The “Captain Kirk” actor William Shatner really flies into space today: a rocket from Blue Origin brings him and three other people into weightlessness. The live ticker.
- Actor William Shatner (90, “Captain Kirk”) flies into space with a Blue Origin rocket today
- The start is scheduled for 4 p.m. (CEST) and the flight will take about eleven minutes
- Follow William Shatner’s launch into space in the live ticker
Van Horn – As Captain James T. Kirk, Canadian actor William Shatner leads his crew to “where no human has been before” in the series “Star Trek”. Now he has similar plans – but in reality. William Shatner, who is now 90 years old, will be shot by Blue Origin’s “New Shepard” rocket to a height where not too many people have actually been: above the Kármán Line. This imaginary line at a height of 100 kilometers is the internationally recognized boundary to space.
So far, space travel * has brought 579 people across the border into space, Wikipedia lists as of October 5, 2021. Today (October 13, 2021) four more people will join. In addition to actor William Shatner, Blue Origin employee Audrey Powers, former NASA engineer * Chris Boshuizen and entrepreneur Glen de Vries will be on board the space capsule. It is the second flight of the Blue Origin rocket with people on board – the first flight on July 20, 2021 included Blue Origin and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, his brother Mark, flight pioneer Wally Funk and student Oliver Daemen on board.
“Captain Kirk”: Actor William Shatner flies into space with Blue Origin
The Guiness Book of Records has now entered four world records for the first flight:
- Oldest person in space: Wally Funk (82 years and 169 days)
- Youngest person in space: Oliver Daemen (18 years and 334 days)
- First siblings to be in Wetall at the same time: Jeff and Mark Bezos
- First suborbital spaceship to transport paying customers: Blue Origins New Shepard RSS First Step
Today’s flight into space will break one of these records again: At 90 years of age, “Captain Kirk” actor William Shatner will become the oldest person in space.
“Captain Kirk” actor William Shatner: About three minutes of weightlessness
William Shatner and Co.’s flight into space will only be short. A flight with Blue Origin takes about eleven minutes – including about three minutes of weightlessness and magnificent views of the earth. The estimated schedule:
| Minutes before the start (4:00 p.m.) | activity |
|---|---|
| T-45 minutes (3:15 p.m.) | Crew leaves the training center |
| T-35 minutes (3:25 p.m.) | Crew climbs the launch tower |
| T-24 minutes (3:36 p.m.) | The hatch of the capsule is closed |
| T-0 minutes (4:00 p.m.) | Rocket launch |
| T + 8 minutes (4:08 p.m.) | The rocket booster lands |
| T + 11 minutes (4:11 p.m.) | Capsule with the astronaut: lands inside |
| T + 22 minutes (4:22 p.m.) | The hatch capsule is opened |
Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin flies “Captain Kirk” into space
About eight minutes after the launch of the Blue Origin rocket “New Shepard”, the rocket will land again on Earth. About eleven minutes after take-off, the capsule with the astronauts is supposed to land safely inside the desert of West Texas, before it is slowed down by several parachutes. The hatch of the space capsule is to be opened 22 minutes after take-off. Incidentally, he does not see himself as an astronaut, wrote William Shatner on Twitter. “I just have to sit and look – at least I think so”. So he is “more of a kind of space viewer.”
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For the second time, a Blue Origin rocket takes off with a space tourist on board, and Virgin Galactic and Richard Branson have already transported tourists into space once. And SpaceX * by Elon Musk * is also involved in the business: The company let four laypeople orbit the earth alone in a space capsule for three days *. But there is also criticism of space tourism *. Business is viewed as wasteful and useless when there are numerous problems to be solved on earth. There is also criticism of Blue Origin by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Most recently, former employees published an open letter * in which they gave, among other things, an insight into the corporate culture. (tab) * fr.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.
