By Emily Rella
Life has officially imitated art as Star Trek star William Shatner launched into space alongside Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos on Oct. 13.
Shatner and Bezos were joined by Glen de Vries and Chris Boshuizen, both paying space tourism customers, and Audrey Powers, who serves as Blue Origin’s vice president of mission and flight operations.
At 90 years old, Shatner officially became the oldest person to travel to space as he took off in the New Shepard rocket ship, the same one that Bezos rode in when he made history earlier this summer.
Related: William Shatner to Go to Space
Upon exiting the capsule hatch at landing, Shatner was moved to tears by the overwhelming emotion and sense of profoundness he experienced when reaching space.“What you have done, everybody in the world needs to do this,” he told Bezos. “Everybody in the world needs to see [this].”
Shatner continued: “What you have given me is the most profound experience … I hope I never recover from this … I’m so filled with emotion about what just happened. It’s extraordinary, extraordinary. I hope I can maintain what I feel now. I don’t want to lose it. It’s so much larger than me and life … I am overwhelmed. I had no idea … it would be so important for everyone to have that experience.”
