Contrary To Song, Shatner Is No Rocketman

We admit this next story has only the thinnest ties to the aerospace community... but it was simply too ironic to pass up.

William Shatner, the 75-year-old actor best known for portraying Captain James T. Kirk on the evergreen "Star Trek" television series, has turned down an offer to fly onboard Virgin Galactic's first suborbital passenger flight in 2008.

Why? He is too scared.

"I'm interested in man's march into the unknown but to vomit in space is not my idea of a good time," said Shatner to the Daily Mail. "Neither is a fiery crash with the vomit hovering over me."

(Note: There are few ways to guarantee your words will be selected for ANN's Quote of the Day feature -- but combining the words "fiery" and "vomit" in the same sentence certainly improves your odds -- Ed.)

"I do want to go up but I need guarantees I'll definitely come back," Shatner added.

That's perfectly understandable... although for a free ticket into space (valued at $215,000), we'd expect the man best known for uttering the phrase "to seek out new life and new civilizations... to boldly go where no one has gone before" to, well, suck it up.

After all... Shatner never faced situations as frightening as Sigourney Weaver, star of the "Alien" movies, did... but she's already booked her space on the flight.

In the end -- and contrary to his oft-maligned rendition of the classic Elton John song -- William Shatner is no "rocketman" after all. But Captain Kirk's reach will still extend into the stars, even if the actor who portrayed him won't.

That's right... Virgin's first spaceship will be called the "Enterprise."

FMI: www.virgingalactic.com