Star Trek actor, 90, says ‘I hope I never recover from this’ after becoming oldest human in space on Jeff Bezos rocket New Shepard

The Star Trek actor William Shatner declared himself “overwhelmed” at becoming the oldest human in space, at the age of 90, during a brief but successful second crewed flight on Wednesday of Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket ship from the west Texas desert.

The Canadian, who for four decades played Captain James Kirk, the fearless commander of the USS Enterprise, broke down in tears at the landing site as he described to the private space company’s founder, the Amazon tycoon Jeff Bezos, the profundity of his almost 11-minute leap to the stars.

“I hope I never recover from this,” Shatner said following his touchdown in the company of three civilian crew mates.

“I’m so filled with emotion about what just happened. It’s extraordinary, extraordinary. It’s so much larger than me and life. It hasn’t got anything to do with the little green men and the blue orb. It has to do with the enormity and the quickness and the suddenness of life and death.

“To see the blue color whip by you, and now you’re staring into blackness … everybody in the world needs to do this. Everybody in the world needs to see this.”

In a tweet Shatner programmed to post during his flight, he likened himself previously as “a boy playing on the seashore … whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me”.

Jeff Bezos’ mom saved ‘Star Trek’ toys he made as a kid — William Shatner just took them to space.

The Amazon and Blue Origin founder lived out something of a childhood fantasy by launching Captain James T. Kirk — that is, the “Star Trek” actor who portrayed Kirk, 90-year-old William Shatner — to the edge of space in a Blue Origin New Shepard rocket.

But, that’s not all. In an Instagram post on Tuesday, Bezos revealed that Shatner would take a few special pieces of memorabilia along for the ride: a set of homemade cardboard “Star Trek” toys that the billionaire crafted when he was just 9 years old.