Real-World Scientists Inspired by Star Trek

Real World Scientists (and more!) Inspired by Star Trek

Star Trek has been cited as an inspiration by many astronauts, aerospace engineers, educators, and scientists ranging from computer science to medicine.

Although they command real spacecraft exploring the solar system, NASA scientists refer frequently to science fiction in the course of their daily work. Fluency with the Star Trek series and other science fiction touchstone works demonstrates membership in a broader culture where science and science fiction intertwine.

Scroll below for many examples:

Star Trek Inspires Scientists, Astronauts - and Poets, Musicians, even Politicians!

In a 2004 presentation to honor James Doohan upon the actor’s retirement, NASA Astronaut Neil Armstrongmade jokes about Klingons and expressed playful envy about Trek-era warp drive. A huge round of cheers went up in the room when Armstrong said: “I’m hoping for my next command to be given a Federation starship.” It’s really something to hear of Armstrong’s glee at having spent time with his Star Trek heroes.

NASA Space Shuttle Astronaut Sally Ride (1951 – 2012) (the first American woman in space), wore a Starfleet Communicator Badge given to her by Kate McGrew (Captain Janeway of the Starship Voyager) the premiere screening of Star Trek: Voyager on January 10, 1995. The Starfleet communicator badge worn by Sally Ride in the photo was later donated to the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. The book Voyager: An Adventure to the Edge of the Solar System that McGrew is holding in this photo may have been a gift rom Ride; she was co-author of the book about Voyager and its discoveries – the real-world spacecraft, not the Star Trek fictional spaceshipl

European Space Agency Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti wore a Starfleet uniform on the International Space Station and later gave the Vulcan salute on the passing of Leonard Nimoy while in orbit.

NASA Astronaut and medical researcher Mae Jemison cites Nichelle Nichols for making her believe it was possible to become an astronaut, who after flying on the Space Shuttle actually performed as an actress on Star Trek: The Next Generation. She has become a legendary inspiration for women and others pursuing science careers.

Retired astronaut Eileen Collins became the first female space shuttle pilot in 1995, and the first to command a mission. That actually the first woman that NASA has put in charge of a space flight in 38 years of human flight. She was a big fan of Star Trek as a child, and the show was a major inspiration for her to pursue a career in spaceflight. The science fiction series, along with other shows like Lost in Space, fueled her passion for aviation and space, and she dreamed of a future in space exploration, which ultimately became reality.

NASA astronaut Victor Glover has stated, “Science and Star Trek go hand-in-hand.” He has publicly acknowledged Star Trek as an inspiration for his career and NASA’s work.
In 2018, Glover was assigned to his first spaceflight mission, as Crew-1 Pilot, the first post-certification mission of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft – the second crewed flight for that vehicle – and as an Expedition 64/65 Flight Engineer aboard the International Space Station. Glover spent 168 days (Nov. 16, 2020 to May 2, 2021) in space, completing 4 spacewalks, and several scientific, maintenance, and outreach activities.
In 2023, Glover was assigned as Artemis II Pilot. He will be one of four astronauts on the first mission to the Moon in more than 50 years on NASA’s path to establishing a long-term presence for science and exploration. The approximately 10-day flight will test NASA’s foundational human deep space exploration capabilities, the SLS rocket, Exploration Ground Systems, and the Orion spacecraft.
He has spoken about how Star Trek’s fictional space stations were similar to the real-world International Space Station (ISS) and has appeared in NASA documentaries that explore the relationship between the show and real space exploration. He also notes the show’s influence on the values of teamwork and diversity.

This video at right features astronaut Victor Glover and explores the connection between Star Trek and the International Space Station.

NASA Astronaut and former Deputy Administrator of NASA Pamela Ann Melroy watched the TV series Star Trek as a child with her family and imagined herself on the bridge like Captain Kirk leading a crew of her own. When Apollo landed on the Moon she realized that what once seemed like fiction had become reality. She is a veteran astronaut who flew on three Space Shuttle missions and played a leading role in building the International Space Station. She served as pilot on two Space Shuttle flights (STS-92 in 2000 and STS-112 in 2002) and was the mission commander on STS-120 in 2007, making her one of only two women who commanded the space shuttle. At a time when few women could become pilots, she joined the U.S. Air Force and showed that skill mattered more than gender. Her determination eventually led her to join NASA. Her experiences left her with a defining philosophy: true progress comes when people from different backgrounds work together toward a shared goal instead of standing in opposition. That belief was reinforced when she looked down from space and saw Earth—one blue planet without borders. As she once put it, “The Earth is our spaceship, and we are all its crew.”

