Prince William is not impressed with all the excitement surrounding actor William Shatner going into orbit. The prince sat down with BBC and diplomatically blasted Jeff Bezos for using his billions to shuttle people into space without any regard for the following consequences to the environment.
New Real Estate
The Duke of Cambridge was speaking out due to his focus on repairing the plant. “We need some of the world’s greatest brains and minds fixed on trying to repair this planet, not trying to find the next place to go and live,” he insisted.
The prince was confused about why some billionaires were so willing to jet off to a new place. He pointed out that it’s “quite crucial to be focusing on this [planet] rather than giving up and heading out into space to try and think of solutions for the future.”
William also noted that all this excitement has led to the younger generations experiencing “climate anxiety”. They live in constant fear that their “futures are basically threatened”.
Captain Kirk Comes Full Circle
Shatner was a trending topic on Wednesday when at 90, he became the oldest person to go to space. The actor, who is most famous for playing Captain Kirk on Star Trek made the real-life journey into space thanks to Amazon billionaire Bezos who paid Shatners way on the out of orbit journey.
The two were joined by Elon Musk and a few others who paid millions to take the trip. They went more than 60 miles above Earth to spend about three minutes in zero-gravity above the Karman line (official outer space line) before coming back down to Earth. Yes, the trip is short.
Shatner admitted that he has never really thought about traveling to space before. He was just playing a role on an unexpectedly popular science fiction show. After stating that he had “absolutely no interest” in going to space, he shared that one of the reasons he felt that was because of the carbon footprint and the extreme price.
Not His Kids
William also shared that becoming a father has only further influenced him to make sure that the Earth his kids live on is safe and healthy for everyone, not just the one-percenters. “For me, it would be an absolute disaster if George is sat here, talking to you or your successor in thirty years’ time, still saying the same thing because, by then, we will be too late.”
The prince was quite frank and did not discriminate in pointing out the billionaires using their wealth to head to space on what some have been calling unnecessary missions. British billionaire, Richard Branson is also planning a foray into space, but on a much bigger level.
‘Unnverving’
Branson has sold 60 seats for a discounted price of $225,000. He actually started Virgin Galactic to focus entirely on sending people to space. Later, at an undisclosed time, when the discounted price of Virgin Galactic flight increases, they will be charging $400,000.
Regardless, Williams believes this fascination is extremely detrimental for Earth and the younger generation who already experience extreme anxiety. “It’s very unnerving and it’s very, you know, anxiety-making.”
