Fifty Years of NASA and ‘Star Trek’ Connections
Fans of the television science-fiction series Star Trek were saddened when the show’s final episode aired on June 3, 1969. It seemed like the end of a very short era, as the program had only been on the air for three seasons.
Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry first had the idea for a science-fiction television series in 1964, set in the 23rd century aboard a starship whose crew was dedicated to exploring the galaxy. NBC introduced the show to its fall 1966 lineup, with the first episode airing on Sept. 8. To put that date in perspective, NASA was preparing to launch the Gemini 10 mission, and was still almost three years from landing humans on the Moon, while Star Trek’s Starship Enterprise was making fictional journeys through the galaxy.
What made the show particularly attractive to late 1960s television audiences was the makeup of Enterprise’s crew. Among the major characters were an African-American woman communications officer, an Asian-American helmsman and a half-human, half-Vulcan science officer, eventually joined by a Russian-born ensign. While the show enjoyed good ratings during its first two seasons, lower ratings in the third season led to its eventual cancellation despite a concerted letter-writing campaign from its dedicated fans.
After the show’s cancellation, Star Trek lived on and prospered in syndication, attracting an ever-growing fan base. Often dubbed “Trekkies,” these fans held the first Star Trek convention in 1972 and became a dedicated constituency. When, in 1976, NASA announced that it would name its first space shuttle orbiter Constitution, in honor of its rollout on Sept. 17, the anniversary of the ratification of the U.S. Constitution, Trekkies engaged in a dedicated letter-writing campaign to have the orbiter named Enterprise after the starship in the show. This time, the fans’ campaign was successful. President Gerald R. Ford sided with the Trekkies and directed NASA to rechristen the first space shuttle. When it rolled out of its manufacturing plant in Palmdale, California, it bore the name Enterprise. On hand to see the event were many of the original cast members of the show, as well as its creator Rodenberry, hosted by NASA Administrator James C. Fletcher. Thus began a long relationship between the space agency and the Star Trek brand.
Left: The creator and cast members of Star Trek attend the rollout of Space Shuttle Enterprise with NASA Administrator Fletcher (at left). Right: Nichelle Nichols in the shuttle simulator at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in March 1977. Image Credits: NASA
When NASA was developing the Space Shuttle in the 1970s, it needed to recruit a new group of astronauts to fly the vehicle, deploy the satellites and perform the science experiments, and was encouraging women and minorities to apply. The agency hired Nichelle Nichols, who played Lt. Nyota Uhura as the communications officer on the Starship Enterprise in Star Trek, to record a recruiting video. She came to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in March 1977 and, accompanied by Apollo 12 and Skylab 3 astronaut Alan L. Bean, toured the center and filmed scenes for the video in mission control and other high-profile facilities. NASA hoped that her stature and popularity would encourage women and minorities to apply—and indeed, they did. In January 1978, when NASA announced the selection of 35 new astronauts, among them—for the first time—were women and minorities.
Nichols returned to Johnson in September 2010 with the Traveling Space Museum, an organization that partners with schools to promote space studies. She toured mission control and the International Space Station trainer, accompanied by astronaut B. Alvin Drew. She also flew aboard NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) airborne telescope aircraft in September 2015, possibly the closest any of the cast has come to flying in space.
Left: Nichols (middle) with astronaut Drew in the station trainer. Right: Nichols (center) inside the SOFIA aircraft. Image Credits: NASA
Meanwhile, the Star Trek brand renewed itself in 1979 as a full-length motion picture, with the original television series cast members reprising their roles. This first film was followed over the years with a number of sequels.
On the small screen, a reboot of sorts occurred in 1987 with the premiere of Star Trek: The Next Generation, set in the 24th century aboard the Enterprise-D, a next-generation starship with a new crew. That series lasted seven seasons and was followed by a near-bewildering array of spin-off series, all built on the Star Trek brand, which continue to this day.
Left: James Doohan visiting Dryden in 1967 with NASA pilot Bruce Peterson, in front of the M2-F2 lifting body aircraft. Right: Doohan in the commander’s seat of the space shuttle simulator, assisted by astronaut Mario Runco. Image Credits: NASA
The actor who played Lieutenant Commander Montgomery “Scotty” Scott, the Starship Enterprise’s chief engineer, James Doohan, had early associations with NASA. In April 1967, Doohan visited NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center in California, now Armstrong Flight Research Center, where he spent time with NASA pilot Bruce A. Peterson. Peterson was a test pilot for the experimental M2-F2 lifting-body aircraft who, a month later, barely survived a horrific crash of the vehicle. Peterson became the inspiration for the 1970s TV series The Six-Million Dollar Man, and film of the crash was included in the show’s opening credits. Doohan narrated a documentary film about the space shuttle released shortly before Columbia made its first flight in April 1981. In January 1991, Doohan visited Johnson. Accompanied by astronaut Mario Runco (who sometimes goes by the nickname “Spock”), Doohan toured the shuttle trainers and mission control and tried his hand at operating the shuttle robot arm in the Manipulator Development Facility. In a unique tribute, astronaut Neil A. Armstrong, the first person to step on the lunar surface, made a rare public appearance to speak at Doohan’s retirement in 2004, as “one old engineer to another.”
