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Now 90, William Shatner will soon be the oldest person to ever fly in space.
Shatner, an actor who made history in his role as James T. Kirk, the very first captain of “Star Trek” in the original series, created in 1966, will fly in space soon and in doing so, write history. On October 12, Shatner will fly into space and return as a passenger on a suborbital flight aboard Blue OriginNew Shepard vehicle.
With this short jaunt, Shatner will become the oldest person to ever reach space.
Related: William Shatner’s Blue Origin launch on New Shepard: live updates
Following: Aviation pioneer Wally Funk, the oldest person in space, can’t wait to return
In recent months, the legendary aviator Wally funk, one of the famous “Mercury 13“, as they were later dubbed, held the title of the oldest person to fly in space. At 82, she made her first space flight as a passenger in Blue’s New Shepard vehicle. Origin with the company’s first crewed space flight on July 20.
Funk, in turn, broke NASA astronaut John Glenn’s previous record. Glenn, who in 1962 became the first American to orbit the Earth as well as the third American in space as part of NASA Mercury project, became the oldest person to reach space in 1998. At the age of 77, he flew into space as a payload specialist with the STS-95 space shuttle mission from NASA aboard Space Shuttle Discovery.
Other notable age records in space are held by Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson, who at 71 became the oldest man in a suborbital spaceflight with the first space flight in the company’s crew, Unity 22, launched July 11; and Peggy Whitson, who still holds the title of the oldest woman to ever fly on an orbital space flight. In 2017, Whitson turned 57 on a 289-day mission aboard the International Space Station.
Email Chelsea Gohd at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @chelsea_gohd. Follow us on twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
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