To boldly go: Star Trek's Shatner to rocket into space

TEXAS: Captain Kirk is rocketing into space next week — boldly going where no other sci-fi stars have gone.

Jeff Bezos' space travel company, Blue Origin, announced on Monday (October 4) that "Star Trek" actor William Shatner will blast off from West Texas on October 12.

Bezos, the founder of Amazon, is a huge fan of the sci-fi series and even had a cameo as a high-ranking alien in the 2016 film "Star Trek Beyond." His rocket company invited Shatner to fly as its guest.

Shatner will become the oldest person to go to space.

He'll join three others - two of them paying customers - aboard a Blue Origin capsule.

He'll wind up being the second actor to reach space this month: after Russia launched an actress and a film director to the International Space Station on Tuesday (October 5) for almost two weeks of moviemaking.

Shatner's flight, by comparison, will last just ten minutes and reach no higher than about 66 miles (106 kilometers). The capsule will parachute back to the desert floor, not far from where it took off.

This will be Blue Origin's second launch of a crew.

Bezos was on the debut flight on July 20. He took along his brother, an 18-year-old from the Netherlands and 82-year-old aviation pioneer Wally Funk — the youngest and oldest to fly in space. Shatner will break that upper threshold by eight years.

"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 in a statement.

Shatner played the role of the USS Starship Enterprise's commander for three seasons, from 1966 to 1969. He also portrayed Captain James T. Kirk in seven movies, directing one of them.

He's currently the host and executive producer of a History Channel show, "The UnXplained."

The ashes of two other "Star Trek" powerhouses — creator Gene Roddenberry and actor James Doohan, who played Scotty — rocketed into space years ago following their deaths.

Also launching with Shatner: a former NASA engineer who founded a nanosatellite company and the co-founder of a software company specializing in clinical research.

The two took part in the auction for a seat on the first flight. That seat cost $28 million; Blue Origin isn't divulging any other ticket prices.

A fourth seat on the flight is going to Blue Origin's vice president of mission and flight operations, who used to work for NASA as a space station flight controller.

A Blue Origin spokeswoman said Shatner, like the others, met all the company's health and physical requirements.