William Shatner emotionally moved after New Shepard flight to space

The second flight of Blue Origin’s New Shepard suborbital spacecraft flight successfully journeyed to the edge of space with four astronauts on-board including Canadian actor William Shatner, Captain Kirk of Star Trek fame.

*New Shepard moments after launch. Credit: Blue Origin.*

The New Shepard NS-18 mission also included entrepreneur Chris Boshuizen, Blue Origin vice president Audrey Powers, and businessman Glen de Vries.

*William Shatner (back left), Chris Boshuizen (bottom left), Audrey Powers, and Glen de Vries. Credit: Blue Origin.*

After the flight Bob Smith, CEO of Blue Origin said in a statement “at Blue Origin, we are motivated by the dreamers that inspire us and the builders who turn those dreams into reality. Today’s crew represented both dreamers and builders. We had the honor of flying our very own Audrey Powers, Vice President of New Shepard Operations, who fulfilled a lifelong dream to go to space and has been an integral part of building New Shepard. Our two customers, Chris Boshuizen and Glen de Vries, have built their own successful ventures and have now realized their own dreams of space travel. And, as everyone knows, William Shatner has played an important role in describing and imagining the wonders of universe and inspired many of us to pursue a career in the space industry. This flight was another step forward in flying astronauts safely and often. It’s an incredible team and we are just getting started.”

*New Shepard reaches space and the crew experiences 3-4 minutes of zero-g spaceflight. Credit: Blue Origin.*

Upon returning from their short flight, just over 10 minutes in duration, Shatner was visibly emotional after emerging from the New Shepard spacecraft. He spent a short time on his own and was then approached by Blue Origin owner Jeff Bezos who congratulated him on the flight. At this point Shatner spent several minutes detailing to Bezos his flight and the emotions it stirred in in. He spoke of the overview effect but was truly amazed at how thin our atmosphere appeared as he reached space. He could be heard telling Bezos that this flight is something that everyone in the world should experience.