「カーク船長」俳優、９０歳で宇宙へ　米ブルー・オリジン発表

【ワシントンＡＦＰ＝時事】米富豪ジェフ・ベゾス氏の宇宙開発企業ブルー・オリジンは４日、同社が今月１２日に打ち上げる宇宙船に、１９６０年代の米人気ＳＦドラマ「スター・トレック／宇宙大作戦」でジェームズ・Ｔ・カーク船長を演じたカナダ人俳優ウィリアム・シャトナーさん（９０）が搭乗すると発表した。史上最高齢で宇宙に行く人物となる。（写真は２０１７年９月、米カルフォルニア州ハリウッドで開かれたイベントに参加した俳優ウィリアム・シャトナーさん）
　元祖「スター・トレック」シリーズは１９６６年から３シーズンしか放送されなかったが、大衆文化に大きな影響を与え、１０本以上の映画や複数の関連ドラマを生み出した。シャトナーさんは「宇宙については、かなり前から話に聞いていた。それを自分の目で確かめる機会を得られるとは、なんという奇跡だ」とのコメントを寄せている。
　フライトは約１０分間で、宇宙船は地球の大気圏と宇宙空間との境界線とされる高度１００キロメートルの「カーマンライン」をわずかに越えたところまで到達する。成功すれば、シャトナーさんはスター・トレック俳優陣の中で初めて宇宙を旅することになる。
　ただしそれは、「存命中」の出演者に限った場合の話だ。２００８年に国際宇宙ステーション（ＩＳＳ）を訪れたある宇宙旅行者は、スター・トレックでモンゴメリー・スコット機関長を演じた故ジェームズ・ドゥーアンさんの息子が考案した計画に基づき、ドゥーアンさんの遺灰をひそかにＩＳＳに持ち込み、床の下に隠したことを明らかにしている。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】

〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/10/05-12:32）

Blue Origin on Monday confirmed William Shatner, who starred as Captain James T. Kirk in the original Star Trek series, will fly to space October 12 aboard the company's crewed rocket, becoming the oldest ever astronaut.
I've heard about space for a long time now. I'm taking the opportunity to see it for myself. What a miracle, said the 90-year-old Canadian actor in a statement.
The science fiction television show aired for only three seasons starting in 1966, but was hugely influential in popular culture and has spawned more than a dozen movies and several spin-off series.
It was notable for the utopian vision of its creator Gene Rodenberry, who imagined a future where by the 23rd century humanity had put aside its divisions and united with other peaceful space-faring civilizations.
Shatner, as Kirk, commanded the U.S.S. Enterprise on a five-year mission to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.
His actual voyage to space will be far shorter: about 10 minutes, in a flight that will take the crew just beyond the Karman line, 62 miles (100 kilometers) above sea-level. They're also unlikely to encounter alien foes such as Klingons.
If successful, Shatner will become the first Star Trek actor to reach the final frontier -- with the important caveat while living.
The ashes of fellow Star Trek actor James Doohan, who played the Enterprise's chief engineer Montgomery Scotty Scott, were smuggled aboard the International Space Station in 2008 and remain under its floor cladding, according to the space tourist who carried out the plot devised by the actor's son.
- Work culture allegations -
Blue Origin also announced the identity of the remaining passenger, Audrey Powers, the company's vice president of mission and flight operations.
Powers worked as an engineer for almost a decade before becoming a lawyer, Blue Origin said.
As a guidance and controls engineer, she was a flight controller for US space agency NASA with 2,000 hours of console time in mission control for the International Space Station Program.
They will join Chris Boshuizen, a former NASA engineer and co-founder of Planet Labs, and Glen de Vries, a co-founder of clinical research platform Medidata Solutions, on the sub-orbital flight.
The news comes as Bezos's company is under a cloud of allegations relating to a toxic work culture with rampant sexual harassment.
The claims, firmly rejected by Blue Origin, were outlined in a lengthy blog post signed by Alexandra Abrams, the company's former head of employee communications, last week.
The post said it also represented the views of 20 other workers and ex-workers in various divisions who wanted to remain anonymous.
Abrams and her co-authors further alleged the company had a pattern of decision-making that prioritized speedy rocket development over safety, and that several of them would not feel safe in the company's New Shepard spaceship.
Blue Origin responded by saying Abrams was dismissed two years ago after warnings over issues involving US export control regulations, adding it would investigate any new claims of misconduct.
Bezos, one of the world's wealthiest men, his brother Mark, aviation pioneer Wally Funk, and paying customer Oliver Daemen flew into space on Blue Origin's first crewed flight on July 20 from the company's base in west Texas.