现年90岁的威廉·夏特纳William Shatner将于下周乘坐“蓝色起源”火箭飞往太空

“是的，这是真的；我要成为一个‘火箭人’！”

路透社

2021年10月4日下午12：07

0评论

佛罗里达州卡纳维拉尔。柯克船长下周将进军太空，大胆地前往其他科幻演员没有去过的地方。

杰夫·贝佐斯的太空旅行、蓝色起源公司周一宣布，《星际迷航》的演员威廉·夏特纳将于10月12日从西德克萨斯州起飞前往卡曼线。

“是的，这是真的；我要成为一个‘火箭人’！”这位90岁的老人在推特上说。他补充说：“现在体验新事物永远都不晚。”

贝佐斯是亚马逊的创始人，他是这个科幻系列的超级粉丝，甚至在2016年的电影《星际迷航超越》中客串过一个高级外星人。他邀请夏特纳飞行。

夏特纳将成为前往太空的最年长的人。他将和另外三个人乘坐一艘蓝色起源太空舱，其中两个是付费客户。如果俄罗斯不在周二向国际空间站发射一名女演员和一名电影导演，进行近两周的电影制作，他就是第一个前往太空的电影明星。

相比之下，夏特纳将只持续10分钟的飞行，高度甚至不超过66英里（106公里）--国际卡曼线。太空舱将降落回离它起飞不远的沙漠地面。

所以现在我可以说点什么了。是的，这是真的；我要成为一个“火箭人！”https://t.co/B2jFeXrr6L

今年7月，维珍银河公司将创始人理查德·布兰森和其他五个人一起带到了太空的边缘，9天后又有了贝佐斯的太空跳跃。与此同时，埃隆·马斯克的SpaceX上个月推出了第一批私人机组人员——一名宾夕法尼亚州企业家购买了为期三天的航班，并带走了两名比赛获胜者和一名癌症幸存者。

维珍银河公司的飞船从一架飞机上发射，需要两名飞行员。蓝色起源和SpaceX的太空舱是全自动的，但乘客必须通过医疗检查，并且能够快速爬上发射塔的几级台阶到达太空舱——或者在紧急情况下离开太空舱。

这将是蓝色起源的第二次载人发射。

贝佐斯于7月20日首次飞行。他带着来自荷兰的18岁的男孩和82岁的航空先驱沃利·芬克——太空中最年轻、最年长的飞行员。夏特纳将打破这个记录。

“我关注太空之旅已经很长时间了。我将利用这个机会自己去看看。夏特纳在一份声明中说。

从1966年到1969年，夏特纳在三季剧中扮演企业号星舰的指挥官。他还在七部电影中扮演了柯克船长，并导演了其中一部。他目前是历史频道节目《The UnXplained》的主持人和执行制片人。

与夏特纳一起飞行的还有：一名前美国宇航局工程师，他创立了一家小型卫星公司，也是一家专门从事临床研究的软件公司的联合创始人。两人参加了第一次航班的座位拍卖，耗资2800万美元；蓝色起源公司没有透露任何其他机票价格。

该航班的第四个座位将给蓝色起源公司的任务和飞行运营副总裁。

上周，20多名现任和前任蓝起源员工，指责这家总部位于华盛顿肯特郡的公司在有毒的工作环境下操作，也没有遵守安全协议。蓝色起源公司表示，它无法容忍骚扰或歧视，并坚持了安全记录。

贝佐斯的公司还在挑战美国宇航局授予SpaceX的合同，因为马斯克提供了一个月球着陆器，将在几年内让宇航员返回月球。蓝色起源公司未能竞标这份工作。

William Shatner, 90, will fly to space next week aboard Blue Origin rocket

“Yes, it’s true; I’m going to be a 'rocket man!'”

REUTERS

Oct 4th 2021 at 12:07PM

0 comments

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Captain Kirk is rocketing into space next week — boldly going where no other sci-fi actors have gone.

Jeff Bezos’ space travel company, Blue Origin, announced Monday that “Star Trek” actor William Shatner will blast off from West Texas on Oct. 12.

“Yes, it’s true; I’m going to be a 'rocket man!'” the 90-year-old tweeted. He added: “It’s never too late to experience new things.”

Bezos, the founder of Amazon, is a huge fan of the sci-fi series and even had a cameo as a high-ranking alien in the 2016 film “Star Trek Beyond." His rocket company invited Shatner to fly as its guest.

Shatner will become the oldest person to go to space. He’ll join three others — two of them paying customers — aboard a Blue Origin capsule. He would have been the first actor in space if Russia weren't launching an actress and a film director to the International Space Station on Tuesday for almost two weeks of moviemaking.

Shatner's flight, by comparison, will last just 10 minutes and reach no higher than about 66 miles (106 kilometers). The capsule will parachute back to the desert floor, not far from where it took off.

So now I can say something. Yes, it’s true; I’m going to be a “rocket man!” https://t.co/B2jFeXrr6L

— William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) October 4, 2021

With flights short or long, space tourism is picking up steam fast.

Virgin Galactic carried founder Richard Branson to the edge of space with five others in July, followed nine days later by Bezos' space hop. Elon Musk's SpaceX, meanwhile, launched its first private crew last month — a Pennsylvania entrepreneur who bought the three-day flight and took along two contest winners and a cancer survivor.

Virgin Galactic's ship launches from an airplane and requires two pilots. Blue Origin and SpaceX's capsules are fully automated, but the passengers must pass medical screenings and, among other things, be able to quickly climb several flights of steps at the launch tower to get to the capsule — or out of it in an emergency.

This will be Blue Origin’s second launch of a crew.

Play

Bezos was on the debut flight on July 20. He took along his brother, an 18-year-old from the Netherlands and 82-year-old aviation pioneer Wally Funk — the youngest and oldest to fly in space. Shatner will break that upper threshold by eight years.

"I’ve heard about space for a long time now. I’m taking the opportunity to see it for myself. What a miracle,” Shatner said in a statement.

Shatner played the role of the USS Starship Enterprise's commander for three seasons, from 1966 to 1969. He also portrayed Captain Kirk in seven movies, directing one of them. He's currently the host and executive producer of a History Channel show, “The UnXplained.”

Also flying with Shatner: a former NASA engineer who founded a nanosatellite company and the co-founder of a software company specializing in clinical research. The two took part in the auction for a seat on the first flight. That seat cost $28 million; Blue Origin isn't divulging any other ticket prices.

A fourth seat on the flight is going to Blue Origin's vice president of mission and flight operations.

Last week, more than 20 current and former Blue Origin employees accused the Kent, Washington-based company of having a toxic work environment and not adhering to proper safety protocols. Blue Origin said it doesn’t tolerate harassment or discrimination and stood by its safety record.

Bezos' company is also challenging a NASA contract award to SpaceX for providing a lunar lander that will return astronauts to the moon in a few years. Blue Origin was unsuccessful in its bid for the job.