William Shatner Blue Origin launch LIVE – Star Trek actor, 90, blasted into space on Jeff Bezos’ New Shepard rocket

The space race

Virgin Galactic’s Richard Branson kicked off the U.S.-based space tourism boom on July 11, riding his own rocketship to space.

Bezos followed nine days later aboard his own capsule.

Elon Musk stayed behind as his SpaceX company launched its first private flight last month, sending a billionaire, cancer survivor and two ticket winners into orbit.

And last week, the Russians sent an actor and film director to the International Space Station for movie-making.

What is William Shatner’s job?

William Shatner has worked as a author, producer, director, screenwriter and even built up a cult following as a singer although he is best known as an actor.

He found worldwide fame playing Captain James T Kirk on the Star Trek franchise.

Shatner landed the role of the captain of the USS Enterprise after appearing in the second pilot of the NBC show.

He played the role between 1966 and 1969 when the show was cancelled after its third series due to modest ratings.

World’s oldest astronaut 

STAR Trek actor William Shatner was launched into space yesterday (12 October) — and became the world’s oldest astronaut.

The 90-year-old, who played Captain James T Kirk in the sci-fi series, was blasted off on billionaire Jeff Bezos’ willy-shaped rocket.

Shatner, who famously said “to boldly go where no man has gone before” at the start of each episode, revealed: “I’ve heard about space for a long time now.

"I’m taking the opportunity to see it for myself. What a miracle.”

The Canadian added: “I’m going to be a ‘rocket man’!”

How old is William Shatner?

Shatner was born in Montreal, Canada on March 22, 1931, making him 90 years old today.

Because of his age, he will now  with the upcoming Blue Origin launch.

It was announced earlier this week that the Star Trek captain  aboard Jeff Bezos'  New Shepard vehicle.

The flight is scheduled to take place today, on October 13, 2021.

Blue Origin’s first flight

Blue Origin’s rocket first flew off on July 20 with Bezos, his brother Mark, 51, Dutch teenager Oliver Daemen, 18, and former test pilot Wally Funk, 82.

They were propelled 66 miles above the earth in a ten-minute, ten-second trip. At the time, Funk became the oldest person to fly into space.

Broadcaster Dan Katz said: “Congrats to Jeff Bezos on his successful rocket launch. And also for totally not overcompensating for something.”

Who is William Shatner?

Shatner is a Canadian native who is most famously known for portraying the role of Kirk in the Star Trek franchise.

According to IMDB, Shatner has almost 250 acting credits to his name and is still going strong with his most recent being for the film Fireheart which is scheduled to be released in 2022.

His career started in 1951 and over time, he has been able to accumulate an estimated 

What did William Shatner say about going into space?

On Thursday, October 7, Shatner was seen talking about his adventure at  Comic-Con during his panel, revealing that he's actually terrified to go into space.

“My friend Jason Erhlick came to me about a year and a half ago and he said he was seeing these rockets with people going into space. And, wouldn’t it be something if Captain Kirk went up there?” Shatner said.

“And I said, ‘Jason, for God’s sake, man. Nobody cares if Captain Kirk goes to space. It was 55 years ago, man. But I’m doing well, maybe I should go up to space?”

Jeff Bezos wished Blue Origin crew ‘godspeed’

Blue Origin boss Jeff Bezos was the only one heading up the launch tower with the crew.

Before going to the launch, he tweeted: “You’re about to share an experience that will forever change how you view the world

“Godspeed. This is how it starts.”

Captain Kirk represents 'the final frontier'

"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, who's also known for his roles as lawyer Denny Crane in "Boston Legal," among many others, has spoken in the past about having a difficult relationship with "Star Trek" and its fan culture.

But in recent years, the actor has leaned into the fame brought about by his most famous role.

"It looks like there's a great deal of curiosity in this fictional character, Captain Kirk," he said in a video released by Blue Origin Tuesday. "Let's go along with it and enjoy the ride."

