At 90 years (and 205 days old, to be exact), William Shatner went to space and became the oldest person (male) in space.
His experience left him, well, let's just say the opposite of speechless; upon landing from his
suborbital flight with Blue Origin, he could not stop gushing about his experience up in space (to the Karman Line) to Jeff Bezos, founder of Blue Origin.
Shatner's words were heartfelt, passionate and emotional, including:
"I hope I never recover, that I can maintain what I feel now. I don't want to lose it ... I am overwhelmed. I had no idea."
"I’m so filled with emotion about what just happened. It’s extraordinary, extraordinary."
The full video here below.
But just recently, with a new biography out by the Canadian actor, Boldly Go: Reflections on a Life of Awe and Wonder, excerpts from his book became headlines and almost statements of contradictions to what he expressed just a year ago following his Blue Origin flight, with almost negative-sounding recollections of his experience in space, including:
“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.” “My trip to space was supposed to be a celebration; instead, it felt like a funeral.”
What happened in that year on Earth since William Shatner experienced his flight to Space?
Photo to the left: Earthrise (1968). Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders recalled, "When I looked up and saw the Earth coming up on this very stark, beat-up Moon horizon, I was immediately almost overcome with the thought, 'Here we came all this way to the Moon, and yet the most significant thing we’re seeing is our own home planet, the Earth.'"
Men and women who go to space often experience the Overview Effect which is explained as: "The overwhelmingly beautiful sight of our Earth triggers a profound emotional response in most astronauts, leading to a cognitive shift, making them realize the global interconnectedness of all life and feel responsibility for the future of our planet... This experience has the attributes of self-transcendence and awe and is a remarkable example of a transformative experience."
That's what William Shatner seemed to have experienced initially upon landing back on Earth, but why does he speak of "sadness" and "funeral" now a year later?
Shatner includes these words in his biography:
“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.”
And so, I believe that that is exactly what Shatner continues to speak of: the Overview Effect!
Yes, Space is vicious, empty and cold, but also, yes, out tiny planet is very, very special, and the only home we've got!
Shatner himself adds that [the space trip]:
"...reinforced tenfold my own view on the power of our beautiful, mysterious collective human entanglement, and eventually, it returned a feeling of hope to my heart."
I have not read Shatner's book, and I have not been to space myself, so I can't speak for him, but I do sense his profound and powerful message, and ultimately, no matter how he saw Space (we would probably all see it differently), he did see Earth as a marvelously, beautiful, lively, nurturing planet - and that's the whole point: The Overview Effect.
Maybe if more of us experienced such an overwhelming sense of being surrounded by the darkness and emptiness of Space, maybe we would all care and do more for each other, and our home: the Earth.
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