Shatner Phones Hadfield On The ISS

1 min read

12 years ago T'Bonz

Star Trek‘s William Shatner shared a fifteen-minute phone conversation with astronaut Chris Hadfield, who is currently aboard the International Space Station.

The conversation between the pair focused on the future of the American space program.

“You’re in the International Space Station,” said Shatner, “but you had to get there in a Russian vehicle. Are we, as America, fallen behind or is this just a pause in our space program?”

“It went from Mercury, to Gemini, to Apollo, to shuttle, with many, many lulls in-between,” said Hadfield. “…We’re just right now in between vehicles, much as we were after Mercury, after Gemini, after Apollo, we’re just in the after shuttle era now. But fortunately, because of international cooperation, we’re not grounded.”

Other topics included the risks of going to space, and Hadfield admitted that risk is a necessary part of life. “To accomplish anything worthwhile in life, it’s going to take risk. Even if you stay at home and sit at your kitchen table, eventually the ceiling will fall. There’ll be a hurricane or tornado. You can’t live a worthwhile life without risk.”