As an actor who played Captain James T. Kirk in the original Star Trek TV series over 50 years ago, is William Shatner now the oldest person to travel to space?
By: Ringo Bones
Its official, as of October 13, 2021, William Shatner, the actor who played Captain James T. Kirk in the original Star Trek TV series that first aired over 50 years ago is now the oldest person to have gone to space at the age of 90. While his space travel exploits on TV five decades or so ago has been the stuff of science fiction during the infancy of the United States manned space exploration program, William Shatner has finally achieved real space travel making him indeed earn the moniker “rocket man”.
For a number of years, it was the Star Trek: The Next Generation guest star Lt. Mae Jemison who actually experienced actual space travel as a Space Shuttle era astronaut. It wasn’t until the advent of space tourism start-up companies – like Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin private space travel / space tourism firm in the 21st Century – where almost anyone with enough money can experience what used to be the domain of tenured astronauts from NASA and other nations fortunate enough to afford costly space exploration programs.
William Shatner’s most touching quote on his travel to near space on the Blue Origin New Shepard is: “You look down, there’s the blue down there and the black up there… there is Mother Earth and comfort and there is, is there death? I don’t know, but is that death? Is that the way death is? It was so moving; this experience, it was something unbelievable.” He said while the crew celebrated behind him. Speaking to Jeff Bezos after the Blue Origin flight, the 90-year-old actor told him: “What you have given me is the most profound experience I can imagine.” Shatner also continued: “It hasn’t got anything to do with the little green men and the blue orb. It has to do with the enormity and the quickness and the suddenness of life and death.”
Being a lifelong Star Trek fan, Bezos flew Shatner as a “comped guest”. Shatner’s three other crewmates are Chris Boshuizen, a co-founder of the satellite company Planet Labs and software executive Glen de Vries – who are both paying customers. And Audrey Powers, Blue Origin’s vice president of mission and flight operations.
Before William Shatner became the oldest space traveler, the record was previously held by Wally Funk, who at 82 years old was part of the crew of the Blue Origin New Shepard’s inaugural manned flight earlier in July 2021. Funk was originally part of the Mercury 13 program that included women astronauts that was scrapped by NASA back in the early 1960s. Back in 1998, 77 year old former NASA astronaut and Senator John Glenn previously held the title of the oldest astronaut during his STS-95 mission onboard the Space Shuttle Discovery back in October 29, 1998.
