William Shatner Is Headed to the Final Frontier Onboard a Blue Origin Rocket
Obvious Star Trek quip incoming: William Shatner is boldly going where no Star Trek cast member has gone before. On Tuesday, October 12th, the TV star is climbing aboard Jeff Bezo’s Blue Origin Rocket and heading to space. Though he isn’t flying solo, being joined by Audrey Powers, the Vice President of Blue Origin, as well as Chris Boshuizen, and Glen de Vries.
William Shatner is going into warp speed on a Blue Origin rocket
After being Captain Kirk since the 1960s, and starring in seven Star Trek movies, 90-year-old William Shatner will experience the real thing. Not only is this the first movie star to go to space, but he’ll make history as the oldest person to ever go to space. The flight will take just 11 minutes, sending the crew past the Kármán Line, the internationally-recognized boundary of space.
When speaking to the press, William Shatner said “I’ve heard about space for a long time now. I’m taking the opportunity to see it for myself. What a miracle.”
It’s unclear as to how much he paid for his seat, but the last tickets to sit with Jeff Bezos cost $28 million. Though, for a 90-year-old man worth $100 million, and looking to check a trip to space off the bucket list, that’s fairly affordable.
But none of this would’ve been possible without the other notable crewmate, Audrey powers. She’ll be taking the helm as the flight commander, letting Captain Kirk catch a breather, and was already working for Blue Origin before thins.
Audrey Powers played a vital role to enable human spaceflight
From engineer to lawyer, Audrey Powers played a bureaucratic role in getting Blue Origin spaceflights certified. After all, one can imagine the insurance nightmare it is to send someone to space. But after a few years of paperwork, she lead her division and got it done. Now she can reap the benefits of this second manned spaceflight from the company.
Before her desk job, however, she was a flight controller for NASA. With over 2000 hours logged behind controls, she hasn’t been playing pretend like William Shatner. And she has a pilot’s license to her name, making her more than qualified to lead the mission.
“I’m so proud and humbled to fly on behalf of Team Blue, and I’m excited to continue writing Blue’s human spaceflight history,” said Audrey Powers in a Blue Origin statement. “As an engineer and lawyer with more than two decades of experience in the aerospace industry, I have great confidence in our New Shepard team and the vehicle we’ve developed.”
Details about the October 12th launch
If you want to watch it all happen, you can watch on Blue Origin’s website. Coverage starts 90 minutes before the launch, scheduled for 8:30 am CDT from Launch Site One in West Texas. This will mark the 18th mission of the New Shepard, but only the second manned mission.
Regardless of whether you’re a Star Trek fan or a history buff, October 12th will be an important day. We’ll be making history with the oldest person ever to go to space, while simultaneously letting the movie Star live in science fiction, even if just for 11 minutes.