William Shatner, who is best known for his role as Captain James T. Kirk 5 in the Star Trek universe, has become the oldest man on earth to have travelled into space. Shatner, 90, took off with the tourist group on Jeff Bezos' private spaceflight, the New Shepard tourist rocket.
The veteran actor went to the edge of the space with three other passengers on board the Blue Origin spaceflight. According to reports, the Blue Origin launch took place on Wednesday at 10:00 A.M. The whole space tour was covered LIVE by Blue Origin on its YouTube channel.
According to reports, earlier the launch was scheduled for Tuesday. However, due to the unstable weather conditions, the company had to abort and reschedule. Moreover, if weather conditions remained the same, the company would have delayed the launch of the New Shepard until Thursday.
Last week, talking about his maiden trip to space, the veteran actor said, "I've heard about space for a long time now," and further added, "I'm taking the opportunity to see it for myself. What a miracle."
Second Space trip for Blue Origin New Shepard
Moreover, the mission marked Blue Origin's second space trip. Earlier, Blue Origin founder cum billionaire Bezos, his brother Mark, Wally Funk and student Oliver Daemen took off to the edge of space in the first New Shepard rocket launch on July 20.
Who are the passengers?
On Wednesday's flight, Shatner was joined by Blue Origin vice president Audrey Powers, who oversees flight operations of New Shepard. Powers got the opportunity to travel to the edge of space free of cost just like Shatner.
Planet Labs co-founder Chris Boshuizen and chief executive and co-founder of Medidata Solutions, Glen de Vries also joined the veteran actor in the Blue Origin flight to space.
How to watch the Blue Origin launch live?
Reportedly, the foursome trip to space lasted just about 10 minutes and a few seconds in total. After launching, the New Shepard suborbital rocket climbed to an altitude above 62 miles (100 km) high within just a few minutes crossing the boundary into space.
The capsule then separated from the rocket, and passengers were able to float inside and look out the windows at the Earth below for a few minutes before landing back.
The space mission, dubbed NS18, had been scheduled to take off at 6:30 A.M. PT (8:30 a.m. CT) Wednesday, Oct. 13.
Live streaming on Blue Origin's official website had commenced 90 minutes prior to the launch.
