Jewish-Canadian actor William Shatner, 90, is about to set a new record in his career. The Star Trek actor is heading off to space alongside Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos in October, TMZ reported Saturday.
While Shatner’s most iconic character, Star Trek’s James T. Kirk, may have made fictional Starfleet history by becoming its youngest-ever captain, the real-life actor will be doing the opposite by boldly going where no man of his age has gone before.
Shatner no longer stars as Kirk in Star Trek media but has remained the face of the franchise. He has also recently released a music album, titled Bill, available on Amazon.
It is unclear why Shatner would be boarding the 15-minute-long flight. According to TMZ, there is potential for a documentary in this saga.
Yet Shatner has expressed a desire to head into space before. Back in 2020, after the successful return of a team of astronauts following a flight by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Shatner tweeted a picture of himself in a spacesuit and the caption LAUNCH AMERICA, writing “BTW @NASA – just in case, the suit does fit!”
BTW @NASA - just in case; the suit does fit! #LaunchAmerica #AstroBill pic.twitter.com/Wa9DuV08Vt
— William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) May 20, 2020
It also follows the first successful all-civilian flight into space, showing just how accessible space travel is becoming to non-astronauts.
If he accompanies Bezos, Shatner would be the oldest person to ever leave the atmosphere. As of now, the current record-holder is Wally Funk, an 82-year-old test pilot who accompanied Bezos on his July flight.
However, if he does go to space with Bezos, one question remains: Who is footing the bill?
Space travel is becoming more accessible but is still incredibly expensive, and Bezos is known to keep this price tag high. In the July Blue Origin flight, the last civilian seat was auctioned off for an astronomical $20 million. Will Shatner pay the out-of-this-world price tag out of pocket to fly out of this world?
The Jerusalem Post has reached out to Shatner for comment.