When it comes to traveling high above the Earth, William Shatner would rather keep his feet on the ground.
Virgin Galactic‘s Richard Branson revealed that Shatner turned down a chance to go on one of the first commercial space trips offered by Branson’s company.
“He actually said he’s frightened of airline travel, which is slightly disillusioning,” said Branson. “Captain Kirk is scared of flying.”
Shatner explained why he had no desire to go into space several years ago. “I’m interested in man’s march into the unknown but to vomit in space is not my idea of a good time,” he said. “Neither is a fiery crash with the vomit hovering over me.”
But a fear of space travel may not be all that kept Shatner from accepting the trip from Branson, and had the conditions been right, Shatner might have gone after all. “He wanted me to go up and pay [the $200,000 for the trip] and I said: ‘Hey, you pay me and I’ll go up. I’ll risk my life for a large sum of money. “But he didn’t pick me up on my offer.”
