William Shatnerwas overcome with emotion as he returned to Earth following hishistoric space mission.
TheStar Trekicon, who at 90 became theoldest person to ever travel to spaceon Wednesday, was met with applause — and a hug from Jeff Bezos — as he exited Blue Origin’s New Shepard capsule following the successful suborbital trip.“In a way, it’s indescribable,” the Emmy Award-winning actor told the 57-year-old Amazon billionaire, who made his owntrip to spaceback in July.“Not only is it different from what you thought, it happens so quickly,” he added duringBlue Origin’s livestream.
(L-R) William Shatner, Jeff Bezos.BLUE ORIGIN/HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Shatner teared up as he expressed his belief that all humans should experience the wonders of space travel.
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“Everybody in the world needs to do this,” Shatner said. “Everybody in the world needs to see.”
Brimming with emotion, Shatner thanked Bezos and his aerospace company for giving him “the most profound experience.““I hope I never recover from this. I hope I can maintain what I feel now. I don’t want to lose it. It’s so, so much larger than me,” he continued. “It has to do with the enormity and the quickness and the rudeness of life and death.““What I would love to do is communicate as much as possible the jeopardy, the moment you see the vulnerability of everything. It’s so small. This air which is keeping us alive is thinner than your skin. It’s a sliver. It’s immeasurably small when you think in terms of the universe,” he shared. “I am overwhelmed. I had no idea.”
(L-R) William Shatner, Jeff Bezos.CNET Highlights
As for the launch itself, Shatner admitted that the brief delays that took place Wednesday morning before they took off just before 11 a.m. ET made him feel nervous.“I’m a little jittery here,” he recalled thinking to himself while waiting for launch.“I’m thinking, ‘I’m a little nervous here.’ Another delay. ‘I’m a little more nervous here,’ " he remarked.Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
(L-R) Chris Boshuizen, William Shatner, Audrey Powers and Glen de Vries.Blue Origin/UPI/Shutterstock
Joining the star on the flight were Audrey Powers, Blue Origin’s vice president of mission and flight operations, as well as crew members Chris Boshuizen and Glen de Vries.
According to Blue Origin’sofficial website, the New Shepard vehicle, which can seat six astronauts, is “fully autonomous,” meaning there is no pilot.
The reusable craft’s 11-minute flights are “designed to take astronauts and research payloads past the Kármán line — the internationally recognized boundary of space,” the company’s website says.
Addressingrecent headlinesabout the safety of the vehicle, Blue Origin employees pointed out during the launch livestream that prior to Wednesday’s launch, the New Shepard vehicle had completed multiple tests without a crew in a years-long process that began in 2015.
(L-R) Chris Boshuizen, Audrey Powers, William Shatner and Glen de Vries.Blue Origin
In a nod to Shatner’s years playing Captain Kirk, Bezos revealed there were some personal possessions he had asked the actor to take to space with him.
“I made these tricorders and communicator to playStar Trekwith my friends when I was 9 years old, and my incredible mom saved them for 48 years,” Bezoswroteon Instagram ahead of the launch.
“She dug them up this past week, and @WilliamShatner has agreed to take them up into space for me tomorrow,” he added. “Thank you, Bill!”
source: people.com
