Star Trek actor William Shatner, 90, is finally due to travel to space for real on Wednesday after accepting an invitation from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to make a journey with his Blue Origin aerospace venture.
The Canadian portrayed Captain James T Kirk of the USS Enterprise in Gene Roddenberry’s beloved sci-fi franchise, which originally ran from 1966 to 1969 before spawning multiple spin-off series and movies.
The actor will join Audrey Powers, Blue Origin’s vice president of mission and flight operations, on board the vessel New Shepard NS-18, alongside crewmates Chris Bozsuhizen, an ex-Nasa engineer, and Medidata CEO Glen de Vries.
The rocket will take off from Launch Site One in Van Horn, West Texas, on 13 October, having been delayed a day due to desert winds.
Entering his ninth decade, Shatner will be the oldest person to fly to space, beating 82-year-old astronaut Wally Funk, who took part in Blue Origin’s maiden voyage 12 weeks ago in the company of Mr Bezos, his brother Mark and 18-year-old Dutch student Oliver Daemen.
Speaking to Blue Origin about the forthcoming flight, the actor said: “I’ve heard about space for a long time now. I’m taking the opportunity to see it for myself. What a miracle.”
The actor is currently the host and executive producer of The UnXplained, a non-fiction series on The History Channel that explores the world’s “inexplicable mysteries”, and remains well known for his appearances in the TV shows TJ Hooker (1982-86), 3rd Rock from the Sun (1996-2001) and Boston Legal (2004-2008), as well for his eccentric pop career.
Live coverage of the Blue Origin launch will begin 90 minutes prior to take-off and will be stream and follow via The Independent’s dedicated liveblog.
Lift-off is currently targeted for 8.30am local time or 2.30pm GMT.
