William Shatner Just Got Some Bad News About His Space Flight
William Shatner's space flight is already off to a bumpy start as the Star Trek actor gets some bad news about the upcoming event.
The man who went where no man had gone before is going to have to wait just a little bit longer to go where over 500 people have gone before. William Shatner’s trip into space has been put on hold for something that would never stop an Enterprise voyage: the weather.
At the end of September, TMZ published an unconfirmed report that William Shatner was campaigning to get on Blue Origin’s next launch of New Shepard, which previously brought billionaire Jeff Bezos into orbit and back. A week ago, the reports were confirmed with New Shepard scheduled to launch with Shatner aboard tomorrow: Tuesday, October 12. But on Sunday Blue Origin announced (via Deadline) that the launch has been delayed due to “forecasted winds.”
William Shatner hopefully won’t have to wait too long to finally scratch the surface of the place where his signature character spent most of his work days. With tomorrow’s launch scrapped, Blue Origin is now targeting Wednesday, Octonber 13 for launch. Shatner is still set to be on board along with along with Blue Origin’s Vice President of Mission & Flight Operations Audrey Powers, Chris Boshuizen, and Glen de Vries. Yesterday, the Star Trek actor posed with the rest of the crew for a photo and shared the image on Twitter, referring to himself and the others as “adorbs,” which is likely not a word Captain Kirk used very often when referring to Spock, Bones, etc. You can see the tweet below.
According to what William Shatner told fans this past weekend at New York Comic Con, the delay is likely going to give him extra time to worry. Shatner admitted to, understandably, feeling scared about his upcoming trip into space. The actor told the crowd, “I’m terrified. I’m Captain Kirk, and I’m terrified. I’m not really terrified — yes I am. It comes and goes like a summer cold.” He added that once he arrives in space he plans to put his “nose against the window” and that he hopes he won’t see anyone “looking back.”
Apparently, some Blue Origin employees think William Shatner may have reason to be scared. Only a couple of weeks ago, employees of the aerospace company posted a public essay (via The Verge). Along with allegations describing a toxic work environment “rife with sexism,” the essay’s writers say that, in order to stay ahead in the Billionaire Space Race, Blue Origin has cut some corners as far as safety is concerned.
TMZ’s original report on the space flight claimed William Shatner was hoping to make a documentary of the experience. The site said Shatner had gone to Discovery with the idea but had struck out. There’s been no confirmation about the documentary aspect of the story but considering Shatner’s already directed a number of documentary films, it’s certainly feasible. With his space flight confirmed, it would seem inevitable he’d be able to find a home for the potential documentary. This is only speculation, but with all the Star Trek content there, Shatner’s space doc could potentially be the perfect content for Paramount+
Weather permitting, William Shatner is scheduled to be aboard New Shepard for its 18th mission on Wednesday, October 13, 8 AM CDT. The launch will take place at Launch Site One in West Texas. Coverage will begin streaming at Blue Origin‘s website an hour and a half before launch.
