Star Trek Captain William Shatner Tears Up After Returning From Space

Shatner, who famously played Captain James T Kirk in the Star Trek franchise, hitched a ride with three others in the Blue Origin sub-orbital capsule, developed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

At 90 years of age, he became the oldest person to visit space - breaking the record set in July by 82-year-old Wally Funk - and he was overwhelmed upon landing back on Earth following the 10-minute flight.

Addressing Bezos, he said: "What you have given me is the most profound experience I can imagine.

"I'm so filled with emotion about what just happened. It's extraordinary.

"I hope I never recover from this. I hope that I can maintain what I feel now, I don't wanna lose it. It's so much larger than me and life."

He added: "Everyone in the world needs to do this.

"It was so moving to me. This experience has been unbelievable."

Prior to taking off, Shatner and his crewmates rang a silver bell before being strapped into the capsule, with Bezos closing the door behind them.

They were not required to wear helmets, with Blue Origin saying it wanted its passengers to have an unencumbered view of space.

Shatner was joined on the flight by Blue Origin vice president Audrey Powers, satellite company co-founder Chris Boshuizen and tech CEO Glen de Vries.

In a video posted on Twitter by Blue Origin ahead of his 'adventure', Shatner said: "I'm going up into space, I don't know how many people can say that.

"It's life-changing in its way - not because of the aerial adventure, but because of the people I'm meeting and talking with."

He continued: "We are just at the beginning, but how miraculous that beginning is. How extraordinary it is to be part of that beginning.

"There is this mystique of being in space and that much closer to the stars and being weightless.

"I shall be entranced by the view of space. I want to look at that orb and appreciate its beauty and its tenacity."