William Shatner admits he’s nervous about going into space

William Shatner is taking a cue from Captain Kirk

Next week marks William Shatner’s big space adventure. On October 12th, the former Captain Kirk will boarding a Blue Origin New Shepard rocket and taking to the stars. Not only will he be the oldest man to ever go into space, but he’ll be the first Star Trek captain to make the trek. (See what I did there?)

The 90-year-old actor told The Today Show that he’s “going to see the vastness of space and the extraordinary miracle of our Earth and how fragile it is compared to the forces at work in the universe.” But, unlike his fictional counterpart, he’s a little nervous and a little frightened about this different adventure.

William Shatner is looking forward to seeing things firsthand

It certainly makes sense that Shatner would be nervous. Not too many people get the opportunity to blast off into space, but the actor is excited at the prospect of getting a birds-eye view of things he (and the rest of us) have only read about. And he wants to come back and tell everyone all about what he witnesses.

"I really want to tell you the message that I get firsthand from seeing things that we’ve only heard about — things I’ve only played as an actor, I’m going to see firsthand. I want to come back and tell you about how I really felt when I saw these things that we’ve only learned about secondhand or thirdhand."

In spite of his trepidation, Shatner is thrilled at the opportunity to see space for himself, calling it a miracle.

William Shatner has been wanting to take this trip for quite a while

Shatner hasn’t been shy about his desire to take to the skies as he tweeted NASA last year with a picture and a reminder that the suit did fit. He added the hashtags #LaunchAmerica and #AstroBill.

It seems perfectly fitting that the former captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise will finally get to look outside a window and see the vastness of space miles and miles above Earth, to experience zero-gravity, and to boldly go where practically everyone wants to go now.