Some Celebrity In Space — And It Matters to The Whole World?
William Shatner went to space! Captain Kirk himself!
Oh sorry, I should’ve asked: Are you fed up with news about space tourism?
About billionaires battling each other on who is the first to fly tourists to space, has the more sustainable craft and things like that?
And if they have that much money to spare, why don’t they do something more useful with it?
At one point, I felt that way too.
It was exactly that feeling that led me to do the research and (spoiler alert) change my opinion about commercial space travel.
By the end of this post, you’ll know why.
First things first though: Who is William Shatner?
William Shatner is a Canadian actor and singer who is most famous for playing James T. Kirk, captain of the spaceship Enterprise that is on a five-year mission “to boldly go where no man has gone before”.
The original TV show, created in the 1960s, lasted only three seasons, and after it was canceled, William Shatner’s situation, well, it did anything but improve. He likes to recall the story of him living in a car because he couldn’t afford a home and watching the moon landing from it.
But Star Trek’s luck turned thanks to the fans and William Shatner and his fellow crew members went on to star in several feature films which led to the creation of a whole universe within today’s pop culture. (Where are the Trekkies?)
Up until last year though, none of all the people involved in creating this global phenomenon made it to space alive. (Small talk input: Show creator Gene Roddenberry and actor James Doohan who played chief engineer “Scotty” wished for their ashes to be taken into space. Their last wills were fulfilled.)
But how did William Shatner get to space now?
On 13 October 2021, William Shatner and three other participants went on a short trip to space in a Blue Origin rocket.
Blue Origin is a space flight company that was founded by Jeff Bezos (who also founded this online business called Amazon).
The rocket shot 67 miles straight up through the atmosphere and into space, allowing the participants to experience weightlessness for some 3 minutes.
The whole flight lasted just about 11 minutes, from ignition to touch down.
Jeff Bezos himself opened the door and welcomed “Captain Kirk” and the other “astronauts” back. He even had a bottle of champagne ready and sprayed the contents around as if he’d won a car race.
The only person not to join the celebration was William Shatner. He turned away and tried to compose himself. And when he did speak up, it was obvious that he still had trouble controlling his emotions as well as finding the most suitable words to describe what he’d just experienced.
Yes, he’s an actor and one might just call this acting. But personally, I don’t think it was. I’ve never met him in person, I’m not a Star Trek geek and I do believe this experience moved this person.
And then what?
In this interview, William Shatner himself admitted that he thought no one would really care about his space adventure.
Surprise: People all over the world were interested! He gave several interviews just days after the flight, and in one of them, even the interviewer stated that he had friends in Brazil who were talking about it.
Oh, and did I mention he now also holds the official world record for being the oldest male person to go to space at age 90?
Every time he talked about his space flight, he emphasized how intensely he perceived the fragility of Earth.
That the atmosphere is so thin. In a rocket, you blast through it in next to no time and suddenly you’re out in space, with “death” above and “life” beneath you.
He also referred to it as “the most profound” experience of his life.
He wishes that “everyone could see” what he’s seen and be moved by it.
Be inspired to do your part in protecting our planet.
And this is why it freakin’ does matter when a celebrity flies to space:
Because many people will listen to him.
Because people who might not believe scientists might believe this person they admire.
Because this person has, through his fans, been given the power
- to inspire others,
- to voice points of view different from what some people might want to hear and still get through to them,
- to drive change.
One could argue that humankind should rise above this state and I get that point.
But right now, things obviously work this way.
Equally obvious is that we humans have both the power to damage Earth and to make up for the damage we’ve caused already.
The more individuals we have that spur change in others, the better for our planet and consequently for ourselves.
That’s why it matters.
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