Shatner's Crossing of the Karman Line to Space, the Final Frontier

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6S0ykPrxKE

I have always loved Star Trek, in pretty much all of its iterations on the big and little screens. I was probably more a Spock fan than a Kirk fan, and definitely more a Leonard Nimoy fan than a William Shatner fan. You hear the Hollywood talk of who is nice and not so nice, and, Mr. Shatner is not known for his warmth and generosity to his co-stars of the Original Series. Whether there is truth or not to these stories, alas, they have an effect on one's perception. And sometimes, as in my case living in the vestiges of the Dream Factory,  you know people who know people who reside near the "stars" and the reputation for getting along with neighbors is not exactly pristine. 

But you cannot help respect a man who has reinvented himself multiple times in making his living in the industry from his youth to 90 years old. Well, I can't anyway. To me, also, there is always a bit of a pleasure in the meeting of fiction (Captain Kirk) with reality (a trip to the edge of outer space, some 62 miles ABOVE the earth) with non-fiction, that is, the short but dramatic ride of the actor who played a Star Ship Captain in a rocket seeing the earth below and the darkness of space above. 

I hadn't really planned to watch any of it as it was occurring at 8 thirty or so Texas time, and 7 thirty mine, and I am not an early morning riser. But I just happened to wake up, and thought I'd watch. You Tube had a couple of channels devoted to the event live. What first caught my attention and to me was a mark of our rather dismal if not horrible times were the live comments being made by those with their feet on terra firma, mostly cracks about Shatner, about Jeff Bezos, about space, about the earth, nearly almost all smug and snide. Lots of talk about how this wasn't really a big deal, since it really wasn't space that Mr. Shatner was going to, and of course, lots of talk about his feuds that have become so public over the years. The usual comments about billionaires and the waste of time and money to think about outer space---that's a spirit that wouldn't have taken us out of the age before fire was invented.

We wouln't have all those darn space shows if people didn't look to the wonders of the universe outside of our own and seek to discover and coexist with them.

Lots of talk included his appearance. He's got a stomach, Mr. Shatner. He always battled his weight. Don't you? Don't I? And I don't know, how many 90 year olds do you think look as well as he does, or still rides horses, and shows them, and still works? And seems to enjoy it? Whatever else he is, he is one of the most alive people I have ever observed from afar. 

And to do what he did, at any age, particularly as the nay sayers were insisting that the rocket ship (which like five year olds people like to note is phallic) and process might be compromised, was extraordinary. I barely can fly in an airplane 30,000 feet up. I can't imagine being shot into space 62 miles up! I'd be dead just hearing about it. 

To me, and I know that my opinion doesn't matter, though I hope it is kinder than so much of what I saw this morning, this ordinary an, an actor, is to be admired for this thing he did. Now, I know, in this society, unless other human beings denominate that you are perfect, as they are perfect, you get torn down, both literally, if you are imaged in a statue, or figuratively, if you are a flawed person who happens to be in the public eye. 

I would love to have the courage that this man had to grab a piece of space and time that few men have or will ever do. This man has voyaged well. And it tickles my imagination. It's a nice moment in a really difficult time.