American astronaut Terry Virts (@AstroTerry) – orbiting 250 miles (400 km) above Earth on the International Space Station – paid this fitting tribute via Twitter to actor Leonard Nimoy, who died on Friday, February 27, 2015 at the age of 83. Nimoy will forever be known as Mr. Spock from the original Star Trek series and many of the subsequent movies. The late actor’s home state of Massachusetts can be seen just to the right of Virts’ Vulcan salute.
Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha), also orbiting in ISS, tweeted, too:
"Of all the souls I have encountered.. his was the most human." Thx @TheRealNimoy for bringing Spock to life for us. pic.twitter.com/mE12wLQKrU
— Sam Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) February 28, 2015
In the video below, NASA Astronaut Mike Fincke and ESA European Space Agency Astronaut Luca Parmitano reflect on how Nimoy’s character Mr. Spock inspired generations of actual astronauts, space scientists and engineers, and space fans around the globe.
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NASA itself on Twitter (@nasa) also acknowledged the influence of Nimoy and Star Trek for space goers, workers and fans:
RIP Leonard Nimoy. So many of us at NASA were inspired by Star Trek. Boldly go… https://t.co/qpeH5BTzQc pic.twitter.com/nMmFMKYv1L
— NASA (@NASA) February 27, 2015
Bottom line: Tributes from NASA astronauts to Leonard Nimoy, who played Mr. Spock on Star Trek.