William Shatner has opened up about his feelings after boarding Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket for a trip to space.
The 91-year-old Star Trek actor previously hit the headlines after teaming up with billionaire Jeff Bezos to fulfill his dream of traveling to space.
After his wish came true, however, the space enthusiast couldn’t help but succumb to an “overwhelming” feeling of sadness and appreciation for our planet.
As an excerpt from the Hollywood star’s new memoir reveals, Shatner suffered one of the “strongest feelings of grief” while in space, whereas he compared the unique experience to a funeral.
The excerpt, which was originally published by Marianne Williamson of Variety, shared a deeper insight into Shatner’s outer space experience and comes a year after the actor was seen breaking into tears upon exiting the Blue Origin rocket.
“I had thought that going into space would be the ultimate catharsis of that connection I had been looking for between all living things – that being up there would be the next beautiful step to understanding the harmony of the universe,” Shatner penned.
Comparing his experience to that of Jodie Foster’s character in the movie Contact, the actor went on to admit that his experience wasn’t all that heavenly and mesmerizing.
“I had a different experience, because I discovered that the beauty isn’t out there, it’s down here, with all of us. Leaving that behind made my connection to our tiny planet even more profound,” he added.
“It was among the strongest feelings of grief I have ever encountered. The contrast between the vicious coldness of space and the warm nurturing of Earth below filled me with overwhelming sadness.”
The excerpt ends with Shatner admitting that the trip to space left him “filled with dread” and that it felt more like a funeral than a celebration.
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