'Unbelieveable': 90-Year-Old 'Star Trek' Actor William Shatner Sets Record as Oldest Human in Space

© REUTERS / BLUE ORIGIN"Star Trek" actor William Shatner is driven to the launch pad of Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket before mission NS-18 for a suborbital flight near Van Horn, Texas, U.S. in a still image from video October 13, 2021.
Star Trek actor William Shatner is driven to the launch pad of Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket before mission NS-18 for a suborbital flight near Van Horn, Texas, U.S. in a still image from video October 13, 2021.  - Sputnik International, 1920, 13.10.2021
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WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - William Shatner, best known for his iconic role as Captain James Kirk in the long-running US television series Star Trek, became the oldest person to reach outer space on Tuesday as a tourist, courtesy of the private space firm Blue Origin.
"It was unbelievable," said the 90-year-old actor following a 10-minute space trip. Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket took off around 14:49 GMT after experiencing two brief delays, with the crew reaching beyond the planet's atmosphere and returning to the Texas desert.

"What you have given me is the most profound experience I can imagine. I'm so filled with emotion about what just happened," Shatner told Jeff Bezos, the founder of the Blue Origin company.

Video footage showed the domed shaped crew capsule separated from the rocket, floating in space as the speed slowed to zero before beginning a controlled descent slowed by rockets and eventually a series of three parachutes.
A recovery team raced to greet the crew, still sealed after plopping down in the Texas desert as the world awaited word from Shatner himself.

A recovery team raced to greet the crew, still sealed after plopping down in the Texas desert amid clouds of dust.
"That was unlike anything they described," Shatner said as the capsule descended toward Earth. "I’m overwhelmed. I know I did it."
Shatner and three other individuals blasted off from a desert launch site in the state of Texas for a ten-minute sub-orbital flight that included several minutes of weightless floating about 60 miles high, widely regarded as the boundary between Earth’s atmosphere and space.
This handout photo released by Blue Origin Media shows the four member Blue Origin crew (from R) Glen de Vries, Audrey Powers, Canadian actor William Shatner and Chris Boshuizen posing at an undisclosed location on October 10, 2021. - Blue Origin announced on October 10 that it was delaying its flight set to carry actor William Shatner to space due to anticipated winds. - Sputnik International, 1920, 13.10.2021
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Star Trek Actor William Shatner Blasts Off Into Space on Blue Origin's New Shepard NS-18 Rocket
The actor was joined by Blue Origin Vice President Audrey Powers, co-founder of the Earth-imaging satellite company Planet, Chris Boshuizen, and French healthcare executive Glen de Vries.
It was the second crewed flight for Blue Origin. The first mission in July carried the company’s founder Jeff Bezos, his brother Mark, Dutch teenager Oliver Daemen featured and aviator Wally Funk. At age 82, Funk held the record as the oldest human in space until Wednesday’s flight by Shatner.
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