Shatner Left Saddened by Space Travel

One year after traveling aboard Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin rocket, William Shatner explains how the view of the earth from the edge of space made the actor realize how fragile the planet is.

Meg Godlewski

Monday, October 10, 2022 at 01:50 PM ET

Verified

William Shatner, here with Crew Member 7 Sarah Knights, traveled aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard.[Courtesy: Blue Origin]

Key Takeaways:

A year after his space flight, William Shatner, in his new book "Boldly Go," reveals that viewing Earth from space filled him with profound grief and sadness over the planet's fragility and humanity's environmental destruction.
Shatner's emotional reaction is identified as the "Overview Effect," a common phenomenon among astronauts who experience a deep, instinctive sense of Earth's vulnerability and the artificiality of human-made borders.
He describes his trip as feeling like a "funeral" rather than a "celebration," lamenting the loss of species and the ongoing destruction caused by mankind, reinforcing a strong environmental message.

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It has been a year since actor William Shatner, best known for his portrayal of Captain Kirk in the Star Trek franchise became the oldest living person to venture into space.

Shatner, then 90, was aboard Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket. After the return to earth, an emotional Shatner struggled to put feelings into words. Now he has done so. In his recently released book, Boldy Go: Reflections on a Life of Awe and Wonder, Shatner explains how the view of the earth from the edge of space made the actor realize how fragile the planet is.