Yesterday, we reported that Prince William had slammed the billionaire space race, saying that the greatest minds in the world should be focused on fighting climate change rather than on going to space.
Former “Star Trek” star William Shatner, who traveled to space this week on billionaire Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin flight, is now firing back to say that Prince William has the “wrong idea” about this.
Shatner was so filled with emotion after the flight, take a look:
Backstory: Prince William Takes A Swipe At Billionaires And Their Space Tourism Race
Shatner Fires Back At Prince William
“He’s a lovely Englishman. He’s going to be king of England one day,” Shatner told Entertainment Tonight of William. “He’s a lovely, gentle, educated man, but he’s got the wrong idea.”
While Prince William didn’t mention Bezos by name, he told BBC the day after the Blue Origin flight that “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.”
“It really is 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 continued, noting that he has “absolutely no interest” in going to space, partly due to the “fundamental question” over the carbon cost of space flights.
Here’s what he had to say:
Related: William Shatner Reveals Physical Toll Going To Space Took On His Body At 90
Shatner Disagrees
However, “Captain Kirk” argued that his mission was made partly to protect Earth in the future.
“The idea here is not to go, ‘Yeah, look at me. I’m in space.’ The landing that consumed all that… energy and people to take a look and go, ‘Oh, look at that.’ No,” Shatner said. “I would tell the prince, and I hope the prince gets the message, this is a baby step into the idea of getting industry up there, so that all those polluting industries, especially, for example, the industries that make electricity… off of Earth.”
“We’ve got all the technology, the rockets, to send the things up there… You can build a base 250, 280 miles above the Earth and send that power down here, and they catch it, and they then use it, and it’s there,” he added. “All it needs is… somebody as rich as Jeff Bezos [to say], ‘Let’s go up there.'”
‘The Prince Is Missing The Point’
“The prince is missing the point,” Shatner stated. “The point is these are the baby steps to show people [that] it’s very practical. You can send somebody like me up into space.”
Shatner concluded by saying that he “of course” agrees with William that things need to also be fixed on Earth.
“So fix some of the stuff down here,” Shatner said. “… But we can curl your hair and put lotion on your face at the same time.”
We guess that Shatner and the royal will need to agree to disagree on this one!
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