With Star Trek icon William Shatner boldly going to space this Tuesday, some professional astronauts spoke with ABC News about Hollywood’s most famous space traveler’s upcoming journey aboard Jeff Bezos‘ New Shepard vehicle.
NASA Astronauts Raja Chari, Kayla Barron, Tom Marshburn and ESA Astronaut Matthias Maurer are also headed to the final frontier, but are scheduled to blast off in one of Elon Musk’s SpaceX Dragon rockets on October 30,bound for a six-month mission to the International Space Station.
Barron told ABC News, “I think it captures the imagination of so many of us to see Captain Kirk…getting to fly in space…Who doesn’t want to see that happen? I know I do!”
Chari offered, “…[M]y words of advice he should try to get as many catchphrases as he can while he’s weightless like ‘Beam Me Up Scotty.’…'”
Marshburn said he wasn’t a Trekkie, but noted of Shatner, “I think he’s quite brave…and so all the kudos go to him for doing this, he’s a pioneer and I hope he enjoys it.”
Maurer tells ABC News, “I watched Trek as a kid, and now to know that, Captain Kirk is now at the age of 90 is flying to space, I think that’s a marvelous idea and I think you can never be too old to live a dream.”
Shatner, who played USS Enterprise Captain James T. Kirk on Gene Roddenberry‘s beloved sci-fi series and in seven feature films, will be joined by a senior Blue Origin employee and two co-founders of space-related technology companies for the sub-orbital mission, designated NS-18.
Shatner, who turned 90 in March, will become the oldest person to fly to space, surpassing the record set in July by 82-year-old astronaut and New Shepard traveler Wally Funk.
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