will be part of a four-person crew aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard launch vehicle on the flight scheduled for the morning of Oct. 12, the company said on Monday.

“I’ve heard about space for a long time now,” Shatner, 90, said in a statement released by Blue Origin.”I’m taking the opportunity to see it for myself. What a miracle.”

Leave a Reply