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William Shatner made history on Wednesday morning as part of the Blue Origin mission called NS-18.
The 90-year-old Shatner, who is best known for his portrayal of Captain James T. Kirk of the USS Enterprise in the Star Trek franchise, became the oldest person ever in space when he launched into the atmosphere onboard the New Shepard mission NS-18 out of Blue Origin’s launch facility in Van Horn, Texas.
When he landed back on the ground, Shatner was overjoyed by the experience and emotional as he was welcomed by Jeff Bezos.
“What you have given me is the most profound experience, I am so filled with emotion, just extraordinary,” Shatner said. “I hope I never recover from this. I hope that I can maintain what I feel now.”
William Shatner after becoming the oldest person to reach space:
"I am so filled with emotion about what just happened. It’s extraordinary, extraordinary … I hope that I can maintain what I feel now, I don't want to lose it."https://t.co/nrLuu43XsD pic.twitter.com/XytPxkk7va
— NBC News (@NBCNews) October 13, 2021
Shatner also said traveling to the edge of the atmosphere is something he hopes everyone will have the opportunity to experience.
Here is video of the launch:
Actor and director William Shatner is one of four people who were aboard space company Blue Origin's latest rocket launch. At age 90, Shatner is now the oldest person to fly into space. pic.twitter.com/8QYU8NnKHA
— NPR (@NPR) October 13, 2021
The launch was the second crewed flight for New Shepard, which is a reusable passenger rocket that takes passengers to the edge of space. Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos was a part of the first flight back in July. The entire flight took approximately 10 minutes.
Shatner was joined by three others on the NS-18 crew — two of them were paying customers.