On October 13th (Vietnam time), a spacecraft from Blue Origin successfully returned to Earth, concluding its mission to send the oldest passenger into space.
This marks the second mission to send people into space by the aerospace company founded by American tech billionaire Jeff Bezos. The company aims to be a pioneer in the field of space tourism.
Actor William Shatner (second from left) with the crew members sent to space by Blue Origin on the morning of October 13, 2021 (U.S. time). (Photo: AFP/TTXVN).
During this journey, the New Shepard spacecraft from Blue Origin carried 90-year-old Canadian actor William Shatner, the oldest person ever sent into space. Accompanying Mr. Shatner were Blue Origin’s CEO Audrey Powers, Planet Labs co-founder Chris Boshuizen, and Glen de Vries, co-founder of the clinical research platform Medidata Solutions.
Sharing his feelings upon “touching down,” actor Shatner, known for his role as Captain James T. Kirk in the science fiction series Star Trek, declared this to be the most extraordinary experience he could imagine, a moment of immense pride.
The actor’s “excursion” into space departed at 9 AM on October 13 (U.S. time) from a Blue Origin site in West Texas after a one-day delay due to weather conditions.
According to the plan, the New Shepard spacecraft took Mr. Shatner and the crew to the Kármán line, recognized as the boundary between Earth’s atmosphere and space, approximately 100 km above the Earth. Here, the crew members enjoyed about 4 minutes of weightlessness and admired the view of Earth from above. Afterward, the entire crew returned to Earth and landed via parachute in a desert near the launch site.