Left: Then Johnson Center Director Michael Coats presents George Takei with a plaque. Right: Takei and Robonaut both give the Vulcan greeting. Image Credits: NASA
George Takei, who played Starship Enterprise helmsman Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu, and his husband Brad visited Johnson in May 2012. Invited by both the ASIA and Out & Allied Employee Resource Groups, Takei spoke of leadership and inclusiveness, including overcoming challenges while in Japanese-American internment camps during World War II and as a member of the LGBT community. He mentioned that Star Trek was ahead of its time in creating a future where all members of society could equally participate in great undertakings, at a time when the country was struggling through the Civil Rights movement and the conflict in southeast Asia. He was greatly inspired by the inclusiveness that is part of NASA’s culture. Then Johnson Center Director Michael L. Coats presented Takei with a plaque that included an American flag flown aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis during STS-135. Takei also visited mission control and spent some time with Robonaut.
Left: Star Trek cast member Leonard Nimoy gives the Vulcan greeting in front of Space Shuttle Enterprise after its arrival in New York in 2012. Right: Expedition 43 crew member Samantha Cristaforetti gives the Vulcan salute in 2015 to honor the late actor Nimoy. Image Credits: NASA
The science officer aboard the Starship Enterprise, the half-human, half-Vulcan Mr. Spock, was played by Leonard Nimoy. The actor was on hand in September 2012 when Space Shuttle Enterprise arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, on the last leg of its journey to the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, where it is currently on display.
“This is a reunion for me,” Nimoy said. “Thirty-five years ago, I met the Enterprise for the first time.”
Following his death in 2015, European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristaforetti paid tribute to Nimoy aboard the space station by wearing a Star Trek science officer uniform, giving the Vulcan greeting and quoting Captain Kirk, “Of all the souls I have encountered ... his was the most human.”
At the helm of the Starship Enterprise was Captain James T. Kirk, played by William Shatner. The actor, a lifelong advocate of science and space exploration, began a relationship with NASA during the original series, with references to the space agency incorporated into several story lines. An episode that aired in February 1967 featured a photograph of the Gemini 6 launch hanging on the wall. In 2011, Shatner hosted and narrated a NASA documentary celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Program, and gave his time and voice to other NASA documentaries. Most recently, he narrated the NASA video “We Are Going,” about our plans to land the next man and the first woman on the Moon by 2024. NASA recognized Shatner’s contributions in 2014 with a Distinguished Public Service Medal, the highest award the agency bestows on non-government individuals. The citation for the medal, presented to Shatner by NASA Deputy Associate Administrator for Communications Bob Jacobs, read, “For outstanding generosity and dedication to inspiring new generations of explorers around the world, and for unwavering support for NASA and its missions of discovery.”
Elements of the Star Trek universe have made their way not only into popular culture, but also into NASA culture. As noted above, Star Trek fans were instrumental in naming the first Space Shuttle Enterprise. When NASA was designing an Earth-observation facility for the space station to make use of its optical quality window, its formal acronym became the Window Observational Research Facility (WORF). The connection between that acronym and the name of a Klingon officer aboard the Enterprise in the Star Trek: The Next Generation TV series was an opportunity not to be missed. On the facility’s official patch, underneath the acronym WORF, is the name written in the fictional Klingon language.
Several astronaut crews have embraced Star Trek themes for their unofficial photographs. The STS-54 crew of Space Shuttle Endeavour dressed in the uniforms of Starship Enterprise officers from “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan,” the second full-length feature motion picture of the series. Space shuttle and station crews create Space Flight Awareness (SFA) posters for their missions, and more than one has embraced Star Trek motifs. The Expedition 21 crew dressed in uniforms from the original series, while the STS-134 crew of the Space Shuttle Endeavour chose the 2009 reboot motion picture Star Trek as their motif.
In the documentary “NASA on the Edge of Forever: Science in Space,” host NASA astronaut Victor Glover states, “Science and Star Trek go hand in hand.”
The film explores how, for the past 50 years, Star Trek has influenced scientists, engineers and even astronauts to reach beyond their potential. While station doesn’t speed through the galaxy like the Starship Enterprise, much of the research conducted aboard the orbiting facility can make the fiction of Star Trek come a little closer to reality. Several of the cast members from the original TV series added their viewpoints in the documentary, along with those of NASA managers and scientists. The mutual attraction between NASA and Star Trek is that both, to paraphrase the opening voiceover from the TV series, seek to explore and seek out new worlds, and to boldly go where no one has gone before.
May everyone involved in these endeavors live long and prosper.
