Blue Origin is sending William Shatner to space on October 12

[Shawn Knight]

What just happened? Blue Origin is sending William Shatner to space, Jeff Bezos’ private spaceflight company has announced. The pending launch sets Shatner up to become the oldest person to have flown to space. The historic flight has presumably been in discussion for a while now considering it is scheduled to take place next week.

Shatner has been involved in Hollywood for as long as most of us can remember. In tech circles, he is best known for his portrayal of Captain James T. Kirk in the Star Trek franchise from 1966 to 1969. Following a slump in his career, things picked up in the latter half of the 1970s, with Shatner reprising the role of Kirk in a series of Star Trek movies over the next couple of decades.

Two incredible and inspirational people will join the #NS18 crew. Actor @WilliamShatner and Blue Origin’s Vice President of Mission & Flight Operations Audrey Powers @AudreyKPowers. pic.twitter.com/xqI9nw1KX8

— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) October 4, 2021

Blue Origin has already put the youngest and oldest person in space. Back in July, 18-year-old Oliver Daemen joined Bezos on Blue Origin’s first crewed spaceflight. He sat alongside American aviator Wally Funk, who became the oldest astronaut ever at age 82. Of course, the star of that day was Bezos himself.

Shatner was born on March 22, 1931, meaning he’ll be 90 when he heads to space. Should everything go according to plan, he will take the record from Funk in the process. He will be joined by Audrey Powers, Blue Origin’s VP of mission & flight operations and two other crewmates, Chris Boshuizen and Glen de Vries.

New Shepard NS-18 is scheduled to blast off from Launch Site One in West Texas at 8:30 a.m. Central on October 12. Blue Origin will host live coverage of the event on its website starting 90 minutes before liftoff.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/91561-blue-origin-sending-william-shatner-space-october-12.html

 

[Dimitriid]

Is Patrick Stewart next?

 

[Ludak021]

It amazes me how redundant all that training astronauts get seems. I mean, if you can just send anybody to space, old people at that, with no training whatsoever, whats the point of all that astronaut training? Fun? Boredom? Sadism? Masochism?

PS. If I ever saw a phallic looking object, that rocket is it.

 

[DZillaXx]

The Guy looks great for being almost 90.

Considering Star-Trek spanned the majority of his profession career, spanning multiple decades, it's great to see some of these Icons to actually experience space themselves.

 

[stewi0001]

Is Patrick Stewart next?

When Blue Origin gets to the "next generation".
(a lot of play on words here)

 

[Vrmithrax]

Considering the recent stories of Blue Origin employees saying they would never ride in one of their rockets due to safety and workplace toxicity, let's hope things aren't as bad as what was being reported. We don't want to lose Captain Kirk in a space mission! Although there would be some poetry (or maybe irony) to that...

 

[Sausagemeat]

Lucky bastard. I would sell my own mother for a chance to go into space.

 

[wiyosaya]

It amazes me how redundant all that training astronauts get seems. I mean, if you can just send anybody to space, old people at that, with no training whatsoever, whats the point of all that astronaut training? Fun? Boredom? Sadism? Masochism?

PS. If I ever saw a phallic looking object, that rocket is it.

Considering that people who fly on one of the commercial rockets will not be doing anything remotely near what NASA or other real astronauts do, such as piloting the craft, spacewalking, fixing stuff on the ISS, etc., why should the "passengers" on a commercial spaceflight be trained?

On the other had, real astronauts from NASA or other world space agencies, need real astronaut training. They are not "space tourists".

Back on topic, I wonder if Shatner will be wearing an adult diaper?

 

[wiyosaya]

Considering the recent stories of Blue Origin employees saying they would never ride in one of their rockets due to safety and workplace toxicity, let's hope things aren't as bad as what was being reported. We don't want to lose Captain Kirk in a space mission! Although there would be some poetry (or maybe irony) to that...

Well, they would not have a photon torpedo casing to give him a proper burial in space, though.

 

[DZillaXx]

Considering the recent stories of Blue Origin employees saying they would never ride in one of their rockets due to safety and workplace toxicity, let's hope things aren't as bad as what was being reported. We don't want to lose Captain Kirk in a space mission! Although there would be some poetry (or maybe irony) to that...

IDK why anyone would chose Blue Origin over SpaceX TBH. But hey, a trip to space is a trip to space.

 

[Ludak021]

@wiyosaya
I meant primarly on the excercises where they (astropnauts) have to endure high G-forces, yet, Shatner will do it in "diapers" with zero training (how can he, he's an actor)

 

[wiyosaya]

@Ludak021 There's an interesting thread on the subject at Quora. In part, the responses to the question seem somewhat similar to what I stated. The passengers on these commercial flights are just that. The bear no responsibility to control the craft. There's also an interesting Wikipedia page on the subject which also says that it is designed to help astronauts not lose consciousness if they do experience excessive G forces. I do not know what the G-forces are on BO's flight, however, they may not be significant enough to present a concern. Still, I think the overriding factor is that they are passengers that are only along for the ride without having to take responsibility for the control of the craft.

