How to Watch William Shatner Boldly Go Where No Shatner Has Gone Before

Blue Origin, the rocket firm based by Jeff Bezos, is scheduled to carry out its second crewed suborbital flight on Wednesday morning. William Shatner is coming alongside for the journey, which is simply becoming for the actor who performed Captain Kirk on Star Trek. Here’s how one can watch the launch.

Blue Origin flight NS-18 is scheduled to elevate off on Wednesday, October 13 at 8:30 a.m. EDT (13:30 UTC) from Launch Site One in west Texas. The launch was initially scheduled for Tuesday, however excessive winds pushed the date ahead by in the future.

Live feeds of the launch can be made obtainable on the Blue Origin website and on the Blue Origin YouTube Channel. We will publish a reside feed proper right here as soon as it turns into obtainable. Coverage is anticipated to begin roughly 90 minutes earlier than launch.

Should all go in line with plan, Shatner, 90, will grow to be the oldest individual to journey in area, even when it’s only for a couple of minutes. The present report belongs to 82-year-old Wally Funk, who set the mark earlier this yr throughout the identical flight that took Jeff Bezos to area. That stated, NASA astronaut John Glenn flew to area aboard the Space Shuttle on the age of 77, which nonetheless makes him the oldest astronaut in line with the FAA’s definition of the time period (tl;dr: to be an astronaut you truly should do one thing whereas in area, apart from gawking on the view).

After it was introduced that Shatner was becoming a member of the NS-18 flight, the actor admitted to being terrified. Speaking to reporters earlier this week, Shatner said he’s now feeling “comfortable, but also a bit uncomfortable.” Age, he stated, gained’t be an element, apart from having to get out and in the seats each earlier than and after launch.

“So unless you’re really supple, getting in and out of the seats…when we’re in gravity, is a chore,” Shatner stated. “But of course it’s designed [for us] to float out of the seat, in weightlessness.” Shatner is most wanting ahead to being in weightlessness, as all the pieces after that “should be all right.” To which he added: “And we’ll have that moment of inspiration, which I feel will be there when we’re looking into the vastness of the universe.”

Following the couple of minutes of weightlessness, Shatner and his crewmates will return to their seats and buckle up in preparation for re-entry. The capsule will descend with parachute help and make a delicate touchdown within the desert. The complete factor will final not than round quarter-hour.

NS-18 is poised to be simply the second crewed flight of New Shephard. On July 20, Blue Origin efficiently despatched firm founder Jeff Bezos, together with three others, to past the Kármán line—the brink of area in line with the International Aeronautical Federation. Flying at a most altitude of round 66 miles (106 km), Shatner can be joined by Chris Boshuizen, a former NASA engineer and co-founder of Planet Labs, Glen de Vries, the vice-chair of life sciences and well being care at French software program firm Dassault Systèmes, and Audrey Powers, Blue Origin’s vice chairman of mission and flight operations and a former flight controller with NASA.

For Bezos, the Shatner flight is serving as a well timed distraction. Blue Origin was just lately accused of fostering sexism on the office and pushing workers to their limits. Claims that the corporate has been favoring fast deployment over security considerations have now led to an FAA investigation. Blue Origin can also be embroiled in a authorized battle with NASA over a lunar lander contract that the corporate believes was unfairly awarded to SpaceX.