William Shatner to Make Suborbital Flight with Blue Origin

Blue Origin has announced the crew for its next suborbital space flight, and the manifest includes actor William Shatner.

“I’ve heard about space for a long time now. I’m taking the opportunity to see it for myself. What a miracle.”

William Shatner

Yes, Captain Kirk is finally going to space, though maybe not where no one has gone before.

The crew will also include Audrey Powers, Blue Origin’s Vice President of Mission & Flight Operations, and Chris Boshuizen and Glen de Vries for the NS-18 flight which is scheduled to lift off from Launch Site One on October 12.

William Shatner, now 90, will become the oldest person to fly above the Karman line. He originated the role of “Captain James T. Kirk” in 1966 for the television series Star Trek. The series spawned a feature film franchise where Shatner returned as Captain Kirk in seven of the Star Trek movies, one of which he directed. He has long wanted to travel to space. “I’ve heard about space for a long time now. I’m taking the opportunity to see it for myself. What a miracle,” Shatner said.

Audrey joined Blue Origin in 2013 and oversees all New Shepard flight operations, vehicle maintenance, and launch, landing, and ground support infrastructure. In collaboration with New Shepard’s Safety & Mission Assurance team, Test & Flight Operations, Chief Engineers, and external partners, Audrey played a lead role in the multi-year process to certify New Shepard for human flight.

Dr. Chris Boshuizen's career has been dedicated to pushing the boundaries of space and igniting youth excitement in pursuing careers in STEM. He co-founded Planet Labs (Planet) in 2010 and served as the CTO for five years. Under his technical leadership Planet became the first company to commercially utilize nanosatellites, and now—having launched over 450 satellites—provides daily, global mapping of our changing planet from space.

Glen de Vries co-founded Medidata Solutions in 1999, the world’s most used clinical research platform. The company’s software has powered over 25,000 clinical trials with more than seven million patients in every therapeutic area, from vaccines to cancers and rare diseases. He is the Vice Chair of Life Sciences and Healthcare at Dassault Systèmes, which acquired Medidata in 2019. Glen serves as a Trustee of Carnegie Mellon University, is the author of “The Patient Equation,” and is an instrument rated private pilot.

But the launch may take place under a cloud of controversy. The FAA has confirmed that it will open an investigation into safety concerns expressed by a group of current and former Blue Origin employees in an essay posted to the website Lioness.

The essay was written by Alexandra Abrams, Former Head of Blue Origin Employee Communications. In the essay, Abrams and 20 other current and former Blue Origin employees accuse the company, and founder Jeff Bezos, of a corporate culture that is "toxic" to women, lack of concern for the environment, and cutting corners that could affect the safety of its spaceflights.

"Many of this essay’s authors say they would not fly on a Blue Origin vehicle," the essay states. "We have seen a pattern of decision-making that often prioritizes execution speed and cost reduction over the appropriate resourcing to ensure quality. In 2018, when one team lead took over, the team had documented more than 1,000 problem reports related to the engines that power Blue Origin’s rockets, which had never been addressed."

Lioness updated the page on September 30 with a statement from Blue Origin:

"Ms. Abrams was dismissed for cause two years ago after repeated warnings for issues involving federal export control regulations," the company said. "Blue Origin has no tolerance for discrimination or harassment of any kind. We provide numerous avenues for employees, including a 24/7 anonymous hotline, and will promptly investigate any new claims of misconduct. We stand by our safety record and believe that New Shepard is the safest space vehicle ever designed or built."

(Source: Blue Origin news release and Lioness website. Image courtesy Blue Origin)