He’s back. William Shatner, aka Captain Kirk from the series Star Trek, as well as three other passengers of the Blue Origin capsule landed this Wednesday in West Texas, after a trip of a few minutes in space. At 90, the Canadian actor became the oldest person to reach the final frontier.
“It’s the most intense experience imaginable,” the actor said after landing, recounting his trip to Blue Origin boss billionaire Jeff Bezos. I am so affected. It’s extraordinary. Everyone has to do this. This was the second manned flight of the rocket from Jeff Bezos’ company. Blue Origin intends to establish itself as a key player in the coveted space tourism sector.
A ten-minute flight
The founder of Amazon was present on site this Wednesday morning. He had shaken hands with each of the passengers before they boarded the rocket, named New Shepard, and had himself closed the hatch of the capsule. Jeff Bezos also made the trip to space aboard this vehicle in July.
The rocket took off vertically, then the capsule detached in flight. Thus propelled, the machine passed the Karman line which determines, at an altitude of 100 km, the space border according to the international convention. She then began a free fall to fall back to Earth, slowed down in particular by three huge parachutes. In total, the flight lasted only ten minutes. A real quarter of an hour of glory.