Jeeeeeeezzzzzuuuusssss... and I thought I was cynical. But all the "this is just a PR stunt" comments and commenters focusing on "how much did Bezos pay Shatner" comments really pain me. Is that really the main takeaway here or the only thing people can choose to fixate on?

Sure, it was a "PR stunt". But I posit that it is incorrect to say that it was just a PR stunt. I believe that the symbolism involved in "Captain Kirk goes to space FOR REAL" is immensely inspirational for many people. I mean, heck, I find it inspirational enough that I know it's a "PR stunt" in a sense.

But to my way of thinking, if this "PR stunt" helps serve to get even a few more people excited about space exploration, and science/engineering in general, then that is unequivocally a Good Thing. I mean, given the number of people these days who seem quite content to abandon science/logic/reason and embrace various forms of Magical Thinking, I'm all in favor of anything that works to counter that trend.

To me this seems PR organised. He is/was on the "good guys" list. For me the only thing Bezos is going to achieve, is to empirically prove how far can selfishness (an other adjectives) travel.