William Shatner has turned down a free trip into space because it's "not my idea of a good time", as the actor explained to UK tabloid The Sun.

Richard Branson offered the 75-year-old a £114,000 ticket for Virgin Galactic’s first passenger flight in 2008. Shatner, however, declared: "I'm interested in man's march into the unknown but to vomit in space is not my idea of a good time. Neither is a fiery crash with the vomit hovering over me. I do want to go up but I need guarantees I'll definitely come back."

Kirk will not, then, be joining Ripley on the "VSS Enterprise" when it finally blasts off from Virgin Galactic’s New Mexico spaceport. Sigourney Weaver booked her flight back in 2004, prompting a spokesperson to comment: "We’d be delighted to take Sigourney back to visit the Aliens." ®

Related stories

• Virgin rejects $1m space sex offer (3 October 2008)
• Virgin Galactic spaceliner-piggyback craft delayed (29 September 2008)
• ESA: space tourism greener than ordinary airline flights (3 June 2008)
• XCOR challenges Virgin with the Lynx effect (27 March 2008)
• Tycoon to offer $760m for affordable orbital launch (1 November 2007)
• Virgin Galactic: Flights 'still a few years away' (10 October 2007)
• Virgin rocket-ship terminal revealed (5 September 2007)
• Virgin Galactic inks passenger training deal (3 September 2007)
• NASA and Virgin Galactic ink space deal (23 February 2007)
• Amazon boss fires up space vehicle (4 January 2007)
• Britain wide open to alien invasion (10 November 2006)
• LogoWatch Virgin Galactic goes Starck raving bonkers (15 September 2006)
• Space tourism rockets (29 March 2006)
• Philippe Starck to design Virgin Galactic spaceport (14 December 2005)
• Space tourism will save the children - Burt Rutan (26 May 2005)
• Sigourney Weaver books flight with Virgin Galactic (19 November 2004)