To oldly go: Shatner, 90, inspires with real-life space trip

As William Shatner prepares to be beamed up at age 90 for his first real-life space flight, he’s bringing out the awe in people around a rural Texas spaceport

VAN HORN, Texas -- As William Shatner prepares to be beamed up Wednesday for his first real-life space flight, and to become at 90 the oldest person ever to enter the final frontier, he's bringing out the awe in the small handful of people around a rural Texas spaceport.

Shatner's 10-minute trip with three crew mates on the second manned flight from Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin will be more like the first space launches of the 1960s than the fictional galactic voyages of the Starship Enterprise on “Star Trek,” but the very idea of him leaving the atmosphere is powerful.

“It’s time Captain Kirk actually physically got up into space. I’m kind of excited about that,” said Becky Brewster, mayor of Van Horn, a rural town of about 1,800 people on what was once desolate desert ranchland in far West Texas that has been transformed by the presence of the Blue Origin spaceport facilities 25 miles away.

The mayor, a lifelong “Star Trek” fan, said she was disappointed she wasn't invited to the launch site but is savoring the moment anyway. She's planning to watch from her backyard with the livestream playing.