William Shatner, who is a solid candidate for the title of ‘World’s Nicest Man’, travels to space a little later today. He’ll be making the trip on Blue Origin’s NS-18 mission along with three others — Blue Origin’s Audrey Powers, as well as Chris Boshuzien and Glen de Vries.
Following a brief delay, Blue Origin’s mission lifts off today — at 16:00 local time, if all goes well. And, of course, you can watch the beloved Star Trek icon and his crew head out beyond the Kármán line as it happens.
Watch Shatner boldly go
Blue Origin will be streaming the event live via its YouTube channel, as well as on other platforms and websites. You can watch it here, or directly on the Bezos-owned space company’s channel, in just a few short hours.
The stream starts at 14:30 local time, at T-minus 90 minutes. Should countdown go as planned, Captain Kirk and crew will blast off around 16:00 and return to Earth a few minutes later, none the worse for wear.
Blue Origin has had a run of bad luck in the press just lately, so it’s easy to be a little cynical about the company sticking James T. Kirk on a flight. But it’s Shatner, so the company has picked well. Positive attention is all they’re likely to get unless they do something horrible to the man before he gets back to this planet. Here’s hoping that all goes well.