William Shatner Reveals Going to Space Wasn't What He Thought It Would Be: 'Beauty Isn't Out There'

William Shatner is getting candid about his experience.

The 91-year-old Star Trek star revealed his true thoughts about his voyage to space on Jeff Bezos‘ Blue Origin space shuttle in his new book, Boldly Go: Reflections on a Life of Awe and Wonder.

In one passage, he wrote about the Blue Origin space shuttle on October 13, 2021, which made him the oldest living person to travel into space.

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“I had thought that going into space would be the ultimate catharsis of that connection I had been looking for between all living things—that being up there would be the next beautiful step to understanding the harmony of the universe,” he began.

“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,” he wrote.

“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. Every day, we are confronted with the knowledge of further destruction of Earth at our hands: the extinction of animal species, of flora and fauna…things that took five billion years to evolve, and suddenly we will never see them again because of the interference of mankind. It filled me with dread. My trip to space was supposed to be a celebration; instead, it felt like a funeral.”

William Shatner went on to say that he learned he wasn’t alone in the feeling, and that many have experienced it.

“It is called the ‘Overview Effect’ and is not uncommon among astronauts, including Yuri Gagarin, Michael Collins, Sally Ride, and many others. Essentially, when someone travels to space and views Earth from orbit, a sense of the planet’s fragility takes hold in an ineffable, instinctive manner. Author Frank White first coined the term in 1987: ‘There are no borders or boundaries on our planet except those that we create in our minds or through human behaviors. All the ideas and concepts that divide us when we are on the surface begin to fade from orbit and the moon. The result is a shift in worldview, and in identity.’” Head to Variety for the full excerpt.

Find out who is no longer going to space.