Space & Astronomy

Tom Hanks turned down offer to fly to space before William Shatner

By T.K. Randall
November 4, 2021

Image: William Shatner
Credit: Gage Skidmore / CC BY-SA 2.0 (adapted) Last month, Star Trek veteran William Shatner, 90, became the oldest person ever to fly to the edge of space after venturing high above the Earth aboard Blue Origin's New Shepard spacecraft.

Now however, it turns out that he wasn't Jeff Bezos' first choice for the trip and that another actor - Tom Hanks - had actually been offered the seat beforehand but had turned it down.

Speaking during an interview with Jimmy Kimmel on Tuesday night, Hanks was quizzed over rumors that he had been offered the chance to fly into space.

He not only confirmed it, but also explained the reason why he had turned down the opportunity."Well, yeah, provided I pay," he said. "And, you know, it cost 28 million bucks or something like that. I'm doing good, Jimmy, I'm doing good. But I ain't paying 28 [million] bucks."

This revelation is interesting, because it has been reported that Shatner didn't actually have to pay anything whatsoever for his seat on the flight - instead being treated to it for free as a 'guest'.

It could be argued that this is perhaps because his participation generated so much publicity for Blue Origin that it was worth offering him free passage, however Tom hanks is also a household name, so it's unclear why he would have been expected to pay while Shatner wasn't.

The eye-watering price tag on the ticket for Hanks also emphasizes just how expensive these flights actually are - especially given that the trip itself lasts no longer than 11 minutes.

That's $2.5 million per minute!

It is perhaps no surprise, then, that even someone as wealthy as Tom Hanks might refuse to pay up.

Source: NME.com

Tags: William Shatner, Tom Hanks