Elon Musk offers William Shatner well wishes ahead of Blue Origin spaceflight

The NS-18 mission will liftoff from Blue Origin's Launch Site One in West Texas

SpaceX founder Elon Musk has offered well wishes to William Shatner, who will become the oldest person to be launched into space following Blue Origin's NS-18 mission on Wednesday. 

"Godspeed Captain," Musk tweeted, referencing the 90-year-old actor's best known appearance as Captain James T. Kirk on Star Trek. 

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In addition to Shatner, Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket will carry the aerospace company's vice president of mission and flight operations Audrey Powers, former NASA engineer and Planet Labs co-founder Dr. Chris Boshuizen and Medidata co-founder and Dassault Systèmes' vice chair of life sciences and healthcare Glen de Vries. The two entrepreneurs had unsuccessfully bid for a seat on the previous flight with Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos' in July, according to The Associated Press, whereas Shatner was invited as a guest.

This undated photo made available by Blue Origin in October 2021 shows, from left, Chris Boshuizen, William Shatner, Audrey Powers and Glen de Vries. (Blue Origin via AP) (AP Newsroom)

During the flight, which will last for approximately 11 minutes, the crew will experience three to four minutes of weightlessness and travel above the Kármán Line, the internationally recognized boundary of space. 

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The NS-18 mission will liftoff from Blue Origin's Launch Site One in West Texas. You can follow live coverage of the spaceflight on Blue Origin's website and YouTube