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WASHINGTON: William Shatner, the “Star Trek” actor who rose to fame by claiming a Hollywood soundstage was a spaceship exploring the galaxy, will launch to the edge of space for real next week in a rocket built by Blue Origin, billionaire Jeff Bezos. space company.
Shatner, better known as Captain Kirk in the original “Star Trek” television series, will be part of a crew of four aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard launcher on the flight scheduled for the morning of October 12, a the company announced on Monday.
“I’ve been hearing about space for a long time now,†Shatner, 90, said in a statement released by Blue Origin. “I take this opportunity to see it for myself. What a miracle. â€In July, Bezos, the founder of Amazon, climbed about 70 miles over the Texas desert aboard a New Shepard launcher and returned safely to Earth.
Blue Origin said pioneering aviator Wally Funk, 82, was the oldest person to reach space when she joined Bezos on the July flight. Shatner is on the verge of breaking that record.
The actor flies as a guest of Blue Origin, but the company claims to have also sold nearly $ 100 million in tickets to paying customers, although it did not say how much.
Shatner will be joined by Chris Boshuizen, a former NASA engineer; Glen de Vries, an entrepreneur in clinical research; and Audrey Powers, vice president and engineer of Blue Origin. It was not immediately clear if they were “Star Trek” fans.
Bezos founded Blue Origin in 2000. New Shepard raced at speeds of up to 2,233 miles (3,595 km) per hour, passing the Karman Line – 62 miles (100 km) in a straight line – established by an international aviation body to define the boundary between the Earth’s atmosphere and space.
Posted in Dawn, le 5 October 2021
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