Remember when Jeff Bezos went to space thanks to his new company, Blue Origin? There was little that a gazillionaire could do to make himself seem more like a villain than nickel and dime his vast army of employees, while launching himself away from them and the Earth itself.
Blue Origin could really use some good publicity. The thing this enterprise needs, then, is a face. A big name. Somebody that everyone can root for. Tom Hanks was just the face of COVID so he’s certainly out, but William Shatner will reportedly go to space at the behest of Jeff Bezos. This, per TMZ, which says it’s all but a done deal. Shatner will have his own glimpse at the pale blue dot from above via the New Shepard’s next flight. Launch date sometime in October.
Listen, Shatner has earned it. All told, the guy has spent more time in fake space than most actors have. The original Star Trek was three seasons, plus there was the animated one voiced by Shatner, and he reprised his role as Captain Kirk for several films. Plus, he’s owed something, I guess, for enduring a lifetime of overzealous Trekkies and Kirk impressions, which he doesn’t appear to relish. At 90, he’d be the oldest man to go to space, TMZ notes, and that’s something, isn’t it? Isn’t it something?
The whole thing is reportedly to be filmed for an unnamed documentary project, but there’s another documentary-like project that bears mentioning here. Singer and former child star Demi Lovato has spoken once again about their encounter with extraterrestrials while promoting Unidentified With Demi Lovato, an upcoming Peacock series. They were in Joshua Tree and there was this blue orb. Here’s Demi: “I basically saw this blue orb that was about 50 feet away, maybe less, and it was kind of like floating above the ground, just like 10 or 15 feet, and it was kind of keeping its distance from me.”
“It was a beautiful and incredible experience,” they said, not for the first time.
This is all to say that Shatner doesn’t have to go all the way to space to see something extraordinary. Joshua Tree is right there.
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