William Shatner reveals he felt ‘overwhelmed’ while looking down at earth as oldest person in space: ‘It was an enormous moment for me that I never expected’
- Shatner played Captain Kirk in the original Stark Trek television series that aired from 1966 to 1969 and in the first seven Star Trek movies
- The actor and newly minted astronauts Chris Boshuizen, Glen de Vries and Audrey Powers, ventured 351,186 feet above Earth’s surface where they spent three minutes in weightlessness
- They were captured floating weightlessly in wonder and excitement as they looked down on Earth
- Once Shatner, who is now the oldest person to go to space, made it back to terra firma he came back with a message: ‘What we’re looking down upon is Mother Earth and it needs protecting in the world needs to see this’
- NS18 took off at 10:49am ET, but was back on the ground by 10:59am ET and although the trip lasted for just 10 minutes and 17 seconds, the crew will likely remember it for a lifetim e
William Shatner got deep while discussing his record-setting trip into space on Thursday on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
The 90-year-old actor best known for portraying Captain James T. Kirk in the Star Trek franchise appeared remotely on the NBC talk show after Jimmy, 47, introduced him as being ‘officially an astronaut’.
‘Oh, my god. An astronaut. We’re not really, you know. Astronauts really go up and they do things. We’re half-astronauts,’ quipped Shatner, who became the oldest person to fly to space on Wednesday.
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Record setter: William Shatner got deep while discussing his record-setting trip into space on Thursday on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Fallon said he really loved how Shatner came out of the Blue Origin sub-orbital capsule and his interaction with Jeff Bezos, 57.
‘You come down. You land in this desert thing. You come out of the capsule. Jeff Bezos comes over. Then he comes in with champagne. And he’s like, “Whoo-hoo!” And you go, “No. Hey. No, not now, buddy absolutely not. I don’t want the champagne. I’ve got to think about what just happened,’ Fallon said.
‘Well, you know, the whole effect of going into space and seeing what very few people have seen. And there is no frame of reference. How do you describe weightlessness? How do you describe seeing palpable darkness, blackness of space where there is no filter of dust or dirt or reflections of light? It’s there. It’s like hanging there. It’s evil. It seems like the monster,’ Shatner said.
‘And then you look down and you see this precious thing. This warm, nurturing Earth and you see death and life and you descend and then you’re overwhelmed by the possibility of the Earth ending in a short while. And your life is in front of you,’ he added.
TV voyager: ‘Oh, my god. An astronaut. We’re not really, you know. Astronauts really go up and they do things. We’re half-astronauts,’ quipped Shatner, who became the oldest person to fly to space on Wednesday after starring as Captain James T. Kirk in the Star Trek franchise
https://youtube.com/watch?v=VFBPVvpnTnc%3Frel%3D0%26showinfo%3D1
Shatner said the message from the transcendental experience was a wake-up call about what’s really important.
‘The planet is going to be inundated unless we do something about it. I mean really bad and we got to do something about it. And what are we going to do about it? What are we going to do with my life? So all those deep things that we should be thinking about every so often, we need to be reminded. And that moon shot, that thing, that did it to me. And I was overwhelmed by all the things we need to do and the loves and the losses. It was an enormous moment for me that I never expected,’ Shatner said.
Shatner also brought up his new album Bill that was released last month and Jimmy asked if he still planned on writing a song about his space trip.
Deep things: ‘So all those deep things that we should be thinking about every so often, we need to be reminded. And that moon shot, that thing, that did it to me. And I was overwhelmed by all the things we need to do and the loves and the losses. It was an enormous moment for me that I never expected,’ Shatner said
Iconic: Shatner played Captain Kirk in the original Stark Trek television series that aired from 1966 to 1969 and in the first seven Star Trek movies
He revealed that he spoke with his producing partners before his trip about writing a song about going into space.
‘When I came down I said, “Toss out everything we talked about going up there and having that experience is nothing like what you hear about,’ Shatner said.
Shatner played Captain Kirk in the original Stark Trek television series that aired from 1966 to 1969 and in the first seven Star Trek movies.
Famous role: Shatner played Captain Kirk in the original Stark Trek television series that aired from 1966 to 1969 and in the first seven Star Trek movies
The previous day there was new footage showing Shatner marvel at his view of Earth from his mission to space aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket.
Shatner and newly minted astronauts Chris Boshuizen, Glen de Vries and Audrey Powers, ventured 351,186 feet above Earth’s surface where they spent three minutes in weightlessness.
They were captured floating weightlessly in wonder and excitement as they looked down on Earth.
A clip of the epic journey shows Shatner and crew adjust to their new conditions, with Shatner seemingly taken aback by being weightless and repeating ‘oh, Jesus’ while his fellow crew members played around with floating toys.
The previous day there was new footage showing Shatner marvel at his view of Earth from his mission to space aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket
Shatner and crew were captured floating weightlessly in wonder and excitement as they looked down on Earth
Shatner’s younger crewmates took turns looking out the window upside down
Shatner is captured saying ‘no description can equal this,’ while looking outside a window at the amazing view of Earth
Eventually Shatner adjusts and is heard laughing joyfully and says ‘no description can equal this,’ while looking outside a window at the amazing view of Earth.
His crewmates seem just as overjoyed, giggling and repeating ‘this is nuts!’ and ‘holy hell!’ while Shatner just looks at them with a look of astonishment, uttering ‘oh wow.’
While his younger crewmates took turns looking out the window upside down, the 90-year-old Shatner pulled his face as close to the window as possible to soak in the once-in-a-lifetime view.
Star Trek actor William Shatner returned to the landing pad of Blue Origin’s New Shepard after his historic trip to space on Wednesday
Star Trek actor William Shatner waves at the crowd at the landing pad of Blue Origin’s New Shephard after he returned to earth following his trip to space
Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket blasts off on mission NS-18 carrying “Star Trek” actor William Shatner and 3 other passengers for a suborbital flight
Once Shatner, who is now the oldest person to go to space, made it back to terra firma he came back with a message: ‘What we’re looking down upon is Mother Earth and it needs protecting in the world needs to see this’.
‘That point of view is you’re looking down on the earth and looking up into space but you’re also looking up at the future and looking down at the past,’ he said during a post-flight press briefing on Wednesday afternoon.
NS18 took off at 10:49am ET, but was back on the ground by 10:59am ET and although the trip lasted for just 10 minutes and 17 seconds, the crew will likely remember it for a lifetime.
Trek actor William Shatner is all smiles after returning from his trip to space on Wednesday
ue Origin vice president of mission and flight operations Audrey Powers walks with Star Trek actor William Shatner after the 90-year-old returned from space
Blue Origin’s New Shepard is pictured flying toward space carrying 90-year-old Star Trek actor William Shatner and three other civilians on Wednesday
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