NASA astronaut, Frederick Gregory, a former NASA Deputy Administrator, and one of the first three Black men to launch to space, specifically cited a TV advertisement featuring actress Nichelle Nichols, who played Lt. Nyota Uhura on “Star Trek: “She pointed at me, and she said, ‘I want you to apply for the astronaut program,’ and she was talking to me. She was the reason why I and a lot of people applied for the program.” He became the first African American to serve as commander of a Space Shuttle Mission, and later served as Associate Administrator for the Office of Safety and Mission Assurance (1992–2001), then Deputy Administrator and Acting Administrator of NASA.

European Space Agency Astronaut Frank De Winne, the first non-American and non-Russian person to serve as captain on the International Space Shuttle, appeared in a NASA poster along with 5 other astronauts dressed in Star Trek uniforms (from left, ESA’s Frank De Winne, Bob Thirsk, Roman Romanenko, Maxim Surayev, Jeff Williams and Nicole Stott. He served aboard the International Space Station from May 27 through December 1, 2009. Since then, he often gives talks at Star Trek conventions in UK.

NASA Deputy Director of Science for Communication, Dr. Michelle Thaller helped launch the USPS “Star Trek” Forever Stamps at The Jacob K. Javits Convention Center on September 2, 2016 in New York City.

NASA Engineer Tracy Drain, a systems engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab (who actually met Nichelle Nichols in 2016) specifically cited Nichelle Nichols as an important inspiration.
A logical thinker, she didn’t believe becoming an astronaut was a practical dream to pursue. But she found that Engineering gives her the ability to entertain her love of problem solving, math and building something meaningful with her hands. Pursuing this passion in the aerospace field satisfies her curiosity while helping others expand their knowledge of worlds outside of their own.
“I wanted to have a career helping our future look more like those cool, sci-fi shows and learning more about what’s out there in our solar system and beyond,” Drain said. “The thing I love the most is when we get to be in the room when the scientists learn brand new things that they didn’t know before. They’re all getting giddy and excited. it’s just great to know that you had a part in making that happen.”
Drain has been involved in numerous NASA missions, including Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter in 2005, the current Psyche mission to a metal-rich asteroid speculated to be the core of an early planet, the spacecraft Juno which orbited Jupiter in 2016, and most recently, investigating the possible conditions of life on Europa, an icy Jupiter moon. Scientists believe that beneath Europa’s surface lies a vast, salty ocean that holds more water than all of Earth’s oceans combine.
In this image, Tracy Drain is shown along with actress Nichelle Nichols in 2016.

Aerospace Engineer Misty Snopkowski, the launch site integrator for the Commercial Crew Program, working with NASA and Space X, confirms the influence of Star Trek, saying: “Even in high school I knew I wanted to be an engineer. I like Star Trek: The Next Generation, I was a total nerd in high school, it just kind of seemed that would be the way to go.”

Professor David Williams, a planetary geologist and Research Professor at Arizona State University, School Of Earth and Space Exploration, specifically stated: “Star Trek” is what really led me to my career.” Beyond that, he says that Star Trek’s representation of an ideal, cooperative approach to solutions has been an inspiration for him to lead an ethical life.

He has taught university classes on “Star Trek and Humanity’s Future in Space.” The classes center around the question, “How can we create or improve the human future in space, informed by the ‘Star Trek’ media franchise?”

Professor Kevin Hainline is an astronomer at Steward Observatory at University of Arizona. He is a member of the James Web Space Telescope NIRCam Science Team, and helped with testing and commissioning the primary camera on board the observatory. His research explores the ultra high redshift universe, supermassive black holes and their host galaxies, and infrared selection of cold brown dwarfs. He believes that a fundamental part of the role of a scientist is helping serve as an ambassador of science to the public, which he does through public presentations and his outreach website The Stars Connect Us.

As an enthusiastic advocate for science outreach education and a long-time fan of Star Trek, he celebrates Star Trek as an important cultural touchstone that encourages space science. One of his childhood heroes was Data, the android on Star Trek: The Next Generation, who Hainline says was the most human of all of that show’s characters. Dr. Hainline observes:
“Star Trek represented a place where people cared about each other. I thought of them as my space friends. Look at me now,” he says. “I work with NASA, and it all comes from being a kid and having an outlet like Star Trek that taught me it’s okay to like these things and that you will find people in your life who will support you when you are excited about science.”

