Sat, Sep 09, 2006
Contrary To Song, Shatner Is No Rocketman
We admit this next story
has only the thinnest ties to the aerospace community... but it was
simply too ironic to pass up.
William Shatner, the 75-year-old actor best known for portraying
Captain James T. Kirk on the evergreen "Star Trek" television
series, has turned down an offer to fly onboard Virgin Galactic's
first suborbital passenger flight in 2008.
Why? He is too scared.
"I'm interested in man's march into the unknown but to vomit in
space is not my idea of a good time," said Shatner to the Daily
Mail. "Neither is a fiery crash with the vomit hovering over
me."
(Note: There are few ways to guarantee your
words will be selected for ANN's Quote of the Day feature -- but
combining the words "fiery" and "vomit" in the same sentence
certainly improves your odds -- Ed.)
"I do want to go up but I need guarantees I'll definitely come
back," Shatner added.
That's perfectly understandable... although for a free ticket
into space (valued at $215,000), we'd expect the man best known for
uttering the phrase "to seek out new life and new
civilizations... to boldly go where no one has gone before" to,
well, suck it up.
After all... Shatner never faced situations as frightening as
Sigourney Weaver, star of the "Alien" movies, did... but she's
already booked her space on the flight.
In the end -- and contrary to his oft-maligned rendition of the
classic Elton John song -- William Shatner is no "rocketman" after
all. But Captain Kirk's reach will still extend into the stars,
even if the actor who portrayed him won't.
That's right... Virgin's first spaceship will be called the
"Enterprise."
More News
Aviation Governance Secured...At Least For a While The National Business Aviation Association similarly applauded the passage of the FAA's recent reauthorization, contentedly recou>[...]
Emphasis On Growing The Future of Aviation Through Concentration on 'AFFORDABLE FLYERS' It's been a number of years since the Latest Edition of Jim Campbell's HUGE SportPlane Resou>[...]
Amazilia Aerospace GmbH, Develops Digital Flight Control, Flight Guidance And Vehicle Management Systems Textron eAviation has acquired substantially all the assets of Amazilia Aer>[...]
Honeywell's Primus Brings New Tools and Niceties for Hawker Operators Hawker 4000 business jet operators have a new installation on the table, now that the FAA has granted an STC f>[...]
Company Celebrates Niche-but-Important Advancement in Industry Standards Echodyne has announced full integration of its proprietary 'EchoFlight' radar into the e American Aerospace>[...]