The passing of Leonard Nimoy is a nostalgic moment for many people. He was a legend - even to my young grandchildren who knew him as Spock from current Star Trek films. I was lucky enough to have seen Nimoy on Broadway and still remember his great performance. His talents crossed many galaxies ... Bon Voyage Spock. Live long and prosper.

Leonard nimoy's legacy lives on in the asteroid belt   PhysOrg - June 9, 2015
"Fascinating, Captain." If he were alive today, Leonard Nimoy, who played the half Vulcan-half human Mr. Spock in the Star Trek TV and movies series, would undoubtedly have raised an eyebrow and uttered a signature "fascinating" at the news this week that an asteroid now bears his name. 4864 Nimoy, a mountain-sized rock roughly 6 miles (10 km) across, orbits the Sun once every 3.9 years within the inner part of the main asteroid belt between Mars and Vulcan, er Jupiter.

In 1966 a new TV series premiered that allowed us to travel beyond and wonder about our origins. It was called Star Trek and millions of people connected. I was 23 - a sci-fi fan - especially aliens and UFOs - having had my own encounter in 1954. There were no video recording devices back then, so you had to watch it live ... and we did. My friends and I loved the characters - mimicked their actions and expressions - especially Spock with his pointy ears, telepathic abilities, and more. Leonard Nimoy would go on to play this iconic role until the end.

Like most trekkies, I continue to watch new Star Trek films and had the privilege of doing a segment for William Shatner's TV series Weird or What?

Beam me up ....

Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry and under the ownership of CBS and Paramount. Star Trek: The Original Series and its live action TV spin-off shows, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, and Star Trek: Enterprise as well as the Star Trek film series make up the main canon. Star Trek: The Animated Series is debated and the expansive library of Star Trek novels and comics, although still part of the franchise, are generally considered non-canon.

The first series, now referred to as "The Original Series", debuted in 1966 and ran for three seasons on NBC. It followed the interstellar adventures of James T. Kirk and the crew of the starship Enterprise, an exploration vessel of a 23rd-century interstellar "United Federation of Planets". In creating the first "Star Trek".

Star Trek has been a cult phenomenon for decades. Fans of the franchise are called Trekkies or Trekkers. The franchise spans a wide range of spin-offs including games, figurines, novels, toys, and comics. Star Trek had a themed attraction in Las Vegas that opened in 1998 and closed in September 2008. At least two museum exhibits of props travel the world. The series has its own full-fledged constructed language, Klingon. Several parodies have been made of Star Trek. Its fans, despite the end of Star Trek episodes on TV, have produced several fan productions to fill that void.

Star Trek is noted for its influence on the world outside of science fiction. It has been cited as an inspiration for several technological inventions such as the cell phone. Moreover, the show is noted for its progressive for its era civil rights stances. The original series included one of television's first multiracial casts. Star Trek references can be found throughout popular culture from movies. Read more