The trip - alongside paying customers Chris Boshuizen and Glen de Vries, as well as Blue Origin executive Aubrey Powers - was delayed temporarily from yesterday after forecasted high winds at the Texas launch site prevented take off.
The New Shepard 18 rocket finally launched at 9:49 a.m. local time and the mission lasted about 10 minutes. The crew capsule reached an apogee of 347,539 feet above ground level with a maximum velocity of 2,235 mph.
Shatner, best known for playing Captain Kirk in the famous sci-fi series, spoke about being nervous ahead of the trip, suggesting that launching during extreme weather would be highly illogical.
“What you’ve given me is the most profound experience,” he said. “I’m so filled with emotion about what just happened. It’s just extraordinary. I hope I never recover from this. I hope that I can maintain what I feel now. I don’t want to lose it.”
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“At Blue Origin, we are motivated by the dreamers that inspire us and the builder who turn those dreams into reality. Today’s crew represented both dreamers and builders,” he said.
He specifically called out William Shatner for his role in “describing and imagining the wonders of the universe” and for inspiring “many of us to pursue a career in the space industry.”
“This flight was another step forward in flying astronauts safely and often,” Smith added. “It’s an incredible team and we are just getting started.”
The crew capsule reached an apogee of 347,539 feet above ground level with a maximum velocity of 2,235 mph.
The mission lasted 10 minutes and 17 seconds from the official launch to the capsule landing.
“We have four astronauts before you,” he said. “Welcome to a very small club.”
“Everybody in the world needs to do this. Everybody in the world needs to see,” Shatner said.
“It was so moving. This experience did something unbelievable,” he said.
“The covering of blue, this comforter of blue we have around us,” he said, describing the Earth. “You blast through the blue and then you’re into black.”
He described the “enormity” of the experience as the “suddenness of life and death,” describing the blue earth as “life,” the blackness of space as “death” and the speed of the launch felt like the “jeopardy of it all.”
Shatner thanked Bezos for giving him this opportunity to go to space.
“What you’ve given me is the most profound experience,” he said. “I’m so filled with emotion about what just happened. It’s just extraordinary. I hope I never recover from this. I hope that I can maintain what I feel now. I don’t want to lose it.”
The capsule hatch is open and crew members are greeted by their families as they step back on the Texas desert ground.
“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, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me,” Shatner said.
The capsule holding the crew is on its way down. The parachutes have been deployed as it descends back to Earth.
Legendary Star Trek actor William Shatner will be the oldest person to go to space, at age 90.
“The go poll is complete,” Blue Origin said.
Less than T-10 minutes until launch.
The launch clock still reads T-15 minutes.
“The depth of my desire to fly again is hard to express,” Jeff Bezos’ message read. The message then quotes lyrics from the song “Mr. Spaceman.”
“Hey, Mr. Spaceman. Won’t you please take me along? I won’t do anything wrong. Hey, Mr. Spaceman. Won’t you please take me along for a ride?”
Bezos ends his message to the crew, saying “God speed, New Shepard. I can’t wait to hear your stories.”
There was some speculation that he was going to join the flight. While Bezos was dressed in the blue flight suit, he will not be on this trip into space.
Finals checks are underway, according to Blue Origin.
The crew is all strapped into their seats, awaiting launch in T-24 minutes.
As they cross the bridge from the ready shelter, each member rings a bell.
But all is now okay, the company says, and the astronauts are now ready to make the ride to the rocket.
There are still at least 45 minutes before launch…
Sadly, John has yet to respond…
In seat one will be Blue Origin’s very own Audrey Power, who has overseen all the company’s New Shepard (NS) missions - today’s being NS-18. In seat three will be legendary Star Trek actor William Shatner, invited by Blue Origin and Jeff Bezos to take part in the journey. In seat four will be Dr. Chirs Boshuizen, previously a Space Mission Architect at NASA and paying passenger on the flight. In seat six will be Glen de Vries, co-founder of clinical trials software company Medidata, who is a paying passenger on the trip.
Approximately one third of the capsule are windows - something never achieved before which will offer passengers a mesmerizing view during their flight.
Fans of his have set up a website to track his journey to space and back - aptly named isglendevriesinspacerightnow.com - with them changing the status to yes just moments ago.
Abrams said the escapade was evidence that humans were becoming like the Ferengi—a fictional alien species that first appeared on Star Trek: The Next Generation and are defined by large ears, bumpy heads, and insatiable greed.
Last month, Abrams penned an essay that she said was written in conjunction with 20 other former and current Blue Origin employees, accusing the company of fostering a “toxic” work environment.
FULL STORY: Ex-Blue Origin Communications Head ‘Worried We’re Becoming Ferengi of Our Own Story’
Stay tuned to this blog to find out!
Follow Newsweek’s liveblog throughout Wednesday for all the latest on the launch…
