Rest in peace, Mr. Spock!
The Shuttle Enterprise
In
1976, NASA’s space shuttle Enterprise rolled out of the Palmdale
manufacturing facilities and was greeted by NASA officials and cast
members from the ‘Star Trek’ television series. From left to right they are: NASA Administrator Dr. James D. Fletcher;
DeForest Kelley, who portrayed Dr. “Bones” McCoy on the series; George
Takei (Mr. Sulu); James Doohan (Chief Engineer Montgomery “Scotty”
Scott); Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura); Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock); series
creator Gene Roddenberry; U.S. Rep. Don Fuqua (D.-Fla.); and, Walter
Koenig (Ensign Pavel Chekov).
NASA is mourning the passing today, Feb. 27, 2015, of actor Leonard Nimoy, most famous for his role as Star Trek’s
Vulcan science officer Mr. Spock. The sci-fi classic served as an
inspiration for many at NASA over the years, and Nimoy joined other cast
members at special NASA events and worked to promote NASA missions, as
in this 2007 video he narrated
before the launch of the Dawn mission to the asteroid belt. Nimoy also
was there for the 1976 rollout of the shuttle Enterprise, named for the
show’s iconic spacecraft.
