Star Trek and Science Links

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  • 55 Years of NASA and Star Trek Connections – For the almost 60 years now, the science fiction franchise Star Trek has influenced scientists, engineers, astronomers, and astronauts as a very real inspiration for their desire to be involved in astronomy and space exploration. 
  • From the Moon to the Delta Quadrant: NASA’s Indelible Imprint on Star Trek: Voyager, by R.A. Duchak – Exploring the mutuality between real-world space exploration and the TV series Star Trek: Voyage.
  • NASA on the Edge of Forever: Science in Space,” (YouTube)  – in this 5-minute documentary, host NASA astronaut Victor Glover stated, “Science and Star Trek go hand-in-hand.” While the International Space Station doesn’t speed through the galaxy like the Starship Enterprise, much of the research conducted aboard the orbiting facility is making the fiction of Star Trek come a little closer to reality.
  • Tech leaders share how Star Trek inspired them to pursue a career in technology, by Teena Maddox (Tech Republic, January 23, 2020). In this engaging essay, the author quotes many tech leaders who she interviewed to find out how they were inspired by Star Trek. On the same page of the article is a 24-minute video on the topic of “The Influence of Star Trek on Tech.”
  • NASA’s Planetary Defenders is a gripping 2025 documentary that delves into the high-stakes world of asteroid detection and planetary defense. Watch this video and more on NASA+ or YouTube.  This shows once again the interconnection between real-world space exploration and Star trek, as  several Star Trek episodes feature a planet being threatened by an asteroid. Here’s a few notable examples:
  • NASA and Star Trek: A Shared Journey of Inspiration – (link to 13 min. Google Notebook LM audio) – The relationship between NASA and Star Trek has evolved significantly over the past fifty years, growing from a cultural phenomenon that paralleled NASA’s early space exploration efforts to a deeply intertwined partnership characterized by mutual inspiration, direct collaboration, and the incorporation of “Star Trek” themes into NASA culture.
  • Carl Sagan’s Pale Blue Dot – A special reading of an excerpt from Star Trek star Robert Picardo (Voyager, Starfleet Academy) shows how a perspective of Earth from a viewpoint outside our solar system reveals our true circumstances.
  • TrekCore – A huge website featuring the latest Star Trek News Headlines, Image Galleries, Audio, Video, Movie and TV Episode Guides, Merchandise Reviews, and an excellent Blog. Great for past and upcoming shows. Searchable News archives is a helpful feature. 
  • Star Trek Memory Alpha – A Wiki providing source information focused exclusively on official  Star Trek Canon, exploring the in-universe stories of Star Trek, from the perspective of the fictional people and events themselves.  Since its beginning, the science fiction franchise Star Trek has been an inspiration for peaceful space exploration, with the United Federation of Planet’s “Starfleet” having its  main goal to explore the universe for scientific reasons. Thus, Star Trek provides an inspirational, positive look at the future, in contrast to the dystopian future contemplated by much other contemporary science fiction.  This Memory Alpha website is a collaborative project to create the most definitive, accurate, and accessible encyclopedia and reference for everything related to Star Trek. 
  • Star Trek Memory Beta – A non-Canon Wiki, covering not only the canonic TV episodes and movies, but also additional  licensed Star Trek works, including novels, comic books, RPG sourcebooks, video games and any other licensed works. In contrast to Memory Alpha, Memory Beta presents coverage of the franchise from a real-world reporting perspective.
  • The Trek BBS – Perhaps the major forum to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans, including some of the franchise authors and other experts.

  • Star Trek Day – A Planet Patriot Holiday:  the release date of the original Star Trek series on September 8, 1966, is celebrated annually as Star Trek Day.  Also, many celebrate “Live Long and Prosper Day,” on the date of actor Leonard Nimoy’s birthday (March 26.)  Similarly, see below for First Contact Day (April 5), based on Star Trek canon.

  • DART impact day – September 26, 2022 – is an example of a solar system holiday, when NASA’s DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) spacecraft tested the the feasibility of using kinetic impact to deflect an asteroid, a technique that could be used to protect Earth from a potential asteroid impact. This mission successfully smashed into a 560-foot-wide (170-meter-wide) asteroid named Dimorphos.  The test proved that a kinetic impactor could deflect a hazardous asteroid should one ever be on a collision course with Earth.