Dr. Hainline’s enthusiasm for Star Trek continues to this day. On October 28, 2025, in advance of a presentation by William Shatner, while wearing a Star Trek comm badge, Dr. Hainline gave a presentation at the Tucson Fox Theatre about the science and cultural impact of Star Trek, exploring technology inspired by Star Trek, ways that the show tackled complicated topics like gender and race over its almost 60-year history, and how Star Trek fandom continues to feed into the public imagination. (October 28, 2025). In the photo at right, he is shown with a slide from his presentation of a Star Trek Tricorder.

Astrophysicist Teresa Symons, a staff scientist at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center at Caltech, partners with NASA, the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and astronomers worldwide. Her current work focuses on source detection and photometry for NASA’s upcoming Near-Earth Object (NEO) Surveyor mission. She also conducts independent research using data from the James Webb Space Telescope to measure the cosmic near-infrared background,. She attributes her passion for space science to “growing up watching Star Trek and space shuttle launches on TV…. I owe much of this curiosity to my parents, who introduced me to lots of science fiction books, movies, and TV shows from a young age, including Star Trek, Contact, and Dune.” Today, among her many hobbies are reading and watching science fiction.

Educator Janet Wood is a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, one of a nationwide network of more than 1100 volunteers coordinated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. She presents public programs about NASA’s space exploration missions,covering a variety of topics from planetary science to cosmology and archeoastronomy. She is also my wife! She and I avidly watched The Next Generation and Voyager, and most of Deep Space Nine, together when they were first broadcast, and we’re enjoying rewatching them together now.

NASA Astrophysicist Ken Carpenter is Operations Project Scientist for Hubble Space Telescope; Ground System Scientist for Roman Space Telescope; and a NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Fellow and
Principal Investigator for the Artemis-Enabled Stellar Imager (AeSI) NIAC Study. When asked what inspired him to become an astronomer, he stated: “The original Star Trek series greatly inspired me.”
He explained further:
“What got me into the library to pick up an astronomy book for the first time was a particular Star Trek episode during their second season called “Who Mourns for Adonais.” It included a reference to a star named Beta Gem (Pollux) and I wanted to see if it was a real star. In the process of going to the library and confirming the name was real, I also picked up an astronomy book, which hooked me immediately. From that point on, I wanted to be an astronomer. I was around 13.”
His interest in Star Trek continues to this day.
He says: 

“As a Trekkie, I attend sci-fi and pop culture conventions, and now I give science talks at them too. I know the science adviser to the modern Star Trek series, and we talk constantly about the synergies between Trek and NASA. I have met over the years a fair number of the stars from all of the series. After 50 years of fandom, this is very neat. Star Trek has always inspired me!”

Mike Gold, former associate administrator of Space Policy and Partnerships at NASA, helped draft the Artemis Accords. After many years at NASA, he is currently executive vice president for civil space and external affairs at Redwire, a private space company. The goal of the Artemis Accords which Mike Gold helped draft are to establish a framework for peaceful international cooperation in space exploration and use.. The Artemis Accords are a non-binding set of principles co-led by the U.S. Department of State and NASA to guide civil space exploration for the 21st century, grounded in the Outer Space Treaty of 1967. As of May 2025, 55 countries have signed the Accords. The basic tenets of the Artemis Accords are strikingly similar to the peaceful rules of the United Federation of Planets in Star Trek. Both make it clear that you can’t make war in space, and that the exploration of space and the pursuits of peace are essentially the same thing. The text for the Federation charter was based, in part, on the charter of the United Nations. But, in June 2020, NASA specifically said in a press release that “via the Artemis Accords, we hope that the future will look a lot more like ‘Star Trek, and a lot less like ‘Star Wars’ by getting ahead of these issues.” When a journalist inquired whether the agency was pulling our leg, Mike Gold, still working at NASA at the time, explained: “Star Trek has always been an inspiration for many of us in the space field. “t’s also fair to say that the principles described in the Artemis Accords were developed to create the peaceful future filled with awe, wonder, and adventure that is depicted in Star Trek. Star Trek is the dream that the Artemis Program and the Artemis Accords can transform into reality.” He freely admits: “I’m a Star Trek fan. I can’t help myself.” Accordingly, he sees the Artemis Accords as an independent and optimistic view towards the future of exploration.
In 2023, Redwrite and the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex hosted an hour-long panel, “How Science Fiction Has Impacted Space Exploration and Policy.” Guest panelists were from both Star Trek and NASA.
Shows like Star Trek have influenced and inspired many scientists, engineers, and other professionals at NASA to join the space field. This panel combinedthose who are imagining the future with those that are actively building it, exploring synergies between the two.
The panelists included:
MIKE GOLD, Moderator, Chief Growth Officer, Redwire (and former NASA official)
A.C. CHARANIA, Chief Technologist, NASA
MORGAN GENDEL, Screenwriter, Star Trek: The Next Generation & Star Trek Deep Space 9, and Aerospace Entrepreneur
JESS BUSH, Visual artist and Actor on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
In the short video below that, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds actor Jess Bush (who portrays Nurse Chapel on the show) speaks with ex-NASA official Mike Gold about the impact that the Star Trek franchise has had on real space exploration. The video covers both the role of Nichelle Nichols, and Gold’s thoughts about how the Star Trek ideals were baked into the Artemis Accords (named similarly to the Khitomer Accords” which was a peace treaty between the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire, ending decades of hostility. )

