Star Trek actor William Shatner recently opened up about his trip to space on a Blue Origin flight and said that his experience "felt like a funeral" for Earth.
The 91-year-old became the oldest person to be blasted off to the edge of space on a Blue Origin rocket on October 13, 2021. Now, about a year later, the Hollywood actor has reflected on his voyage in his new book called 'Boldly Go: Reflections on a Life of Awe and Wonder'.
"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," Mr Shatner wrote in his book, an excerpt of which was published in Variety last week.
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Further, Mr Shatner said that while humans are confronted with the everyday destruction of Earth and the impending doom of climate change, seeing our planet from outer space raised concerns about the "interference of mankind".
"Every day, we are confronted with the knowledge of further destruction of Earth at our hands: the extinction of animal species, of flora and fauna ... things that took five billion years to evolve, and suddenly we will never see them again because of the interference of mankind. It filled me with dread. My trip to space was supposed to be a celebration; instead, it felt like a funeral," he said.
The actor also went on to say that he wasn't alone in experiencing this feeling, as many astronauts have often spoken of the "Overview Effect". "Essentially, when someone travels to space and views Earth from orbit, a sense of the planet's fragility takes hold in an ineffable, instinctive manner," Mr Shatner explained.
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"It can change the way we look at the planet but also other things like countries, ethnicities, and religions; it can prompt an instant re-evaluation of our shared harmony and a shift in focus to all the wonderful things we have in common instead of what makes us different," he wrote in the book.
Mr Shatner flew to the edge of space with three other passengers. The entire experience, from launch to landing, lasted around 10 minutes. The actor, who landed in a remote desert in Texas, stated that his trip to outer space was unlike anything he had ever seen.
