Hollywood\u2019s Captain Kirk<\/strong>, 90-year-old William Shatner<\/strong>, blasted into space Wednesday in a convergence of science fiction and science reality, reaching the final frontier aboard a ship built by Jeff Bezos<\/strong>\u2019 Blue Origin<\/strong> company.<\/p>\n The \u201cStar Trek\u201d actor and three fellow passengers hurtled to an altitude of 66.5 miles (107 kilometers) over the West Texas desert in the fully automated capsule, then safely parachuted back to Earth in a flight that lasted just over 10 minutes.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat you have given me is the most profound experience,\u201d an exhilarated Shatner<\/strong> told Bezos<\/strong> after climbing out of the hatch, the words spilling from him in a soliloquy almost as long as the flight. \u201cI hope I never recover from this. I hope that I can maintain what I feel now. I don\u2019t want to lose it.\u201d<\/p>\n He said that going from the blue sky<\/strong> to the utter blackness of space was a moving experience: \u201cIn an instant you go, `Whoa, that\u2019s death.\u2019 That\u2019s what I saw.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Shatner became the oldest person in space, eclipsing the previous record \u2014 set by a passenger on a similar jaunt on a Bezos spaceship in July \u2014 by eight years. The flight included about three minutes of weightlessness and a view of the curvature of the Earth.<\/p>\n Sci-fi fans reveled in the opportunity to see the man best known as the brave and principled commander of the starship Enterprise boldly go where no star of American TV has gone before. The internet went wild, with Trekkies quoting favorite lines from Kirk, including, \u201cRisk: Risk is our business. That\u2019s what this starship is all about.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a pinch-me moment for all of us to see Capt. James Tiberius Kirk go to space,\u201d Blue Origin launch commentator Jacki Cortese said before liftoff. She said she, like so many others, was drawn to space by shows like \u201cStar Trek.\u201d<\/p>\n The flight brought priceless star power to Bezos\u2019 space-tourism business, given its built-in appeal to baby boomers, celebrity watchers and space enthusiasts. Shatner starred in TV\u2019s original \u201cStar Trek\u201d from 1966 to 1969, back when the U.S. was racing for the moon, and went on to appear in a string of \u201cStar Trek\u201d movies.<\/p>\n Bezos is a huge \u201cStar Trek\u201d fan \u2014 the Amazon founder had a cameo as an alien in one of the later movies \u2014 and Shatner rode free as his invited guest.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n As a favor to Bezos, Shatner took up into space some \u201cStar Trek\u201d tricorders and communicators \u2014 sort of the iPhones of the future \u2014 that Bezos made when he was a 9-year-old Trekkie. Bezos said his mother had saved them for 48 years.<\/p>\n Bezos himself drove the four crew members to the launch pad, accompanied them to the platform high above the ground and cranked the hatch shut after they climbed aboard the 60-foot rocket. He was there to greet them when the capsule floated back to Earth under its brilliant blue-and-red parachutes. Shatner and his crewmates wore close-fitting, flame-retardant, royal-blue flight suits, not exactly the tight, futuristic-for-the-\u201960s V-necks that the crew of the Enterprise had on TV.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The actor said he was struck by the vulnerability of Earth and the relative sliver of its atmosphere.<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody in the world needs to do this. Everybody in the world needs to see,\u201d he said. \u201cTo see the blue color whip by, and now you\u2019re staring into blackness, that\u2019s the thing. The covering of blue, this sheath, this blanket, this comforter of blue that we have around, we say, \u2018Oh, that\u2019s blue sky.\u2019 And then suddenly you shoot through it all, and you\u2019re looking into blackness, into black ugliness.\u201d<\/p>\n Shatner<\/strong> said the return to Earth was more jolting than his training led him to expect and made him wonder whether he was going to make it back alive.<\/p>\n \u201cEverything is much more powerful,\u201d he said. \u201cBang, this thing hits. That wasn\u2019t anything like the simulator. \u2026 Am I going to be able to survive the G-forces?\u201d<\/p>\n Passengers are subjected to nearly 6 G\u2019s, or six times the force of Earth\u2019s gravity, as the capsule descends. Blue Origin said Shatner and the rest of the crew met all the medical and physical requirements, including the ability to hustle up and down several flights of steps at the launch tower.<\/p>\n Shatner going into space is \u201cthe most badass thing I think I\u2019ve ever seen,\u201d said Joseph Barra, a bartender who helped cater the launch week festivities. \u201cWilliam Shatner is setting the bar for what a 90-year-old man can do.\u201d<\/p>\n The flight comes as the space tourism industry finally takes off, with passengers joyriding aboard ships built and operated by some of the richest men in the world.<\/p>\n Virgin Galactic\u2019s Richard Branson went into space in his own rocket ship in July, followed by Bezos nine days later on Blue Origin\u2019s first flight with a crew. Elon Musk\u2019s SpaceX<\/strong> made its first private voyage in mid-September, though without Musk on board.<\/p>\n Last week, the Russians launched an actor and a film director to the International Space Station for a movie-making project.<\/p>\n Blue Origin<\/strong> said it plans one more passenger flight this year and several more in 2022. Sounding like the humane and idealistic Captain Kirk himself, the company said its goal is to \u201cdemocratize space.\u201d<\/p>\n Shatner strapped in alongside Audrey Powers, a Blue Origin<\/strong> vice president and former space station flight controller for NASA, and two paying customers: Chris Boshuizen, a former NASA engineer, and Glen de Vries of a 3D software company.<\/p>\n Blue Origin<\/strong> would not divulge the cost of their tickets.<\/p>\n The flight brought to 597 the number of humans who have flown in space.<\/p>\n \u201cToday\u2019s launch is a testimony to the power of the imagination, and we should not lose sight of that power,\u201d University of Rochester astrophysicist Adam Frank said in an email.<\/p>\n \u201cWilliam Shatner may be `just an actor,\u2019 but Captain James T. Kirk represents a collective dream of a hopeful future in space that \u2018Star Trek,\u2019 and science fiction in general, gave us all,\u201d Frank continued. \u201cBezos gave Shatner a seat on his rocket because he, like millions of others, fell in love with \u2018Star Trek\u2019 and its vision of a boundless frontier for humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\nWilliam Shatner goes to space on Blue Origin mission<\/h2>\n
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NASA sent best wishes ahead of the flight, tweeting: \u201cYou are, and always shall be, our friend.\u201d<\/h5>\n
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\u201cHello, astronauts. Welcome to Earth!\u201d a jubilant Bezos said as he opened the hatch of the New Shepard capsule, named for first American in space, Alan Shepard.<\/p>\n\n