Jeff Bezos trying to create a narrative

Speaking about the launch, Dr Heather Alberro, a social and political sciences expert from Nottingham Trent University said: "Jeff Bezos is trying to create a marketing narrative which frames space tourism as something which ordinary people can do".

“The prospect of William Shatner ‘boldly going’ into space will no doubt make for a very nice story that will appeal to millions of people who enjoyed Star Trek.

“As similar to other launches, Jeff Bezos is trying to create a marketing narrative which frames space tourism as something which ordinary people can do. We know, though, that costs of space tourism are prohibitive for people of ordinary means, so it is only a new frontier for the elite who are wealthy.

“However, there is also a darker side to space tourism which we need to consider here. The ultimate goals of Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are to essentially colonise other planets for more resources and because of climate breakdown on Earth. Musk himself has said he wants to “make humanity a multiplanet species”.

“Many people will question – on the eve of COP26 – whether all the money that is being spent on these launches would be better going towards fixing climate problems on Earth.

“Many developing countries are struggling to afford what is needed to adapt to and cope with climate change, and they are already suffering the ill-effects of climate change today.

“Rather than fixing what has gone wrong on Earth, Musk and Bezos are instead extending the human behaviours which have caused the climate and resource problems that they are trying to escape from.”

Flight info

Bezos space travel company, Blue Origin, invited Shatner on the brief jaunt to the fringes of the final frontier, which made him the oldest person in space.

It was Blue Origins second passenger flight, using the same capsule and rocket that Bezos used for his own launch three months ago.

The trip lasted around 10 minutes, with the fully automated capsule reaching a maximum altitude of about 66 miles (106 kilometers) before parachuting back into the desert.

See William Shatner floating in capsule

Blue Origin shared footage on Wednesday of William Shatner inside the capsule.

After the 10-minute ride, Shatner said he was "so filled with emotion" after the experience.

He explained: "To see the blue color whip by, and now you’re staring into blackness, that’s the thing … this experience is something unbelievable."

Explained: Who else went to space?

Shatner was accompanied by two other paying customers, Chris Boshuizen, the co-founder of the satellite imagery firm Planet Labs, and Glen de Vries the co-founder of the clinical research software Medidata.

Also on board was Audrey Powers, Blue Origin's vice president.

William Shatner speaks (Continued...)

Following  earlier this year, the conversation then became more real for the Star Trek star.

When talking about his trip to  for training, he then recalled  1986 Challenger crash that killed all the astronauts on board.

He continued: “And I’m thinking, ‘I’m going up in a rocket and our best guess is it should be fine? I’m terrified. I’m Captain Kirk, and I’m terrified. I’m not really terrified — yes I am. It comes and goes like a summer cold.

"I’m planning on putting my nose against the window [once I’m in space], and my only hope is I won’t see someone else looking back.”

What did William Shatner say about going into space?

On Thursday, October 7, Shatner was seen talking about his adventure at  Comic-Con during his panel, revealing that he's actually terrified to go into space.

“My friend Jason Erhlick came to me about a year and a half ago and he said he was seeing these rockets with people going into space. And, wouldn’t it be something if Captain Kirk went up there?” Shatner said.

“And I said, ‘Jason, for God’s sake, man. Nobody cares if Captain Kirk goes to space. It was 55 years ago, man. But I’m doing well, maybe I should go up to space?”

How old is William Shatner?

Shatner was born in Montreal, Canada on March 22, 1931, making him 90 years old today.

Because of his age, he will now  with the upcoming Blue Origin launch.

It was announced earlier this week that the Star Trek captain  aboard Jeff Bezos'  New Shepard vehicle.

The flight is scheduled to take place today, on October 13, 2021.

Blue Origin’s first flight

Blue Origin’s rocket first flew off on July 20 with Bezos, his brother Mark, 51, Dutch teenager Oliver Daemen, 18, and former test pilot Wally Funk, 82.

