Jeff Bezos‘s space travel company, Blue Origin, will launch the second passenger flight on its New Shepard rocket from West Texas on Wednesday. The New Shepherd’s passengers include Star Trek actor William Shatner, who is set to become the oldest person to travel to space, a record previously created by 82-year-old aviator Wally Funk when he flew on the rocket’s first crewed flight in July alongside Bezos and his brother.
Shatner, who became a cultural icon with the role of Captain James T Kirk in the “Trek” universe, will be accompanied by Blue Origin’s vice president of mission and flight operations, Audrey Powers, and two paying customers: Chris Boshuizen, a co-founder of satellite company Planet Labs, and software executive Glen de Vrieson.
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The flight, originally set to take off from Blue Origin’s launch facilities in West Texas at 8:30 am CT on Tuesday, was delayed by 24 hours due to rough winds in the area.
The space outing will last for only 10 minutes. Shatner and other passengers will be strapped inside a capsule atop the 60-foot-tall rocket, which will fly about 66 miles (106 kilometers) before its descent to Earth. Shatner’s flight will be filmed as part of a documentary.
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Blue Origin has conducted more than a dozen uncrewed test flights of New Shepard. The company says anyone can fly on the spacecraft with only a few days of light training, if they are 18 years of age or older, between 5’0″ and 6’4″ in height and between 110 pounds and 223 pounds in weight. The New Shepherd passengers must also be able to climb seven flights of stairs in a minute and a half and fasten and unfasten a seat harness in less than 15 seconds. They are also required to spend an hour and a half strapped into the capsule with the hatch closed and withstand up to 5.5G in force during descent, according to Blue Origin’s website.