‘It Moved Me to Tears.’ William Shatner On Briefly Going Where Some Men Have Gone Before

On Oct. 13, actor William Shatner, 90, best known for his role as Star Trek’s Captain James T. Kirk, went to space for real aboard a Blue Origin New Shepard rocket. He was aloft for only 10 minutes—but they were 10 minutes that forever transformed him. The day after his return, Shatner—now the oldest person to have ever traveled to space—sat down with TIME to talk about his experience. TIME: I was struck, as were many people, by the degree of your emotion when you returned to Earth. You seemed especially moved by the sight of the thin onion skin of atmosphere that is all that protects us from the killing void of space. What affected you about that? [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Shatner: I saw the spaceship coming through the blue, and an instant later it was through the blue; this bullet exploded into the blackness of space, so in that instant I saw the blue suddenly disappear, and suddenly space is smack up in my face. I saw death there. The suddenness with which I looked at that blackness, I thought, “whoa, suddenly you go out there and then you’re dead.” Did you have those intimations of mortality before you left? Did you have any trepidation about the safety of making the journey? No. I mean, you can be in jeopardy in front of an audience. My own family goes on these rides at the amusement park, and I don’t need to go on that. I’m going to sit here while you guys go up and down for the ride. I don’...
Source: TIME: Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Uncategorized healthscienceclimate Space Source Type: news