A new record to beat.
Canadian actor William Shatner, 90, known for playing Captain Kirk in the sci-fi
series Star Trek
, but also for his role as a murderous fallen actor in the crime drama
Colombo
, became Wednesday, October 13 the the oldest man to cross the stratosphere.
Nine minutes of flight, including three in space, with Chris Boshuizen, former NASA engineer, Glen de Vries, senior executive at Dassault Systèmes, and Audrey Powers, vice president in charge of flight operations at Blue Origin, the aerospace company founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos.
Read alsoJeff Bezos files a complaint against NASA and denigrates SpaceX
Passengers of the Blue Origin capsule, which was on its second trip after transporting the founder of Amazon on July 20, the four teammates joined the very closed club of space tourists, to which, among others, the billionaire Dennis Tito, very first belongs. "Space tourist" in 2001. Sent 100 kilometers from Earth, the altitude where space begins, William Shatner shared his
"emotion"
with Jeff Bezos after his landing in West Texas.
"What you have given me is the most profound experience I could imagine
," he echoed before suppressing a sob.
I am very emotional about what just happened. It's extraordinary. Extraordinary."
When you go through that blue layer and find yourself in the dark, that's where something really happens.
The blue envelope, this sheet, this blanket, this comforting blue that we have around us […] suddenly you slip through it, as if you were lifting a sheet while sleeping.
And you dive into that darkness, into dark ugliness.
You look down, there's blue at the bottom and black at the top.
There is Mother Earth, comfort, and there… Is it death?
I do not know.
Is this death?
William Shatner, getting off his flight
Taken in the arms by the billionaire, the actor expressed the wish
“never
[to]
recover from this”
.
“I hope I can keep what I feel. I don't want to lose this emotion.
"Before this outpouring, William Shatner tried to describe to his relatives, who came to welcome him, this experience of a few minutes:
" When you cross this blue layer and find yourself in the dark, this is where he is. something is really going on. The blue envelope, this sheet, this blanket, this consoling blue that we have around us
[…]
suddenly you slip through it, as if you were lifting a sheet while sleeping. And you dive into that darkness, into dark ugliness. You look down, there's blue at the bottom and black at the top. There is Mother Earth, comfort, and there… Is it death? I do not know. Is this death? Does she look like this?
[…]
It was so moving. This experience is something unforgettable. ”
Before the actor, the record for the oldest person to travel in space was held by former astronaut Wally Funk. At 82, she was part of Jeff Bezos' team when Blue Origin first launched. If these particular stories are good to tell, these takeoffs come in the context of a battle for influence waged by private aerospace companies. This competition has seen an acceleration in its media coverage since July 2021 when, in quick succession, the founder of the company Virgin Galactic, Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos themselves carried out the futuristic expedition.
This nice communication move is also a snub from the now ex-CEO of Amazon to detractors of space tourism.
In an interview with the BCC, Prince William himself was vehement, the day after the landing of the team, vis-à-vis the conquering initiatives of
"some of the greatest brains and minds of this world "
.
While the great climate conference (COP26) is due to be held in Glasgow from October 31, the grandson of Queen Elizabeth II called for focusing
"above all"
on the ecological peril, rather than
" try to find the next place to live ”
.
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