TV and movie star William Shatner, who famously starred as Captain Kirk on Star Trek, has reflected on his journey to space, saying the experience filled him with "overwhelming sadness."

Shatner flew on Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin space shuttle in October 2021 at the age of 90, making him the oldest person to go to space. Whereas some people who travel to space are inspired in a positive way by their journey, Shatner said going to space "felt like a funeral" that filled him with dread.

"I love the mystery of the universe. I love all the questions that have come to us over thousands of years of exploration and hypotheses. Stars exploding years ago, their light traveling to us years later; black holes absorbing energy; satellites showing us entire galaxies in areas thought to be devoid of matter entirely… all of that has thrilled me for years… but when I looked in the opposite direction, into space, there was no mystery, no majestic awe to behold . . . all I saw was death," Shatner says in an excerpt from his new book, Boldly Go: Reflections on a Life of Awe and Wonder, shared with Variety.