 

[Ludak021]

I guess then it's cool if Shatner can't take the G-Forces and collapses. I mean, there is very little or no health issues involved with that, but you have to wake him up once in space

Thanks @wiyosaya , much appreciated!

 

[netman]

The other three crews should be Spock, Bones and Scotty...!

 

[Ludak021]

And you need at least one red shirt, to die.

 

[wiyosaya]

The other three crews should be Spock, Bones and Scotty...!

Well, that's a little late for each of them. They are all in that great Galaxy in the sky.

Uhura, Chekov, and Sulu are still around, though.

 

[Uncle Al]

Well he sure ain't "going where no man has gone before" and not by a long stretch .... I though for sure he would have opted for the trip with a three day orbit rather than the "quickie" that's just a bit short ....

 

[cliffordcooley]

When Blue Origin gets to the "next generation".
(a lot of play on words here)

We're currently in The blue Origin Series.

 

[captaincranky]

PS. If I ever saw a phallic looking object, that rocket is it.

It's Bezos' way of not so subtly advertising that he screwed the rest of the entire etail industry by forming Amazon, (and most of the brick & mortar retailers as well).

I unfortunately, am pitching in to help. I just took delivery of an Amazon package today, and another should be here tomorrow.

I mean, just look down, what red blooded American boy could fail to be envious of that monstrosity?

At least it's not a dirty old uncircumcised rocket.

 

[Puiu]

It amazes me how redundant all that training astronauts get seems. I mean, if you can just send anybody to space, old people at that, with no training whatsoever, whats the point of all that astronaut training? Fun? Boredom? Sadism? Masochism?

PS. If I ever saw a phallic looking object, that rocket is it.

The astronaut training is for extended stays in space, not the short visits (and extensive knowhow). As long as you can withstand the Gs you should be fine to fly.

For example, the inspiration 4 crew, which flew for 3 days, had an intensive 5 month training period.

 

[captaincranky]

. Of course, the star of that day was Bezos himself.

You're stating the obvious here. Just ask Bezos himself.

Captain James T. Kirk in the Star Trek franchise from 1966 to 1969. Following a slump in his career, things picked up in the latter half of the 1970s, with Shatner reprising the role of Kirk in a series of Star Trek movies over the next couple of decades.

FWIW Shatner did star in two TV series, each of which ran 4 (?) years "T J Hooker" and "Boston Legal". Granted they didn't quite have the cult following of Star Trek (Original series). That said, Star Trek only lasted 3 years.

(Although, Heather Locklear's behind was the actual star of T J Hooker).

If you see my point.

(I'm really showing my age here. God how I still love the big hair of the 80's & 90's).

 

[captaincranky]

As long as you can withstand the Gs you should be fine to fly.

Do they have a "Hell Hole" ride, in amusement parks in Romania?

Rotor (ride) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

These were "fun", and intriguing. After the cylinder accelerated past one G or so,.your sense of balance told you that you were laying on your back, yet you were still standing straight up The transition seemed almost instantaneous..

NASA used to train astronauts to near 8 gs in a centrifuge. That was always fun ro watch in news reel footage. Although watching that last Space-X mission, the commentators said the max g force they were exposed to on the ride to orbit, would be about 4 gs.

 

[Puiu]

Do they have a "Hell Hole" ride, in amusement parks in Romania?

Rotor (ride) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

These were "fun", and intriguing. After the cylinder accelerated past one G or so,.your sense of balance told you that you were laying on your back, yet you were still standing straight up The transition seemed almost instantaneous..

NASA used to train astronauts to near 8 gs in a centrifuge. That was always fun ro watch in news reel footage. Although watching that last Space-X mission, the commentators said the max g force they were exposed to on the ride to orbit, would be about 4 gs.

I don't think I've seen such a ride here, but I don't usually go to such places so there might be some.

Tourists don't need the extreme training pros do, but yeah, the 8G stuff always looked funny

 

[wiyosaya]

@captaincranky @Puiu For your amusement -

 

[Avro Arrow]

You're stating the obvious here. Just ask Bezos himself.

FWIW Shatner did star in two TV series, each of which ran 4 (?) years "T J Hooker" and "Boston Legal". Granted they didn't quite have the cult following of Star Trek (Original series). That said, Star Trek only lasted 3 years.

(Although, Heather Locklear's behind was the actual star of T J Hooker).

If you see my point.

(I'm really showing my age here. God how I still love the big hair of the 80's & 90's).

Oh yeah, it's her "big hair" that you like, eh?

I never actually watched T J hooker but I thought that Shatner gave an Emmy-worthy performance as Denny Crane in Boston Legal.

Interesting note:
William Shatner and I are from the same neighbourhood in Montreal known as NDG. Jay Baruchel is from there too and grew up on the same street as me. My cousin is a friend of his. Of course, by the time Jay was born I had already gone. You can still get stories from some of the locals about both of them. Hell, I still get stories from people who knew Jackie Robinson.