TEXAS, USA — William Shatner has made history as the oldest person to go to space following a successful suborbital flight aboard Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket.
The Canadian actor, most well known for his role in "Star Trek" as Captain James T. Kirk, secured a seat on the Jeff Bezos-backed space company's second suborbital sightseeing flight.
After a successful flight and safe landing, Shatner tweeted, "I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, diverting myself in now & then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truther lay all undiscovered before me."
“I’ve heard about space for a long time now. I’m taking the opportunity to see it for myself. What a miracle,” Shatner said.
New Shepard's 18th mission was originally scheduled to lift off on Oct. 12 from Launch Site One in West Texas. However, due to weather, the launch has been pushed back to 10 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 13.
Several holds pushed back the launch to closer to 10:45 a.m. ET.
In a statement on its website, Blue Origin said the vehicle and astronauts were ready to go. It was windy conditions that caused the issue.
"NS-18 remains go for launch tomorrow, October 13 from Launch Site One in West Texas. Liftoff is now targeted for 9:00 am CDT / 14:00 UTC with live coverage beginning at T-90 minutes. The shift in launch target is due to forecasted winds at vehicle rollout. Weather currently looks good for launch," Blue Origin said.
Now that he has safely landed, Shatner becomes the oldest person to head beyond the Earth's atmosphere at 90 years old.
That title was previously held by aviation pioneer Wally Funk who at 82 took her long-overdue ride to space with Bezos on Blue Origin's inaugural flight.
Other than being TV's most famous starship captain, Shatner has been no stranger to the space industry. In 2020, he joked with NASA on Twitter about the Commercial Crew Program's historic Crew Dragon flight with SpaceX saying, "BTW @NASA - just in case; the suit does fit!"
Space lovers were given a hint by Shatner earlier this year about his potential to venture into space during a July Comic-Con panel with NASA.
"There's a possibility that I'm, gonna go up for a brief moment, come back down," he said before adding he has some fear about it given space-related accidents of the past.
Shatner has also shared his thoughts on the billionaire space race between Branson and Bezos. During an interview with NBC News, Shatner said "It's their money. They can do what they want with it."
The 90-year-old will be joined on board by three other crew members and thousands of postcards from Club for the Future, a Blue Origin foundation.