Winds delay Blue Origin's space launch with Shatner

[October 11, 2021]    (Reuters) - Jeff Bezos' space company Blue Origin said on Sunday it had pushed this week's launch target of its New Shepard vehicle to Wednesday, delaying "Star Trek" actor William Shatner's sojourn to the edge of space by a day.

William Shatner tours the launch tower with Blue Origin's Sarah Knights at Launch Site One near Van Horn, Texas, U.S. in an undated still image from video. Blue Origin/Handout via REUTERS

"Due to forecasted winds on Tuesday, October 12, Blue Origin's mission operations team has made the decision to delay the launch of NS-18 and is now targeting Wednesday, October 13," the company said in a statement.

Best known as Captain Kirk in the original "Star Trek" television series, Shatner will be part of a four-person crew aboard the suborbital NS-18 mission.

The 90-year-old actor is flying as a guest of Blue Origin, but the company has said that it has also sold nearly $100 million in tickets to paying customers.

Blue Origin, which had a successful launch  with Bezos in July, said that the mission operations team confirmed the vehicle met all requirements and astronauts began their training on Sunday.

(Reporting by Vishal Vivek in Bengaluru, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)

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