William Shatner, 90, who was set to become the oldest person in Space Tuesday shared his disappointment on the Good Morning Show after hearing the missions is now delayed until Wednesday due to poor weather.
‘I am deeply disappointed because I was building up the enthusiastic response and now I’ve got to wait another day, but as you said, is really worth it,’ Shatner said speaking with GMA host TJ Holmes, who highlighted the idea that it is just one extra day.
‘What’s a day with this extraordinary experience that we are about to have.’
Shatner, who is famed for his role as Captain James T. Kirk on ‘Star Trek’, is one of four individuals set to fly aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket on Wednesday – the mission was originally set for Tuesday, but poor weather caused a delay.
The crew, which also includes Chris Boshuizen, Glen de Vries and Audrey Powers, patiently waiting for their tip at Blue Origin’s astronaut village in West Texas.
Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket is now set to launch at 8:30am ET on Wednesday, when Shatner will take the title of oldest person in space from Wally Funk, 87, who flew aboard the New Shepard rocket in July.
Shatner and the crew – Chris Boshuizen (left), Glen de Vries (right) and Audrey Powers (2nd from right)- spoke to Good Morning America (GMA) on Monday about the delay and excitement to be a part of history
Shatner is set to become the oldest person in space when he and the other three members of the NS-18 rocket soar just beyond the Karman line, 62 miles high, where they will experience four minutes of weightlessness and gaze out at the curvature of the planet.
‘I plan to be looking out the window with my nose pressed against the window. The only thing I don’t want to see is a little gremlin looking back at me,’ Shatner said referring to his role on Twilight Zone’s ‘Nightmare at 20,000 feet.’
Along for the ride is Powers, Blue Origin’s vice president of mission and flight operations, who has spent years watching missions soar into space and now has the opportunity to take the journey herself.
‘It was a very generous offer from to me to represent all of my colleagues at Blue that have been working on this program for a very long time,’ Powers told Holmes.
The crew is patiently waiting for their tip at Blue Origin’s astronaut village in West Texas – Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket is now set to launch at 8:30am ET on Wednesday. Pictured is Shatner left and Boshuizen right
William Shatner (pictured) is one of four individuals set to fly aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket on Wednesday – the mission was originally set for Tuesday, but poor weather caused a delay
‘They offered me the opportunity to represent all of those great people and sit in the seat. I could not be more overwhelmed by the opportunity.’
Powers, who joined Blue Origin in 2013, oversees New Shepard flight operations, vehicle maintenance, and launch, landing and ground support infrastructure, and is also an attorney at the company.
Shatner (left) is famed for playing Captain James T Kirk in the original Star Trek series, and is pictured in the 1960s with his co-star Leonard Nimoy
According to GMA, there are only two paying customers on this journey: Boshuizen, co-founder of Planet Labs and partner at venture capital firm DCVC and de Vries, co-founder of Medidata.
It is not clear if Shatner and Powers have or have not paid for their seats.
Boshuizen, who has an estimated net worth approaching $30 million, was also the Space Mission Architect at NASA’s Ames Research Center between 2008 and 2012.
During this time he invented the Phonesat, which is a satellite built from a smartphone.
‘I’ve worked in space industry my entire life and I am excited the door is finally opening,’ Boshuizen said during the live interview.
Along for the ride is Audrey Powers, Blue Origin’s vice president of mission and flight operations, who has spent years watching missions soar into space and now has the opportunity to take the journey herself
According to GMA, there are only two paying customers on this journey: Chris Boshuizen (left) co-founder of Planet Labs and partner at venture capital firm DCVC and Glen de Vries (right, co-founder of Medidata
‘I think we will look back at this day 50 years from now and go this was the year the human race started going to space.’
Shatner is set to become the oldest person in space when he and the other three members of the NS-18 rocket soar just beyond the Karman line
de Vries, who co-founded Mediadata Solutions in 1999, said the spot on the New Shepard is a ‘dream come true.’
‘This is how innovation happens,’ he told Holmes.
‘I lived in it healthcare and life sciences when you think about an industry being created and the opportunity for us to fuel that industry, as Chris was saying this is the beginning of a new time for space.
‘We are on the beginning of a curve that is just going to blast off.’
Jeff Bezos, Blue Origin’s founder, is also in Texas ahead of the launch.
He and his girlfriend touched down Monday morning and shared a snap of them holding hands.
‘Boots on the ground in Texas for @blueorigin launch,’ Bezos shared in the caption. ‘Can’t wait!’
The mission follows Blue Origin’s first crewed flight on July 20, which saw the firm’s founder Jeff Bezos, his brother Mark, Dutch teenager Oliver Daemen and test pilot, Wally Funk, head into space.
At the time, Funk was the oldest person to ever fly to space at 82 years old.
The crew is pictured at Launch Site One for the first day of astronaut training
Pictured is the crew during training a they prepare to launch into space Wednesday
Picture is de Vries (left), Shatner (middle) and Powers (right) as they conduct training ahead of the mission
At 18 years old, Daemen became the youngest person, first teenager, and first person born in the 21st century to travel to space.
Oliver’s father, Joes Daemen, who founded private equity firm Somerset Capital Partners, bought the seat aboard the flight for over $20 million at auction.
Blue Origin may be on top of the world this week, but the company was recently dragged through the mud by more than two dozen employees who accused Bezos of creating a ‘toxic’ work environment where the company sacrificed safety to work at ‘breakneck speed’ in order to win the billionaire space race.
Bezos shared an image of him and Lauren Sanchez, his girl friend, as they head to Blue Origin’s launch site in Texas
In an essay published last month, Alexandra Abrams, the former head of Blue Origin Employee Communications, along with 20 employees said the priority was to ‘make progress for Jeff’ as he competed with Elon Musk and Richard Branson to make it to space first.
They claimed that the most common question at high-level meetings was: ‘When will Elon or Branson fly?’ and safety concerns were ignored because they would have ‘slowed progress’.
The mission follows Blue Origin’s first crewed flight on July 20, which saw the firm’s founder Jeff Bezos (2nd from right), his brother Mark (2nd from left), Dutch teenager Oliver Daemen (left) and test pilot, Wally Funk (right), head into space
More accusations surfaced Monday from a 2019 memo written by a a mid-level employee, The Washington Post reported.
‘Our current culture is toxic to our success and many can see it spreading throughout the company.’
The problems at the spaceflight company were ‘systemic,’ according to the memo, which was obtained by The Washington Post and verified by two former employees familiar with the matter, and ‘the loss of trust in Blue’s leadership is common.’