Source: “The Art Of… (ABC).

In this video below, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds actress Jess Bush (who portrays Nurse Chapel in the show) interviews Mike Gold, formerly of NASA, about the influence of Star Trek on NASA.

Dr. Thomas Beatty, assistant professor in the Astronomy Department at the University of Wisconsin is a Star Trek fan. Before joining the team, he played a crucial role in working on the JWST/NIRCam instrument at the University of Arizona. Dr. Beatty is fascinated by planets outside our solar system, especially their atmospheres and how they form. He uses powerful telescopes on Earth and in space to learn more about these distant worlds, aiming to uncover secrets about how they came to be and their potential to support life.
Dr. Beatty’s fascination with space started with a childhood dream of becoming an astronaut, fueled by his love for Star Trek. He pursued a Bachelor’s in Astronomy and Astrophysics from Harvard University. During his undergraduate years, his interests were diverse—he even spent a year and a half majoring in political science and considered studying history.

Mohamed A.F. Noor is a professor in the Biology Department at Duke University. He has a PhD from the University of Chicago (1996), and his specialties include evolution, genetics, and genome evolution.
Professor Noor is also a self-described “Trekkie” and also serves as a technical science consultant for the Star Trek television franchise, and his name appears in the end-credits of DIS Season 3, DIS Season 4, and SNW Season 3. He also worked on Star Trek Prodigy Season 2. He has spoken at fan conventions, universities, and other forums about the biology behind depictions in Star Trek and other science fiction. He published the book Live Long and Evolve in 2018, which discusses the genetics and evolution representations in Star Trek for a general non-biologist audience.
The Man with the Coolest Job in the Galaxy – Duke University Science & Society – One of the ways that Dr. Noor fosters interest in science is his connection with Star Trek. As the scientific consultant for the series, Dr. Noor uses science fiction to teach about real-life scientific concepts.
Visit his website at biotrekkie.com. His YouTube channel is: https://www.youtube.com/@BioTrekkie

Robert Pappalardo is a Project Scientist, JPL Fellow, and Senior Research Scientist in the Planetary Science Section, Science Division at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
In 1986 he received his B.A. in Geological Sciences from Cornell University, and in 1994 he obtained his Ph.D. in Geology from Arizona State University. As an affiliate member of the Galileo Imaging Team while a researcher at Brown University, he worked to plan many of the Galileo observations of Jupiter’s icy Galilean satellites. From 2001-2006, he was an Assistant Professor of Planetary Sciences in the Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences Department of the University of Colorado at Boulder, and he continues to mentor graduate student and postdoctoral researchers.
After several years working on various deep space missions for NASA, he is currently the Europa Clipper Project Scientist. The Europa Clipper spacecraft launched Oct. 14, 2024, on a journey to explore Europa, Jupiter’s ocean world.
The Europa Clipper mission will place a spacecraft in orbit around Jupiter in order to perform a detailed investigation of the giant planet’s moon Europa–a world that shows strong evidence for an ocean of liquid water beneath its icy crust and which could host conditions favorable for life.
Star Trek – and especially Spock – inspired Bob as a kid to pursue science. Carl Sagan introduced him to the field of planetary science, where he has focused his career. Visitors to his office have told about the Star Trek figurines and awards and textbooks he has on display. In a social media post, Pappalardo directly addressed actor William Shatner (Star Trek’s Captain Kirk), writing: “…in large part because of Star Trek and you that I was inspired to space exploration, and to push for this mission to Europa. Welcome aboard, Admiral Kirk!”.

