AP Photo/Steven Senne
- "Star Trek" actor William Shatner is "thrilled and anxious and a little nervous" about seeing space.
- Shatner, who played Captain Kirk, will be on an October 12 rocket launch of Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin.
- The 90-year-old joked to The Today Show that his preparation has included having some apple pie.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
"Star Trek" actor William Shatner has a lot of feelings about his trip to space next week.
Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin announced Monday that Shatner, who played Captain James T. Kirk in the television and film franchise, will join the company's October 12 mission.
In interviews with The Today Show on Tuesday, Shatner shared his thoughts on the upcoming trip.
"I'm thrilled and anxious and a little nervous and a little frightened about this whole new adventure," he told The Today Show. "I'm loving the idea of having the opportunity to go."
When asked if he had reached out to Blue Origin to join the mission or vice versa, Shatner said Blue Origin had asked him about the trip.
The actor noted there is "a symmetry" to the fact that he'll be able to see space after having acted in "Star Trek."
"There's a whole circle of life involved here," he said. "Fifty-five years ago, I was destitute, and I'm looking at the sky, at the astronauts stepping on the moon...Fifty-five years later, I'm going to space. A whole change in not only my personal life but in my professional life. Everything changed in that period of time."
Shatner, who is 90 years old, was also asked if he was "physically ready" for the trip and how he's preparing for it.
"I had some apple pie last night," he joked.
After completing the mission, Shatner will become the oldest person to travel into space, edging out 82-year-old Wally Funk, who flew on a Blue Origin flight in July.
But the actor says he may try to give that achievement a lower profile. "I don't know whether I want to actually claim that," he said.
Shatner said he's looking forward to seeing in space "the contrast between that hostility and this warmth and how important it is to keep the Earth alive."
At one point in the interviews, he described a recent storm in Los Angeles, where he lives.
"We talk about space and what weightless conditions are, the enormity of the universe and the absolute jewel of a little thing we call the Earth by comparison," Shatner said. "I'm going to feel that with the same enormity that I felt this electrical storm last night. I'm going to see the vastness of space and the extraordinary miracle of our Earth and how fragile it is compared to the forces at work in the universe. That's really what I'm looking for."
Shatner will be joined on the trip by Blue Origin executive Audrey Powers, former NASA engineer Chris Boshuizen, and Glen de Vries, the co-founder of clinical research platform Medidata Solutions.
source https://www.businessinsider.com/star-trek-william-shatner-little-frightened-jeff-bezos-blue-origin-2021-10