Star Trek's William Shatner On His Plan To Boldly Go Into Space

In an interview with Gayle King on 'CBS Mornings,' Star Trek's William Shatner talks about his plan to boldly go into space, becoming the oldest person to do so. He's planning to launch to the final frontier on Wednesday, courtesy of Jeff Bezos and his rocket company Blue Origin. CBS News reports: Shatner joked that he'll be able to brag about the age record. But he said his actual motivation was 'to have the vision. I want to see space. I want to see the Earth. I want to see what we need to do to save Earth.' 'I want to have a perspective that hasn't been shown to me before,' he said. 'That's what I'm interested in seeing.'

Shatner will eclipse Funk's record by eight years and John Glenn's mark before that by 13. 'I'm looking forward to the whole thing,' Shatner told CNN's Anderson Cooper. 'Imagine being weightless and staring into the blackness and seeing the Earth, that's what I want to absorb.' But he added, smiling: 'Things like that go up and boom in the night. It's a little scary, I'll tell you.' The most difficult challenges for 90-year-old Shatner likely will be climbing the seven flights of stairs required to reach the gangway to board the New Shepard capsule and then enduring more than five times the normal force of gravity during descent. But Funk had no problems, and Blue Origin officials presumably expect the same for Shatner.

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