North StarsRichard Branson: William Shatner declined a trip to space because he ‘is scared of flying’
“Captain Kirk is scared of flying.”
No, that's not a joke. Virgin Group's Richard Branson dropped the bomb in an interview with the U.K. Sun last week.
The British billionaire businessman, whose company Virgin Galactic plans to kick off space tourism next year, revealed that Canadian actor William Shatner declined his invitation to board one of the first commercial space trips.
The 82-year-old Montreal native, who is famous for playing "Star Trek's" Captain Kirk, turns out to be very unlike his alter ego.
“He actually said he's frightened of airline travel, which is slightly disillusioning,” Branson told the Sun, according to ET Canada.
In fact, Shatner did admit back in 2011 that he was "scared" of flying to space. He said Branson offered him a $200,000 spot on board but that the entrepreneur couldn't guarantee that Shatner would be returned safely.
"He wanted me to go up and pay for it and I said: 'Hey, you pay me and I'll go up. I'll risk my life for a large sum of money,'" the "Star Trek" alum explained. "But he didn't pick me up on my offer."
So much for going where no man (except trained astronauts) has gone before.
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