Blue Origin is set to bring “Star Trek” actor William Shatner to space. The company, owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, announced that the actor, who famously played Captain James T. Kirk of the starship USS Enterprise on the show, will be on board the next New Shepard flight.
The 90-year-old actor will become the oldest person ever to fly to space, beating legendary aviator Wally Funk, who flew on Blue Origin’s first crewed flight just recently. The flight is scheduled to launch on Oct. 12 out of the company’s launch facility in West Texas.
Blue Origin said that Shatner’s flight will be filmed as it will be part of a new space documentary. Shatner will be joined by two other new astronauts, former NASA engineer and Planet Labs founder, Chris Boshuizen, and Medidata co-founder, Glen de Vries. On Monday, the company said its vice president of mission and flight operations, Audrey Powers, will be the fourth passenger on the flight.
The flight will be the second official crewed flight of Blue Origin’s New Shepard spacecraft. The company said it will mark its transition into regular commercial flights after years of tests flights and unmanned launches.
The company’s rocket is designed to launch vertically and climb to an altitude of 62 miles or 100 kilometers. At his height, the planet’s atmosphere gives way to the vacuum of space. Passengers onboard the spacecraft will be able to experience a few minutes of weightlessness and stunning views of the planet.
The capsule where the passengers are is designed to then separate from the rocket before falling back to earth. The entire flight and return last about 11 minutes.