Photo: Bennett Raglin/Getty
William Shatneris sharing more about going to “where no man has gone before” in real life!
TheStar Trekactor, 90, spoke to audiences at a New York Comic Con panel on Thursday night and discussedhis upcoming voyage to the final frontier, aboardJeff Bezos' Blue Origin New Shepard NS-18 on Oct. 12.
“I’m going to space. I’m going what? Where am I going?” he began, downplaying the recent media attention about him becoming the oldest person to go into space.
“So he continued to sell me on the idea and bless his soul. Blue Origin is the idea,” he continued, referring to Bezos' aerospace companythat sent the Amazon billionaire into orbit earlier this year.
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After “a year of COVID,” it finally came to be the actor’s turn.
“All right, how would you like to go up? You’ll be the oldest guy in space,” Shatner remembered being asked.
However, he said, he doesn’t want to only be known for being the “oldest guy” when he blasts off. “I’m bloody Captain Kirk, for God’s sake!” he exclaimed.
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When asked how he feels about actually going up into orbit, theT.J. Hookerstar joked that he felt a “fire of terror.”
“I’m terrified,” he added. “I’m Captain Kirk, and I’m terrified going to space. You know, I’m not really terrified. Yes I am. It comes and goes like a summer cold.”
Shatner also told audiences what he hoped it would be like in space. “You have three minutes to look into the abscess of space and the beauty of this oasis of Earth, and I was planning on pressing my nose against the window, you know? And my only hope was I wouldn’t see somebody else looking back,” he said with a laugh.
On Monday, Bezos' aerospace company Blue Origin announced the Emmy Award-winning actor will travel on the New Shepard rocket for the NS-18 mission — the historic program’s 18th mission.
Joining the star will be Audrey Powers, Blue Origin’s Vice President of Mission and Flight Operations. Crew members Chris Boshuizen and Glen de Vries will also be on board the flight, which lifts off from Launch Site One in West Texas on Oct. 12.
“I’ve heard about space for a long time now,” Shatner said in a statement. “I’m taking the opportunity to see it for myself. What a miracle.”
source: people.com
