Canadian actor and host of RT America William Shatner made a suborbital flight at the age of 90.

Thus, he became the oldest person to have been in space - previously 82-year-old Wally Funk had this title.

On Wednesday, October 13, Shatner, as part of the crew of the Blue Origin suborbital ship New Shepard, ascended to an altitude of over 100 km.

Together with him went into space vice president of the company for commercial space flights Audrey Powers, Australian entrepreneur Chris Boschuisen and microbiologist Glen de Vries.

Their flight lasted 10 minutes 17 seconds, about three or four minutes of them passed in a state of weightlessness.

This was the voyage of the RSS First Step today.

Its mission: encounter Earth from incredible views at apogee pic.twitter.com/Gzsnkv97K9

- Blue Origin (@blueorigin) October 13, 2021

As William Shatner said immediately after landing, the flight that took place "greatly excited him": "This experience is something incredible."

He also expressed his gratitude to Jeff Bezos, the American billionaire who owns Blue Origin.

According to him, Bezos gave him the most amazing experience he could imagine.

“I hope I never get over it.

I hope I can keep what I feel now, I don’t want to lose it, ”InoTV quotes him.

The other crew members of New Shepard's second suborbital flight were thrilled to be in space with the world-renowned actor James Tiberius Kirk, captain of the Starship Enterprise in the science fiction series Star Trek.

According to de Vries, the flight "with Captain Kirk" was "the ultimate testament to science fiction becoming science."

In turn, Bochuisen believes that Shatner's character from Star Trek is "the best representative of the future of humanity."

“So to fly (into space - 

RT

) with a real representative of what we can become on our planet - I think it's fantastic,” the entrepreneur explained.

European Space Agency cosmonaut Matthias Maurer also paid homage to the 90-year-old astronaut.

"I am impressed.

I mean, he is 90 years old, and he showed that someone at that age can actually fly into space, ”he said.

Later, William Shatner on his Twitter once again shared his impressions of the flight, citing Isaac Newton's thought about his significance and role in science.

“I don’t know how I appear to the world, but to myself I seem to be a little boy playing on the seashore and entertaining himself by looking for more equal pebbles or shells prettier than usual, while a huge unknown ocean of truth stretches in front of me,” the actor wrote.

I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, diverting myself in now & then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.🚀 pic.twitter.com/ZY2Ka8ij7z

- William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) October 13, 2021

We will remind, on July 12 on RT America the premiere of the author's program of William Shatner - "I Don't Understand" (I Don't Understand) took place.

In it, the 90-year-old presenter is looking for answers to questions about space and the structure of the universe.

“I thought a lot about the questions that we do not ask, although it would be worth it.

For example, how much stuff is flying in space?

I realized that I really didn't understand anything about this, and therefore I would ask questions that are not usually asked on television.

Let's see if we can go along the path of enlightenment together, ”he noted.

As Mikhail Solodovnikov, executive producer of the program and head of RT America, explained, the program is intended for intellectuals and anyone who wants to learn something new.

In addition to his role as Captain James Tiberius Kirk in the television series Star Trek, Shatner also hosted the popular American reality documentary 911 Rescue Service (1989-1996) and starred in the detective television series Colombo.

Over the years of his work in film and television, he has been repeatedly nominated for various awards, including two Emmy awards and one Golden Globe laureate.

Shatner's track record also includes the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Exceptional Achievement Medal.

In addition, he is the author of a series of books, including the New York Times bestselling The Ashes of Eden and The Return.

In 2016, his memoir about Star Trek co-star Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock won the Goodreads Choice Award.

Cinema in space 

On October 5, the Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft was launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome.

The crew included director Klim Shipenko, actress Yulia Peresild and cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, as well as a backup crew: cameraman Alexei Dudin, actress Alena Mordovina and cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev. 

During the flight, filming of the film "Challenge" - the first Russian game project, part of the work on which is being carried out on the ISS.

To find an actress for the main role, an open competition was organized in which everyone could take part, regardless of their type of activity.

The results of the competition were summed up in May 2021. 

Practical exercises in preparation for the flight made an indelible impression on Yulia Peresild.

“For me, one of the emotional, wonderful shocks was our weightless flights.

Unfortunately, it was only once, but 20 slides at once, with refueling.

It was wonderful ... Man flies!

Let it be 23 seconds, but you're flying! "

- Peresild remembered at a press conference on the eve of the flight.

Now the film crew is preparing to return to Earth.