William Shatner’s Actually Pulling A Captain Kirk And Heading To Space On A Bezos Ship

The first time Jeff Bezos flew into space (in a, uh, interestingly shaped rocket), he brought a cowboy hat. For his next flight, the Amazon founder is kicking things up a notch by doing what no man as done before: Launching Captain Kirk into actual space.

William Shatner, who played the classic starship captain on TV’s original Star Trek, has been confirmed as a passenger on Blue Origin’s second flight in October. Shatner will ride the New Shephard capsule to touch the edge of space, which will technically mean he bested Tom Cruise as the first actor to leave the Earth’s stratosphere. What a time to be alive. Via TMZ:

We’re told Shatner will be on board in October for the 15-minute civilian flight — similar to the last launch. What we don’t know — BUT WHAT WOULD BE AWESOME — is if he wears his Capt. Kirk getup.

Our sources say the mission will be filmed for a documentary. We’re told Shatner’s people were talking to Discovery about the special, but that didn’t materialize … but our sources say Shatner and Co. have taken the project elsewhere and are in negotiations.

Hopefully, those negotiations don’t involve RT, the Kremlin propaganda network where Shatner’s latest show, I Don’t Understand, can be currently seen. The actor was heavily criticized for working with the Russian network, and as has been his M.O. lately, TV’s Captain Kirk spent an entire day in July lashing out at his critics on Twitter.