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At 90, William Shatner is finally going to space for real

The actor is heading where his alter ego, Captain Kirk, has already spent a lot of time.

Beam him up.

William Shatner will fly to space aboard Blue Origin rocket New Shepard NS-18, the company, founded by Jeff Bezos, announced Monday. The flight is expected to lift off Oct. 12 at 9:30 a.m. ET in West Texas.

“I’ve heard about space for a long time now. I’m taking the opportunity to see it for myself. What a miracle,” the former “Star Trek” star, 90, said in a statement.

Shatner is as synonymous with space as the stars in the sky. He started playing Captain Kirk on “Star Trek” in the 1966 TV series and also reprised the role in several films. He can currently be seen hosting “The UnXplained” on the History Channel.

Star Trek
Shatner, seen here as Captain Kirk on "Star Trek," is going where other men have gone before.CBS via Getty Images

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Shatner will join Audrey Powers, Blue Origin’s vice president of mission & flight operations, and two crewmates, Chris Boshuizen and Glen de Vries, on board New Shepard NS-18. Powers is also chomping at the bit for this adventure.

“I’m so proud and humbled to fly on behalf of Team Blue, and I’m excited to continue writing Blue’s human spaceflight history,” she said in a statement.

“I was part of the amazing effort we assembled for New Shepard’s Human Flight Certification Review, a years-long initiative completed in July 2021," she continued in her statement. "As an engineer and lawyer with more than two decades of experience in the aerospace industry, I have great confidence in our New Shepard team and the vehicle we’ve developed.”

While Shatner will become the oldest person to go to space, he will not be the first older adult to make that journey. In July, Wally Funk, 82, was aboard Blue Origin's first human flight with Bezos. Funk is part of the Mercury 13, a group of women who were testing to become astronauts in the 1960s, only to have the training canceled.

“I loved it,” she said after returning to Earth. “I want to go again, fast.”