It’s Official! Actor William Shatner, Star Trek’s Captain Kirk, All Set For Real Space Odyssey
William Shatner, known for playing the iconic character of Captain Kirk in the original Star Trek series, will be launched into space on a Blue Origin rocket on October 12.
New Delhi: Blue Origin officially announced on Monday, October 4 that William Shatner, the actor who played Captain James T. Kirk of the USS Enterprise in the original Star Trek series, will be a part of the NS18 crew scheduled to blast off into space next week, according to a Blue Origin statement.
He will be accompanied by Audrey Powers, Blue Origin's Vice President of Mission and Flight Operations.
The actor himself tweeted, "So now I can say something. Yes, it's true; I'm going to be a "rocket man!"
The crew will be launched into space aboard Blue Origin's New Shepard NS-18 on October 12. The New Shepard Crewed Flight is the company's second crewed flight, which will blast off from New Shepard's west Texas launch site. William Shatner and Audrey Powers filled the final two seats, and will be joining crewmates Chris Boshuizen and Glen de Vries. Boshuizen is a former NASA engineer and co-founder of Planet Labs, and Glen de Vries is a co-founder of clinical research platform Medidata solutions.
It took many years to certify New Shepard for human flight, and Audrey Powers played an important role in the process. She leads New Shepard's Mission and Flight Operations team, and will not be a paid customer on the NS-18 flight.
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Like the previous crewed mission of Blue Origin, which flew into space on July 20 and was the company's first successful human flight, NS-18 too will be a suborbital flight.
The liftoff is planned at 13:30 UTC, on October 12 (7:00 pm, October 12), from Launch Site One in West Texas.
The flight will last for 10 minutes and will reach an altitude of 66.5 miles.
About William Shatner
William Shatner played the role of Captain Kirk in the original Star Trek series, as well as in seven Star Trek movies. The Star Trek franchise has been influential in inspiring modern technology, including cell phones.
The creator of the series, Gene Rodenberry, had a vision for a future where diversity and tolerance are encouraged and in which inclusivity and equality are the norm. He hoped that humanity would evolve and live in harmony with other space-faring civilisations.
At the age of 90, Shatner will become the oldest person to travel into space. Shatner has always been ambitious to go to space, and Blue Origin is set to fulfil his wish.
"I've heard about space for a long time now. I'm taking the opportunity to see it for myself. What a miracle," William Shatner was quoted as saying in the Blue Origin statement.
A few days back, several former and current employees of Blue Origin wrote about the toxic work environment experienced by them, in an essay which they published on a site called Lioness. However, the space company denied all allegations.
The news about Shatner flying off into space on a Blue Origin rocket comes shortly after.
Powers said in the Blue Origin statement that she is proud and humbled to fly on behalf of Team Blue, and is excited to continue writing Blue Origin's human spaceflight history.
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