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Blue Origin's spaceship has captured a new video of William Shatner, a 90-year old actor, gazing at the Earth below in awe.
Shatner was Captain James T. Kirk, the space-exploring commander in Star Trek for decades. The TV star took a cosmic journey into space on Wednesday morning. He flew 62 miles above Earth aboard Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket, and reached the edge of space. He became the oldest person to reach space with this feat.
William Shatner poses wearing a Blue Origin flight suit. Blue Origin
Shatner, along with three other passengers, experienced approximately three minutes of weightlessness at the end of the 11-minute flight. They were Glen de Vries (a healthcare entrepreneur), Chris Boshuizen (former NASA engineer), and Audrey Powers, Blue Origin's vice President of mission and flight operations.
Blue Origin shared video of those moments on Twitter Wednesday afternoon. The space capsule captured the moment passengers slipped from their seats and floated around.
"This is crazy!" Powers exclaimed. Powers exclaimed.
Shatner, on the other hand, flipped around and floated about while the others passengers looked at the Earth below.
He said, "No description could equal this."
Shatner still tried to describe the thin line of Earth’s atmosphere after the capsule had safely parachuted back to Earth.
"Look at the beauty in that color. It's so thin. It's so thin that you can get through it in a flash," he said to Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos. "Suddenly you're out of the blue and into black.
Shatner said, "You're looking in blackness, into black uglyness. When you look down, there is the blue and the black. There's Mother Earth, comfort and death. I don't know. Is this death? Is this the way death is?
He wiped his eyes and covered his face after a post-flight reflection.
Many astronauts who have seen Earth from space describe overwhelming feelings of awe and unity with humanity as well as an appreciation for our fragile planet. This is known as the "overview effect" by experts.
"I feel so emotional about what just occurred. It's amazing," Shatner said to Bezos. "I wish I never recover from it. I wish I could keep what I feel right now. It's something I don’t want to lose."
