At Age 90, Star Trek's William Shatner Is The Oldest Person To Reach Space
With the almost 11-minute long spaceflight on Wednesday on a Blue Origin rocket, Star Trek actor William Shatner became the oldest person in space
William Shatner of Star Trek fame is now the oldest person to ever be in space, courtesy of Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin. At the age of 90, Shatner reached space aboard The New Shepard NS-18 flight before soaring past the K¨¢rm¨¢n Line, the boundary of space as recognised internationally on Wednesday.
The K¨¢rm¨¢n Line is situated 100 kilometres above the average sea level of Earth. ¡°We¡¯re just at the beginning, but how miraculous that beginning is, how extraordinary it is to be part of that beginning," Shatner said in a pre-tape that aired before take off.
William Shatner
Classic Blue Origin delays
The launch was hit by a 45 minute delay on Wednesday after crewmembers were working on "vehicle readiness", a normal part of rocket launches. Soon after, the flight was hit by another 15-minute long delay. The spaceflight was originally supposed to take place on Tuesday from Texas but suffered a series of high winds which caused the 24 hour delay. A similar wind-related delay plagued Blue Origin's first crewed mission with Bezos on-board in July, 2021.
Also read: Jeff Bezos's "Best Day Ever" After Blue Origin's 1st Successful Human Space Flight
Blue Origin
William Shatner was accompanied by three others on the 11 minute-long flight. Audrey Powers, Blue Origin's vice president of mission and flight operations accompanied Shatner, along with two paying customers, Glen de Vries and Chris Boshuizen.
Amazon and Blue Origin's Jeff Bezos himself drove the crew out to the launch pad before the rocket took off.
Club For The Future
Shatner's #1 "bucket list item"
A former co-star of Star Trek fame William Shatner, Adrian Zmed told CNN that it was Shatner's "number-one bucket list item" to go to space.
"I'm going to see the vastness of space and the extraordinary miracle of our Earth and how fragile it is compared to the forces at work in the universe", Shatner told NBC last week while referring to the spaceflight as an "adventure".
Blue Origin
With this Blue Origin flight, William Shatner became the oldest person in space, after 82-year-old Wally Funk, who was part of Blue Origin's first spaceflight with Jeff Bezos this year.
So far, at least 600 people have travelled to orbital and suborbital space, according to a database by Supercluster. In addition, 300 animals have also gone into space as part of various missions.
What do you think about the billionaire space race? Let us know in the comments below. Don't forget to check out Indiatimes.com for your daily dose of technology and science.
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