In the 1968 Star Trek episode Return to Tomorrow, William Shatner declared that risk is part of our business. In a speech that was worthy of President John F Kennedy's real-life inspiration, his character Cpt James T Kirk led his crew through an imaginary potted story of human space exploration. He first visited the moon, then Mars, and then to the nearest star.
Star Treks writers made a bold gamble and Kirk explicitly praised Apollo for putting man on the Moon. This feat would not be achieved in real life until the next year. Star Trek, a show that was forged in the crucibles of the cold war, even though it featured a Russian navigator aboard the Enterprise's bridge, was tying its fictional future with the American space program.
Shatner, half a century later is now on his way to space, becoming the first Star Trek Captain to bravely travel to places only a handful of people have ever been. His current voyage, unless it is postponed due to weather conditions, comes not from Star Trek's utopian post-capitalist Federation, but rather Amazon boss Jeff Bezos' commercial space flight company Blue Origin.
Bezos is a long-time Star Trek fan. He had a cameo in Star Trek Beyond 2016, under heavy prosthetic makeup. Wally Funk, an 82-year old veteran of Nasas Mercury 13's program, was grounded in 1962 for her gender. She left Earth earlier this. Shatner, a 90-year-old energetic individual whose eccentric charm can sometimes be hard to discern from his space-faring alter-ego, is now following her lead and ready to seize her title as oldest human in space.
Star Trek: Star Trek: Leonard Nimoy plays Spock, and William Shatner plays Cpt. Kirk. Photo: CBS Photo Archive/CBS/Getty Images
This is only the latest chapter of a complex and complicated relationship between Star Trek Enterprise and real-world space exploration. Ford received thousands of letters asking him to name the Enterprise by the time the first spaceship was unveiled in 1976. Ford obliged and invited the entire Star Trek cast to the ceremony. According to legend, Shatner had previously performed a similar feat in which the new spaceship emerged from its hanger to the music of Alexander Courages's Star Trek theme. This was played with gusto by an Air Force band.
After Nichelle Nichols, Uhura actor, had delivered a powerful speech condemning the lack of diversity among Nasa astronauts, "Where are my people?" she demanded that the space agency place her on the payroll with the mission of helping to recruit a new crew for the Enterprise.
Nichols spent four years touring the country, doing grueling public engagements and undergoing astronaut training. She shrugged when she was asked how she had safely landed the shuttle on a complicated computer simulation. She had increased the agency's Black and ethnic minorities applications by more than 1,000 to over 35, and the number of women applying for jobs 16 times. Sixteen women and three Black men were able to make it to the last cohort. Among them was Sally Ride who became the first American woman to go into space.
Nichelle Nichols, Lt Uhura from the 1967 Star Trek series, is seen on the bridge. Photograph by CBS Photo Archive/Getty
Star Trek and Nasa continued their mutual support over the years. The 1979 movie Star Trek: The Motion Picture revealed that the mysterious antagonist VGer was actually one of the agency's Voyager probes. He had returned from a trip deep space and acquired a personality. The codename SPOC was given to Nasa's first laptop computer. It was sent to space aboard the Columbia four years later.
Star Trek made an official tribute to the three Nicholss employees who were killed in 1986's worst space disaster since Apollo 1 was set on fire at the launchpad. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home began with a title card that read, "The cast and crew of Star Trek want to dedicate this movie to the men and women on the spaceship Challenger whose brave spirit shall live until the 23rd Century and beyond."
Later, many Star Trek characters followed their lead postmortem. James Doohan, who was the role of Scotty, the chief engineer died in 2005. Some of his ashes were smuggled aboard to the International Space Station by Richard Garriott. In 2012, an urn with more of his remains was sent into orbit by the unmanned SpaceX Falcon 9. Gene Roddenberry (creator of Star Treks) and Majel Barrett (voice actor for Enterprise, among other Star Trek roles), have made a posthumous journey to the heavens.
Cpt. Kirk will now be with them, even if it's only temporarily. As smug and gregarious as ever, Shatner is as vivacious as ever. At least, until Star Trek's 23rd century vision, when space flight will be a human right, Shatner is all that remains.
He is, however, not the first Star Trek Star to reach space alive. Mae Jemison, an engineer, doctor, and astronaut, is the recipient of this honour. She was the first Black woman to reach space. Jemison, a long-time Star Trek fan, credited Nichelle Nickels for sparking her interest. She returned the favor in 1993 by appearing as Lieutenant JG Palmer on the Next Generation episode Second Chances.
Shatner will at least have one laurel wreath left to fall on. He is expected to be the oldest human to leave this planet, barring any rush of nonagenarian astronauts.
