William Shatner will go to space with Blue Origin

by Judy Kurtz - 10/04/21 10:52 AM ET

William Shatner might soon be saying, “Beam me up” on a real-life intergalactic trip — the “Star Trek” actor is poised to join the next space flight on Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin.

The 90-year-old performer, who played Captain Kirk on the long-running series, will fly on New Shepard NS-18 next week along with Blue Origin’s Vice President of Mission and Flight Operations Audrey Powers, the company announced Monday.

Two other crew mates will also be onboard for the Oct. 12 flight launching from a site in West Texas.

“I’ve heard about space for a long time now,” Shatner said in a statement about the trip. “I’m taking the opportunity to see it for myself. What a miracle.”

Shatner’s expedition would make him the oldest person to have ever flown in space. He would top a record set in July by Wally Funk, who at 82 became the oldest person to launch into space when she traveled with Bezos and two other passengers on a rocket and capsule created by the Amazon founder’s space tourism venture, Blue Origin.

In announcing Shatner’s trip, Blue Origin said Shatner, the host of the History Channel’s “The UnXplained,” has “long wanted to travel to space and will become the oldest person to have flown to space.”

Tags Jeff Bezos Private spaceflight Space tourism Spaceflight