The rumors are true: Captain Kirk is going to space. William Shatner, the 90-year-old Star Trek alum, will join a civilian flight on Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin on October 12. The actor will become the oldest person to fly into outer space. Shatner will board the New Shepard rocket with Blue Origin’s VP of mission and flight operations, Audrey Powers, as well as Chris Boshuizen and Glen de Vries, for the 11-minute trip.
The flight will be streamed on BlueOrigin.com, with liftoff, from Launch Site One in West Texas, planned for 8:30 a.m. CDT — or 9:30 a.m. ET and 6:30 a.m. PT. TMZ reports Shatner’s flight will also be filmed as part of a documentary. This flight follows Blue Origin’s successful first human flight on July 20, which took Amazon honcho Bezos into space. However, the company has been in the headlines amid safety concerns and sexual harassment allegations.
Shatner boldly going where no sci-fi star has gone before is fitting. After all, he originated the role of Captain James T. Kirk in 1966 for the TV series Star Trek. It became a successful franchise with Shatner going on to appear in seven Star Trek movies, including one that he directed (1989’s Star Trek V: The Final Frontier).
The catchphrase “Beam me up, Scotty” came from Shatner’s role — though he never actually said it on the show. His real dialogue was, “Beam me up, Mr. Scott” and “Scotty, beam me up,” among other versions. Shatner eventually said it in the audio adaptation of his 1995 book, Star Trek: The Ashes of Eden. The actor who played Scotty, Montgomery “Scotty” Scott, used it as the title of his autobiography in 1996.
“I’ve heard about space for a long time now,” Shatner said in a press release. “I’m taking the opportunity to see it for myself. What a miracle.” The nonagenarian is currently the host and executive producer of the History Channel’s The UnXplained, which explores inexplicable mysteries, including stories about UFOs and alien communication.
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