William Shatner has officially visited the next frontier.
Shatner, 90, became the oldest person ever to travel to space during a quick trip on Wednesday. Shatner, who made a name for himself as Captain Kirk in the “Star Trek” series, became the latest big name to visit space.
- The launch happened at about 8:50 a.m. MDT. The group reached the edges of space at 8:53 a.m. MDT before descending to Earth.
- Sadly (or thankfully?) there were no immediate reports of Klingons during the brief journey.
According to CNN, Shatner traveled to space aboard the New Shepard spacecraft with three crewmates:
- Chris Boshuizen, a co-founder of satellite company Planet Labs.
- Glen de Vries, a software executive.
- Audrey Powers, Blue Origin’s vice president of mission and flight operations.
The flight left from West Texas at Blue Origin’s launch facility. The flight was originally scheduled for Tuesday, but it was moved back due to high winds in the area.
- As CNN reported before the launch, the trip was slated to be a quick. The ship would travel three times the speed of sound. It would peak at 62 miles high before coming down to Earth. The flight would take about 10 minutes.
In July, Bezos went to space with his brother Mark Bezos, pilot Wally Funk and a high school graduate, Oliver Daemen. As I wrote for the Deseret News, the crew ventured to the edge of space before dropping back down to Earth. Like Shatner’s journey, the trip ventured to 62 miles above Earth before coming back to the planet.