Amir Caspi, senior research scientist, Southwest Research Institute:
“As a kid, Star Trek: The Next Generation was my first space opera. It allowed me to explore the universe and its infinite possibilities, although of course in fictional form. The storylines and characters were amazing, but my favorite aspect was the travel amongst the stars, investigating the mysteries of the universe–physics, time, space, and of course, life. Star Trek, especially TNG, really cemented my love for astronomy and scientific exploration. Now, as a professional astrophysicist, I get to do that every day, and live my own little bit of Star Trek.
“It remains my dream to experience space firsthand, even if I may never get to set foot on another planet. With advancements in commercial space access, that dream may soon become reality. If I’m truly lucky, perhaps I can even work in space, with colleagues, and be that much closer to a Star Trek reality. Some of our technology is already advancing to near Star Trek levels. We have a long ways yet to go, but I can only hope that, together, humanity can achieve the ideals of Star Trek, to live and explore amongst the stars.”
Source: https://www.techrepublic.com/article/tech-leaders-share-how-star-trek-inspired-them-to-pursue-a-career-in-technology/

Milind Tambe, professor in engineering and computer science and industrial and systems engineering at the University of Southern California (USC) and fellow for the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence:
“Science fiction in general and Star Trek in particular was instrumental in inspiring me to pursue a Ph.D. in computer science and more specifically in artificial intelligence. I watched reruns of the original Star Trek in India in the 80s–where I grew up–with fascination. While those were inspiring, the 1987 Star Trek: The New Generation brought along Commander Data, brought along new fascinating questions for Artificial Intelligence. The ‘Measure of a Man’ episode questioning whether a robot had rights, with the conclusion that robots indeed did, seemed so far-fetched to friends and relatives, but was quietly very inspiring to AI Ph.D. students (at Carnegie Mellon, where I was a Ph.D. student at the time, the next day there were several discussions). Many years later, when I completed my Ph.D. and began teaching AI at USC, I used Star Trek extensively in a class I had designed on ‘AI and Science Fiction’ to teach AI. And I used that episode of ‘Measure of a Man’ to teach in my class on AI and even had the writer of that episode (Melinda Snodgrass) come to my class to discuss the episode. Today, in the age of AI, these questions of robot rights don’t seem so far fetched.”

Source: https://www.techrepublic.com/article/tech-leaders-share-how-star-trek-inspired-them-to-pursue-a-career-in-technology/

Not only scientists are inspired by Star Trek! Since the 1960s, the Trek franchise has consistently leaned into a humanist vision of the future, a fact which Martin Luther King personally cited as relevant to the Civil Rights Movement when he encouraged Nichelle Nichols to stay on the show in the 1960s.
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (“AOC”) has never been shy about her love of Star Trek, especially Voyager’sCaptain Janeway’s influence on her when she was younger. At a time when real-world women leaders were rare, Captain Janeway, the first female captain in the franchise, was an inspiration for AOC and many other women. AOC has reminded her followers that “One thing I learned watching Janeway growing up is how leadership means being responsible for working through dilemmas w/ no clear answers.” At a campaign event, Kate Mulgrew, who portrayed Janeway on Star Trek, and AOC posed together wearing Starfleet badges from the Voyager era.
U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-New Jersey) in this video told an interviewer at the 2019 Comic-Con event in San Diego that Star Trek ‘s bold positive vision of the future has been an inspiration for him since he was a little boy and he is still a huge fan, and inspired to make the galaxy a kinder place.
In 2024, U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón wrote a poem titled “In Praise of Mystery, ” which was engraved on the outside of the Europa Clipper spacecraft which launched in early 2025. The spacecraft is designed to probe Jupiter’s second moon Europa and understand whether the moon’s underground ocean might support life. In preparing for the mission, NASA asked Limón if she would write something to commemorate the mission and communicate its purpose. Although typically unwilling to write poems for special occasions, in this case she readily agreed, saying, “I’ve always been a person fascinated by the planets, the stars. I grew up on watching Star Wars and Star Trek, and for me, it’s a place to really lean into the idea of wonder. So I was incredibly pleased to be asked. And then I said yes, excitedly, because I do really care about exploration and what it means to be a part of an entire universe.” Later, when Scientific American asked her “if you got the chance to go safely to Europa yourself, would you want to go with the crew from your favorite Star Trek or your favorite Star Wars?,” she replied “I would have to say I would want to go with Spock.” She chose Spock because he “could kind of keep me centered and organized and straight.”