J. Fingas@jonfingasOctober 13th, 2021In this posting: William Shatner, news, gear, spaceflight, house, Star Trek, Jeff Bezos, New Shepard, Blue Origin, tomorrowBlue Origin
It really is formal: immediately after a lot of hype and a slight delay, William Shatner has turn into the oldest man or woman to fly to room. The 90-yr-previous Star Trek icon was a person of four crew members aboard Blue Origin’s NS-18 mission as it flew to an altitude of 66 miles. He edged out 82-12 months-previous aviation pioneer Wally Funk, who set the earlier age history just a few months earlier.
The New Shepard flight also included Blue Origin VP Audrey Powers, Earth Labs co-founder Dr. Chris Boshuizen and Medidata co-creator Glen de Vries. This is the next of 3 crewed missions Blue Origin has planned for 2021.
This is an vital instant for spaceflight, not to point out sci-fi supporters. It displays that age is just not a lot of a restriction for short trips to house, and fulfills the goals of any individual who preferred to see Captain Kirk go to the remaining frontier in serious life — even if he wasn’t helming a starship.
With that reported, it is also a well timed public relations raise for Blue Origin. Jeff Bezos’ personal spaceflight outfit is now grappling with accusations of a poisonous get the job done surroundings, not to mention the fallout of its authorized tussle with SpaceX around NASA’s Moon mission contract. Shatner’s prosperous vacation will not absolutely distract from those people issues, but it could possibly give Blue Origin a likelihood to emphasize some achievements at a time when many are targeted on its shortcomings.
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