India, April 18 -- Earlier this week, pop star Katy Perry joined TV presenter Gayle King and four other women on a trip to space as part of an all-women crew on one of billionaire Jeff Bezos's rockets. The six astronauts lofted more than 60 miles (100 kilometres) above the Earth's surface in a vessel from Blue Origin, the space company owned by the Amazon founder. And while Katy Perry's trip to space may have been more publicised, she was not the first celeb to do so. That honour rests with an acting legend who beat the Firework singer by four years. But unlike Katy, he did not seem to have a gala time up there.

William Shatner, iconic TV actor best known as Star Trek's Captain Kirk, became the first celebrity to go into space back in 20...