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  • “Exploration is in our nature.” - Carl Sagan

Robert Picardo • Sep 08, 2019

Here's How I'm Celebrating 53 Years of Star Trek

Star Trek premiered on television and changed the world 53 years ago today. To celebrate, I searched through our storage boxes here at The Planetary Society’s headquarters to find something unique to share with you.

Alongside a few other rare pieces of Star Trek history, I found something truly special: A signed letter from Gene Roddenberry encouraging the Star Trek community to join The Planetary Society. Take a look:

A rare letter from Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry In 1980, the creator of Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry, wrote a letter and sent it out to a Star Trek fans mailing list. In the letter, Gene invited his fans to join us on our mission to explore the cosmos.

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Here’s a copy of the original letter. I especially enjoyed the postscript about Gene’s “writings of an authentic extra-terrestrial” at one of his lectures. Perhaps one day it will not be so far-fetched! 

Gene Roddenberry asks Star Trek fans to join The Planetary Society
Gene Roddenberry asks Star Trek fans to join The Planetary Society A rare, original copy of a letter written by Star Trek creator and producer Gene Roddenberry encouraging fans to join The Planetary Society, which at the time was newly founded by Carl Sagan, Bruce Murray, and Lou Friedman. The rare public endorsement by Roddenberry was sent to subscribers of the Star Trek mailing list, likely between late 1979 or early 1980.Image: The Planetary Society

We have a proud history bridging the communities of science fiction and space science. To all of our members reading this, thank you for being part of our mission to advance space science and exploration. If you’re not a member, what better day is there to join us?

May you live long and prosper. Happy Star Trek Day, everyone.