he wont be exploring strange new worlds making first contact with new life forms or even ordering a crew to raise a starcrafts shields but william shatners historic flight into space wednesday will be extraordinary for science pop culture and the future of space travel according to experts the actor who beamed into television sets and movie screens over four decades as captain james t kirk will take part in an 11minute space flight aboard jeff bezos blue origins new shepard ns18 craft ive heard about space for a long time now im taking the opportunity to see it for myself what a miracle shatner said in a statement oct 4 william shatner takes questions from reporters after delivering the commencement address at new england institute of technology graduation ceremonies in providence ri steven senneap file while shatners flight is more about space tourism than science his trip into the final frontier will be remarkable for a variety of reasons according to those in the science community most importantly they say his flight will rekindle the imaginations of future space explorers more william shatner channels captain kirk for historic space flight i think shatner is very influential not only for the characters hes portrayed but also what he represents rachael d seidler a professor of applied physiology and kinesiology at the university of florida told abc news his flight shows that anyone can take part in space travel shatner wont be joined by any of his star trek costars for this away mission instead he will team up with several reallife scientists audrey powers blue origins vice president of mission and flight operations and a former nasa flight controller and engineer chris boshuizen the cofounder of satellite company planet labs and a former space mission architect for nasa and glen de vries the cofounder of medidata solutions a life science company will take part in the flight so now i can say something yes its true im going to be a rocket man william shatner williamshatner october 4 2021 at 90 years old shatner will be the oldest person to date to travel in space beating the record set by 82yearold wally funk during julys inaugural new shepard launch seidler said that she was thrilled to hear the news about shatners participation particularly as someone who has studied the effects of space travel on the human body and brain seidler said that shatners trip wont result in major changes to his body but will give scientists a clearer picture of how space travel affects older people its really interesting to think about as we expand the opportunities for space travel what would it be like for someone who is older to go into space for a long period of time she said from a nonscience perspective wednesdays launch brings space travel back into the public discussion according to other observers more the many roles of william shatner paul levinson a professor of media studies at fordham university