(VAN HORN, Texas) — Actor William Shatner and his three crewmates on Blue Origin’s New Shepard are just hours away from their suborbital space flight.
The eleven-minute mission for Jeff Bezos’ spaceflight company was initially set for Tuesday but was delayed one day due to forecasted winds in West Texas.
Shatner is joining Audrey Powers, Blue Origin’s vice president of mission and flight operations and a former NASA flight controller and engineer; Chris Boshuizen, the co-founder of satellite company Planet Labs and a former space mission architect for NASA; and Glen de Vries, the co-founder of Medidata Solutions, a life science company.
The launch is expected around 10:30 a.m. ET and will be streamed on ABC News Live.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Oct 13, 9:58 am
Bezos chauffeurs astronauts to launch tower
The countdown clock was paused for approximately 30 minutes as Blue Origin teams assessed launch conditions on the ground, but the astronauts are en route to the launch pad.
PHOTO: In this still image taken from a Blue Origin video, the New Shepard rocket sits on the launch pad prior to lift off on Oct. 13, 2021, from the West Texas region, 25 miles, north of Van Horn.
Jose Romero/Blue Origin/AFP via Getty ImagesJose Romero/Blue Origin/AFP via Getty Images
In this still image taken from a Blue Origin video, the New Shepard rocket sits on the lau…
Blue Origin’s Jeff Bezos, who went to space himself in July, chauffeured the four astronauts to the launch tower as workers cheered.
Oct 13, 9:16 am
NASA wishes Shatner ‘all the best’ on his flight to space
NASA sent a good luck tweet to William Shatner Wednesday morning ahead of the actor’s trip to the edge of space.
Oct 13, 9:10 am
Astronauts will experience 3 to 4 minutes of weightlessness
During the 11-minute flight, the astronauts will experience about three to four minutes of weightlessness.
They’ll also travel above the Karman Line, the internationally recognized boundary separating Earth’s atmosphere from space.
Oct 13, 7:31 am
Shatner set to become the oldest person to go to space
Star Trek star William Shatner, 90, is poised to become the oldest person ever to go to space.
He’ll beat the record set by 82-year-old Wally Funk during July’s inaugural New Shepard launch.
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