Actor William Shatner had no idea that at the age of 90, he would be able to go into space, just like his role as Captain James T Kirk in the TV series Star Trek. He became the oldest person in the world to fly into space.
Shatner admitted that he was overwhelmed by the condition of his old body when he went into space. But the very short trip was truly memorable and will not be forgotten for the rest of his life.
The Captain Kirk, the fearless commander of the USS Enterprise, burst into tears at the landing site, as he shared his experience with Jeff Bezos, the owner of Blue Origin who flew him into space. Moreover, this flight was previously delayed.
"My feelings are filled with various emotions. It's amazing. I hope I don't recover from this feeling, it feels like I want to linger for what I feel now," said Shatner while unable to hold back tears, quoted from The Guardian, Thursday (14/10/). 2021).
Bezos, a huge Star Trek fan, flew in William Shatner as chief guest accompanied by Blue Origin VP of mission and flight operations Audrey Powers, Planet Labs co-founder Chris Boshuizen and Medidata co-founder Glen de Vries.
In his old age, Shatner could really feel going into space. This trip is not really an interplanetary journey like the one that Shatner led in his role of leading the USS Enterprise.
Flights using New Shepard rockets only lasted a short time from takeoff to landing. New Shepard was launched from Blue Origin's West Texas facility, reaching an altitude of over 100 kilometers before returning safely to Earth. Overall, the launch lasted about 11 minutes and the crew experienced a weightless moment of about three minutes.
The speed of the New Shepard capsule was increased to more than three times the speed of sound to cross the 80-kilometer limit used by the US to mark the edge of space. The capsule was flown independently, without a human pilot, and returned to Earth using a set of parachutes to land in the Texas desert.
Blue Origin said the New Shepard rocket boosters were also reusable, and landed on a concrete runway near the launch site. NS-18 is the fourth launch and landing for this booster