{"id":3120,"date":"2021-10-28T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-28T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/?p=3120"},"modified":"2021-10-14T03:37:09","modified_gmt":"2021-10-14T03:37:09","slug":"blue-origin-beams-up-william-shatner-as-the-oldest-person-to-go-to-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/blue-origin-beams-up-william-shatner-as-the-oldest-person-to-go-to-space\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue Origin Beams Up William Shatner As the Oldest Person to Go to Space"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>\u201cTo boldly go where no man has gone before,\u201d or so the famous Captain Kirk of Star Trek fame said in the beginning of every episode of the television series that aired between 1966 and 1969. For years the character played by actor William Shatner has inspired millions of fans worldwide on his adventures through space, which the show affectionately refers to as the \u201cfinal frontier.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img  decoding=\"async\"  src=\"data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABAQMAAAAl21bKAAAAA1BMVEUAAP+KeNJXAAAAAXRSTlMAQObYZgAAAAlwSFlzAAAOxAAADsQBlSsOGwAAAApJREFUCNdjYAAAAAIAAeIhvDMAAAAASUVORK5CYII=\"  alt=\"\"  class=\" pk-lazyload\"  data-pk-sizes=\"auto\"  data-pk-src=\"https:\/\/lh4.googleusercontent.com\/sGo1MsS2AvGgyYGESNjrciUNFQATQFgmH_JZ_ncFCqXC3Yp4qmQiQGtu27k5DRg2PRJeOxpQsVxIH0-wWUX4c2OOqWIFBqr37iOEySKnYImIuQ-enCZ6SHf3DVENC3NQ8l93F85u=s0\" ><figcaption> William Shatner played the role of the famous Captain James T. Kirk, captain of the USS Enterprise in the 1966 Star Trek television series. (NBC\/Wikimedia Commons) <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>And now, more than 50 years after the first fateful episode of Star Trek aired, Shatner finally gets his shot at fulfilling his onscreen destiny\u2014with the help of Blue Origin\u2019s 18th <em>New Shepard<\/em> flight, coining the <em>NS-18 <\/em>mission. The mission also makes the 90-year-old Shatner the oldest person to ever go to space, beating the 82-year-old aviator Wally Funk from <a href=\"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/blue-origins-new-shepard-makes-history\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Blue Origin\u2019s historic July 20 flight<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"William Shatner&#039;s Journey to Space\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/GLi368cWGSQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption> An online video showcase by Blue Origin shows snippets of William Shatner\u2019s journey to space, including getting to know the spacecraft that will send him there. (Blue Origin, 2021) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Shatner was joined by three other passengers on NS-18, including Audrey Powers, Blue Origin\u2019s vice president of mission and flight operations. With the two were two paying private passengers: Glen de Vries, vice chairperson for life sciences and healthcare at <em>Dassault Syst\u00e8mes<\/em>, a French software company; and Chris Boshuizen, co-founder of <em>Planet Labs<\/em>, a private Earth-imaging company based in San Francisco, California.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img  decoding=\"async\"  src=\"data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABAQMAAAAl21bKAAAAA1BMVEUAAP+KeNJXAAAAAXRSTlMAQObYZgAAAAlwSFlzAAAOxAAADsQBlSsOGwAAAApJREFUCNdjYAAAAAIAAeIhvDMAAAAASUVORK5CYII=\"  alt=\"\"  class=\" pk-lazyload\"  data-pk-sizes=\"auto\"  data-pk-src=\"https:\/\/lh5.googleusercontent.com\/Lg9Bt4roMcTLKgjZga43eyX23hxOKVJyrIgqq595cVqG4sNprFT_7mt2qKQX9TMaIHjiga3mTxlVxwOYN0Tai_y6AAT2lNa4a7dAIarwYU3OVSgcYnvx3i5N1Q_vS2rjVr1INj4V=s0\" ><figcaption> The NS-18 crew consisted of (left to right): Chris Boshuizen, William Shatner, Audrey Powers, and Glen de Vries. (Blue Origin, 2021) <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The crew lifted off from Blue Origin\u2019s Launch Site One, located in Van Horn, Texas, at 9:50 a.m. local time. Shatner and crew experienced some 4 minutes of weightlessness during the 11-minute total flight time, after which the capsule containing all passengers landed back safely close to Blue Origin\u2019s facility there. The flight also makes Boshuizen the first Australian to ever head to space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"New Shepard Mission NS-18: Apogee\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/utUQ01BueHY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption> The video above shows the crew\u2019s reaction upon reaching the apogee of their flight, or the highest point of NS-18\u2019s flight trajectory. (Blue Origin\/YouTube, 2021) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Shatner said that it was \u201cthe most profound experience [he] could ever imagine\u201d when interviewed after landing by Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos. \u201cEverybody in the world needs to see it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Replay: New Shepard Mission NS-18 Webcast\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/uEhdlIor-do?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption> A full replay of the entire NS-18 launch is available on YouTube for viewing. (Blue Origin.YouTube, 2021) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"references\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">References<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><em>Blue Origin successfully and safely completes second human flight to space and back<\/em>. (n.d.). Blue Origin. Retrieved October 14, 2021, from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.blueorigin.com\/news\/new-shepard-ns-18-mission-updates\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.blueorigin.com\/news\/new-shepard-ns-18-mission-updates<\/a><\/li><li>Roulette, J. (2021, October 13). In a Blue Origin Rocket, William Shatner Finally Goes to Space. <em>The New York Times<\/em>. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/10\/13\/science\/william-shatner-space-blue-origin.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/10\/13\/science\/william-shatner-space-blue-origin.html<\/a><\/li><li>Weitering, H. (2021, October 13). <em>Blue Origin launches William Shatner and crew of 3 to the final frontier and back<\/em>. Live Science. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.livescience.com\/william-shatner-launches-on-blue-origin\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.livescience.com\/william-shatner-launches-on-blue-origin<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cTo boldly go where no man has gone before,\u201d or so the famous Captain Kirk of Star Trek&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3121,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18,14],"tags":[50],"class_list":{"0":"post-3120","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-history","8":"category-space","9":"tag-blue-origin","10":"cs-entry","11":"cs-video-wrap"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3120"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3120\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3122,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3120\/revisions\/3122"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}