Star Trek Icon Shatner and Blue Origin VP Confirmed to Fly on New Shepard Spacecraft 12 October

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Canadian actor William Shatner, known for his performance in Star Trek as Captain James T. Kirk, and Blue Origin Vice President Audrey Powers will travel to space along with other crew members on board the New Shepard launch vehicle on October 12, Blue Origin said on Monday.
Sputnik

"Today, Blue Origin announced actor William Shatner and Audrey Powers, Blue Origin’s Vice President of Mission & Flight Operations, will fly onboard New Shepard NS-18", Blue Origin said in a statement.

Shatner and Powers will join crewmates - former NASA engineer Chris Boshuizen, and Dassault Systemes Vice Chair Glen de Vries, the statement said.
New Shepard is scheduled to be launched on 12 October at 8.30 a.m. CDT (1:30 p.m. GMT) from Launch Site One in the US state of Texas, the statement said.

"I've heard about space for a long time now. I'm taking the opportunity to see it for myself. What a miracle", Shatner said.

The 90-year-old celebrity is set to become the oldest astronaut ever.
William Shatner
Powers, who worked for NASA for more than ten years, expressed confidence in New Shepard's mission success.

"I'm excited to continue writing Blue's human spaceflight history", she said.

On 20 July, Blue Origin successfully launched its first human flight with Jeff Bezos, his brother Mark, a former test pilot Wally Funk, and Blue Origin’s first customer, a Dutch teenager Oliver Daemen.
Discuss