They were propelled 66 miles above the earth in a ten-minute, ten-second trip. At the time, Funk became the oldest person to fly into space.

Broadcaster Dan Katz said: “Congrats to Jeff Bezos on his successful rocket launch. And also for totally not overcompensating for something.”

What is the Karman line?

The Karman line is an imaginary line going around the Earth about 62 miles above average sea level which is officially recognised as the boundary between the planet’s atmosphere and outer space.

It is the official measure of the Federation Aeronatique Internationale (FAI) – a Swiss body which governs aeronautical measures and air sports.

It was named after Theodore von Kármán, a Hungarian-American astrophysicist who first tried to calculate where the boundary was.

Flight info

Bezos space travel company, Blue Origin, invited Shatner on the brief jaunt to the fringes of the final frontier, which made him the oldest person in space.

It was Blue Origins second passenger flight, using the same capsule and rocket that Bezos used for his own launch three months ago.

The trip lasted around 10 minutes, with the fully automated capsule reaching a maximum altitude of about 66 miles (106 kilometers) before parachuting back into the desert.

How old is William Shatner?

Shatner was born in Montreal, Canada on March 22, 1931, making him 90 years old.

Because of his age, he will now  with the upcoming Blue Origin launch.

It was announced earlier this week that the Star Trek captain  aboard Jeff Bezos’  New Shepard vehicle.

The flight is scheduled to take place today, on October 13, 2021.

Who is Captain Kirk?

William Shatner is most famous for playing Captain James T Kirk in the original Star Trek series between 1966 and 1969.

He was the captain of the U.S.S. Entreprise which had adventures in space as part of the mythical Federation of Planets in the 23rd century.

The show, which also starred Leonard Nimoy as Spock, ran for three seasons before being cancelled but became a cult classic and Shatner went onto reprise the role in several movies.

The series as a whole was rebooted in the 1980s and versions of the franchise are still on the air to this day such as Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Lower Decks.

What is William Shatner’s job? (continued)

In the aftermath of the show he found acting work hard to come by as many people saw him as being typecast for the sci-fi role but he managed to land some roles in some films and TV shows as well as commercials.

Although new roles were hard to come by Shatner was also becoming something of a cult icon in the 1970s thanks to syndicated re-runs of Star Trek.

Due to the growing interest in the show Paramount released the film Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 1979 starring Shatner and the original cast.

Shatner played Kirk in the next six Star Trek films.

He also appeared in Airplane II: The Sequel and National Lampoon’s Loaded Weapon 1 which sent up his Kirk character.

What is William Shatner’s job?

William Shatner has worked as a author, producer, director, screenwriter and even built up a cult following as a singer although he is best known as an actor.

He found worldwide fame playing Captain James T Kirk on the Star Trek franchise.

Shatner landed the role of the captain of the USS Enterprise after appearing in the second pilot of the NBC show.

He played the role between 1966 and 1969 when the show was cancelled after its third series due to modest ratings.

Recap: what happened?

The 90-year-old became the world’s oldest astronaut during the ten-minute flight with three other crew members from West Texas.

The trip aboard a willy-shaped rocket called New Shepard was scheduled for 2:30pm UK time (9:30am EST).

Liftoff was pushed back several times for unspecified reasons. The rocket’s boosters eventually lit up at 3:50pm UK time.

The trip lasted just 10 minutes, with the fully automated capsule reaching a maximum altitude of about 66 miles (106 kilometers).

That’s just enough to pass the Karman Line, the internationally recognised boundary of space at 62 miles above Earth.

Shatner overwhelmed on return to Earth

Speaking to Bezos after the capsule touched down safely, Shatner, who famously said “to boldly go where no man has gone before” at the start of each Star Trek episode, appeared to be on the verge of tears.

He said: “What you have given me is the most profound experience I can imagine. I am so filled with emotion about what just happened.

“Everybody in the world needs to do this… It’s extraordinary, extraordinary.”