  • Star Trek on sciencefictionclassics.com – This website appears to be generated by AI, with the listed author identified as “Adam I. Trekwell,” supposedly a journalist from Boise, Idaho.  Nevertheless, the site provides s a treasure trove of engaging content, offering insightful articles, reviews, and in-depth discussions that delve into the vast world of science fiction, with an entire section devoted to Star Trek.

Asteroids and Minor Planets Named after Star Trek

There are multiple named main-belt asteroids, a major Martian crater, and even real-life exoplanetary systems with canonical ties to the Star Trek franchise.

Asteroids and Minor Planets

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has officially named several minor planets after Star Trek cast members, the creator, and fictional phenomena:

  • 4659 Roddenberry: Named after Star Trek series creator Gene Roddenberry.
  • 2309 Mr. Spock: Named by astronomer James Gibson after his cat, which he had named after the famous Vulcan.
  • 4864 Nimoy: Named to honor Leonard Nimoy, who brought Mr. Spock to life.
  • 31556 Shatner: Honors Captain Kirk actor William Shatner.
  • 68410 Nichols: Honors actress and NASA recruiter Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura).
  • 7307 Takei: Honors George Takei (Hikaru Sulu).
  • 391257 Wilwheaton: Named for actor Wil Wheaton, who portrayed Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation.
  • 155142 Tenagra: Named after the fictional planet from the iconic The Next Generation episode “Darmok”.
  • 26733 Nanavisitor  Named after actress Nana Visitor who portrayed Major Kira in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
  • 26734 Terryfarrell  Named after actress Terry Farrell who portrayed Lieutenant Dax in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
  • 666312 Aroneisenberg Named after actor Aron Eisenberg who portrayed portraying the young Ferengi Nog on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
     
 

Planetary Features

  • Roddenberry Crater: A massive 139 km wide crater located in the southern hemisphere of Mars.
     

Real-Life Star Connections

While fictional, some Star Trek planets have very real real-life stellar counterparts:

  • Vulcan / Keid: In 2018, astronomers confirmed that the orange dwarf star HD 26965 (formally Keid, located roughly 16 light-years away) is the real-life star orbited by a super-Earth in the exact place where Gene Roddenberry canonically stated Vulcan resides.

Real Life Wildlife Species Named After Star Trek Characters or Ideas

Numerous species of animals, particularly insects and amphibians, have been named after Star Trek characters, creators, and concepts. Scientists, many of whom are fans of the franchise, have used these names to honor the show’s impact on science and technology.

Boophis pikei photo by Michael Vences
Boophis pikei, photo by Michael Vences

Species Named After Star Trek

  • Frogs (Boophis genus): In 2024, seven new species of tree frogs discovered in Madagascar were named after Star Trek captains, partly because their calls resemble the sound effects of the show’s communicators. These include:
  • Spiders: Researchers have named three spider species after characters from the original series: Aptostichus kirki, Aptostichus spocki, and Aptostichus mccoyi.
  • Insects (Meenoplus roddenberryi): A tiny cave-dwelling insect from the Canary Islands is named after Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry; Phanuromyia odo (a species of wasp named after Deep Space Nine character Odo); Agra dax (a beetle named after DS9 Jadzia Dax); and Meenoplus roddenberryi (a cave-dwelling insect from the Canary Island named after series creator Gene Roddenberry)
  • Ants (Tetramorium klingoni):A species of ant is named after the Klingon species.
  • Molluscs (Ledella spocki) (a mussel named after Mr. Spock); and Conus tribblei (a sea snail named after the discoverer’s cat, following the tradition of scientists naming mollusks after their cats, which in this case was named after The Original Series’ fictional cuddly Tribbles).
  • Fossils (Annuntidiogenes worfi) a hermit crab fossil named after Lieutenant Worf from The Next Generation.)
 

Species Invoking Star Trek Ideas

  • Tribbles: In 2024, a new species of sponge-like deep-sea organism was unofficially nicknamed “Tribbles” due to its appearance.

Sources

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