William Shatner has officially become the oldest man in space.
Whether or not you’re a fan of William Shatner, you have to be impressed with him right now. The man who helped bring Star Trek to televisions everywhere as the leader of the U.S.S. Enterprise, James T. Kirk, officially became the oldest man in the history of the planet to go into space.
Shatner was launched in a rocket by Blue Origin that featured several other passengers, and the four-some got to experience space flight for the first time ever. Former Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is the owner of Blue Origin and was seen post-flight talking with Shatner.
Blue Origin released some videos of the event, which is also being turned into a documentary that will feature Shatner breaking the record of being the oldest man in space. In the video, you can see the awe and bewilderment on Shatner’s face, almost as if he’s trying to grasp the entire experience.
This was the voyage of the RSS First Step today. Its mission: encounter Earth from incredible views at apogee pic.twitter.com/Gzsnkv97K9
— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) October 13, 2021
William Shatner hopes he never recovers from this.
In a video that ABC News posted on their Twitter account, William Shatner recounts the experience of the trip to Jeff Bezos and explains just how overwhelming it truly was. You can see it in his face and hear it in his voice that the trip truly was a spiritual and soul-moving experience for him.
On the verge of tears, recounting how he felt when he left the atmosphere, he tells Bezos “thank you” and hopes that he “…never recover from this” experience. While people made jokes about these private space flights before, even on SNL which spoofed Star Trek while doing so, the pure joy in Shatner’s voice almost makes the whole thing worth it.
"I hope I never recover from this."
— ABC News (@ABC) October 13, 2021
William Shatner reflects on his experience after landing back on Earth, calling the journey to space "the most profound experience I can imagine." https://t.co/XW55fkBwEQ pic.twitter.com/mHZistTrKi
Shatner is 90 years old, and for him to continue to do things like this, while making movies still, touring, and doing live shows, really lets you know that age is really just a number at some point. Going to space was something that always inspired him but to actually go? I don’t think even he expected it to be so overpowering.
It’s a wonderful moment to see.