Comped to Go Boldly Where Billionaires Have Gone Before...

 

Congratulations of a sort are in order for the nonagenarian and heavily senior-discounted (actually he flew for free) passenger, William Shatner who took an 11-minute joy ride into near space today. Shatner returned to earth without enough time to write in his captain's log, but did call the sky a "comforter of blue that we have around us." Well, if things keep going this way, that comforter may well smother us as the climate keeps warming things up and drying things out. 

"It would be so important for everybody to have that experience through one means or another," Shatner further said. I'm not sure how we would send over 7.6 billion people into space (Priceline, perhaps?), but if it is needed to save our beleaguered planet, perhaps it is worth rewarding Bezos in advance for his interstellar largesse when we all arrive on Mars or "Amazon presents Mars" as it will be known then. 

While not exactly the USS Enterprise, the brief ride was certainly enterprising for founder Jeff Bezos and Blue Origin who expected the goodwill journey would get good press (Beyond the WaPo) and so it has. At the moment, it seems that Blue Origin and billionaire-owned companies will be lining the pockets of their benefactors instead of funds being collected for space agencies to expand their programs. Many would have to agree that properly aiding these agencies would be a better use of those resources than a playdate in space.