Last year, Canadian actor William Shatner, the unforgettable interpreter of Captain Kirk in “Star Trek”, made a real trip to space. An extraordinary experience from which he came out angry.
Almost a year ago today, October 13, 2021, William Shatner, the famous Captain Kirk of Star Trek, was on a real trip to space. Boarded on a Blue Origin rocket, a company owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, it stayed in the air for 11 minutes, climbing to an altitude of 100 kilometers.
Today, the 91-year-old Canadian actor recalls this extraordinary experience in detail in the book. Go Boldly: Reflections on Fear and the Amazing Life, Of which Variety’s website was able to obtain an exclusive excerpt. An experience that allowed him to become the oldest person in history to travel in space, and from which he came away upset.
After finding himself in weightlessness, William Shatner says he turned around and looked into space. But this great enthusiast of the mysteries of the universe, who thought he was confused, was disappointed. “When I looked in the opposite direction, in the direction of space, there was no mystery, no glorious fear… I saw only death.”– says the actor.
“I saw a cold, dark, black void. It was unlike any darkness you’d ever seen or felt on earth.”he continues. “It was deep, encompassing, all. I turned to the light of home, the earth. I could see the curve of the earth, the beige of the desert, the white of the clouds and the blue of the sky. C. It was life. Nourishment, support, life. Mother Earth and I was leaving her.”
“Everything I believed was wrong. Everything I saw was wrong”– he says again. “I thought that going to space would be the ultimate catharsis of this connection that I was looking for between all people. That being up there would be the next beautiful step to understanding the harmony of the universe. (. . .) I had a different experience because I discovered that beauty is not up there , but here, with all of us. Leaving it all behind made me feel more deeply connected to our little planet.”
“It was one of the most intense pain experiences I’ve ever had”admits the Canadian actor. “The contrast between the coldness of space and the nourishing warmth of Earth caused great sadness. Every day we are faced with the knowledge of a new destruction on earth that is in our hands. (…) Things that took five billion years to develop. And suddenly we won’t see them anymore because of human intervention. This filled me with fear. My trip to space was supposed to be a party, but it was like a funeral.”
And William Shatner will finally be upbeat after this experience, which left him somewhat depressed: “It can cause us to instantly re-evaluate our common harmony and focus on all the wonderful things we have in common, instead of what separates us. (…) Maybe it gives us a chance to dedicate our planet, to each other, to the life around us, and to love. If We will be able to use this chance.”
William Shatner: Captain Kirk from “Star Trek” went to space!
Source: allocine
Emily Jhon is a product and service reviewer at Gossipify, known for her honest evaluations and thorough analysis. With a background in marketing and consumer research, she offers valuable insights to readers. She has been writing for Gossipify for several years and has a degree in Marketing and Consumer Research from the University of Oxford.
