William Shatner has made history as the oldest person in space!
The 90-year-old “Star Trek” icon was overcome with emotion after landing back on earth and reflecting on his experience while having a heart-to-heart conversation with the aerospace company Blue Origin’s founder Jeff Bezos.
“I’m so filled with emotion about what just happened. It’s extraordinary, extraordinary. I hope I can maintain what I feel now. I don’t want to lose it. It’s so much larger than me and life,” William said.
He continued, “What you have given me is the most profound experience I can imagine. 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.”
“It’s life-changing in its way, not because of the aerial adventure, but because of the people I’m meeting,” the actor said in a video livestream of the event.
“We’re just at the beginning, but how miraculous that beginning is — how extraordinary it is to be part of that beginning.”
William was joined by Audrey Powers, Blue Origin’s vice president of mission and flight operations, as well as customers Chris Boshuizen and Glen de Vries for the ride of a lifetime.
The group took off from the West Texas launch site at 10:50 AM ET on the New Shepard for the NS-18 mission.
According to Blue Origin’s official website, the New Shepard suborbital vehicle can seat six astronauts, and since the ship is “fully autonomous,” there is no pilot.
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