Captain Kirk And Sir Richard Branson Tell Different Stories As To Why

The actor who so boldly went to far-flung planets and battled Klingons and Romulans firmly grounded on a sound stage in California has declined an opportunity to fly on Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo ... but actor William Shatner and Virgin Galactic's Sir Richard Branson tell very different stories as to why the actor won't be taking a sub-orbital flight.

Branson says it's because Shatner is afraid to fly. The U.K. newspaper the Sun quoted Branson as saying "He actually said he's frightened of airline travel."

But Shatner said it's because Branson told him he'd have to foot the entire bill for the flight ... some $200,000. The U.K. newspaper the Mail reports that Shatner asked "Well, that's not much, how much do you guarantee to come back?" When Branson couldn't name a price for a safe return, Shatner, who is 80, reportedly said "Hey, you pay me and I'll go up. I'll risk my life for a large sum of money."

Branson reportedly declined to entertain that idea.

Branson said he has a strict "no upgrades or freebies" policy for seats on SpaceShipTwo, no matter how famous the passenger.

(Image courtesy Virgin Galactic)

FMI: http://williamshatner.com, www.virgingalactic.com