This morning, William Shatner blasts off with three others on board Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket, bound for space.
The moment is being eagerly anticipated by Trekkies the world over, including Brian Volk-Weiss, the producer of Netflix’s popular Movies That Made Us series. But Volk-Weiss explains the significance of the event isn’t lost on those who couldn’t tell a Klingon from a Vulcan.
“My wife is not a Trekkie at all. Maybe she’s even an anti-Trekkie. She gets it. The symbolism that up until this year, nobody ever thought Captain Kirk would actually go to where Captain Kirk worked. Like she got it.”
Volk-Weiss continued, “I thought my Star Trek bias and my history bias … like, I wasn’t sure if I could be a fair judge. But I mean, it’s nothing short of amazing. Yes, he’s lived a long time, but the fact that within his own lifetime, what literally would have been thought impossible — I think even in January — is happening.”
Shatner, who turned 90 in March, will be the oldest person to reach space, surpassing a record set by 82-year-old astronaut Wally Funk, who blasted off on the New Shepard in July.
Shatner will join microbiologist Glen de Vries, Planet Labs founder Chris Boshuizen, and Blue Origin’s Audrey Powers when New Shepard‘s 18th mission, NS-18, blasts off Wednesday morning.
The event is now scheduled for 10 a.m. Eastern, depending on weather and other conditions at Blue Origin’s launch site in Texas.
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