William Shatner will boldly go into space today on Blue Origin‘s New Shepard rocket — taking with him artwork that Jeff Bezos made when he was nine to ‘play Star Trek’.
The 90-year-old actor will become the oldest person to ever go into space, and will be joined on his mission by Chris Boshuizen, Glen de Vries and Audrey Powers.
Originally set to depart yesterday, but delayed due to windy weather, the blast off from Launch Site One in Texas is now scheduled for 3pm BST (10am ET) today.
The NS18 rocket will be moved to the launch pad 7.5 hours before lift-off, will take on propellant fuel three hours before and its crew 35 minutes prior to ignition.
Its trajectory will take it 62 miles above the Earth’s surface. Alongside Mr Bezos’ childhood art, Mr Shatner will also carry a postcard to inspire ‘the next generation’.
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William Shatner will boldly go into space today on Blue Origin ‘s New Shepard rocket — taking with him artwork that Jeff Bezos made when he was nine to ‘play Star Trek’. Pictured: Mr Bezos’ art — with a hand-hand ‘tricorder’ device (top and bottom) and a communicator (middle)
Alongside Mr Bezos’ childhood art, Mr Shatner will also carry a postcard (pictured) to inspire ‘the next generation’ as he blasts up to 62 miles (100 kilometres) above the Earth’s surface
The mission will take will take William Shatner (2nd from right), Chris Boshuizen (right), Glen de Vries (left) and Audrey Powers (2nd from left) 62 miles above Earth’s surface
‘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,’ Mr Shatner told NBC’s ‘ Today ‘ program. Pictured: William Shatner as Captain Kirk in ‘Star Trek’. Leonard Nimoy’s Mr Spock can be seen holding a communicator, like the one replicated in paper by a young Jeff Bezos that Mr Shatner will be taking into space with him today
Earlier this week lead flight director, Nick Patrick, said that the crew completed their first day of training on Sunday. They also spent yesterday doing launch training.
‘The training itself was designed to do three things for our astronauts,’ Patrick said during a video interview.
‘The first thing is it’s designed to train them on the safety systems that we have onboard the crew capsule and the expected responses from the crew if we were to have an emergency.’
The second is to prepare the crew for the unexpected aspects of spaceflight such as strange noises, bumps and accelerations, Patrick explained.
The third part of training teaches the crew how to behave in zero-gravity inside the cabin without colliding with their flight mates, he continued.
‘I am very confident that we will learn tomorrow that this training has gone well for these four astronauts and we will be ready to launch them,’ said Patrick.
The four individuals are scheduled to pile inside a truck to the launch tower 45 minutes before lift-off.
The crew will then climb the tower, ring a bell that hangs at one end of the crossing and strap into the fully autonomous 60-foot-tall New Shepard rocket.
The will blast off from a base in the west Texas town of Van Horn on a journey to the edge of space.
‘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,’ Mr Shatner told NBC’s ‘Today‘ program.
‘I’m thrilled and anxious — and a little nervous and a little frightened — about this whole new adventure.’
The launch represents another crucial test of Blue Origin as it competes against billionaire-backed rivals — Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic — to attract those willing to pay large amounts of money to experience spaceflight.
Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket is a go for launch Wednesday, following a one day delay due to windy weather
The NS-18 rocket is scheduled to rollout two and half hours before liftoff, followed by propellant load three hours before and then the astronauts will head inside the capsule 35 minutes prior to take off
The crew completed their first day of training Sunday, were off yesterday due to the slip in the original schedule and spent Tuesday completing launch training
Pictured is William Shatner entering the capsule during training
Here is Chris Boshuizen and William Shatner training inside the Blue Origin capsule
Branson beat Bezos to space by just 10 days, as he and an entourage soared 53 miles above Earth’s surface in July, however Bezos climbed two miles higher when he took to the skies.
Although Musk has yet to take the journey himself, his firm recently sent four civilians into orbit last moth for a three-day trip around Earth.
Musk has, however, purchased a seat on Branson’s space tourism rocket — but has yet to reveal when he will take the epic journey.
The New Shepard rocket is scheduled to rollout seven and half hours before lift-off, followed by propellant load three hours before and then the astronauts will load inside the capsule just 35 mins prior to take off
Originally set to depart yesterday, but delayed due to windy weather, the blast off from Launch Site One in Texas (as shown above) is now scheduled for 3pm BST (10am ET) today