Actor William Shatner has been awarded the Distinguished Public Service medal by the US space agency Nasa during a charity event in Los Angeles.
Shatner, 83, is best known for his time spent as Captain James Tiberius Kirk of the USS Enterprise for its original three season run, which began in 1966. The series became a worldwide smash hit, spawning spinoff series and movies, and excited millions of people about space discovery, with Nasa even naming the first space shuttle in its honour.
Shatner also worked with Nasa in voicing a documentary that marked 30 years of space shuttle missions, and recreated the introduction to Star Trek to wake up the crew of Discovery on its final flight.
All of this work is in keeping with the citation of the medal, which is awarded for:
“Outstanding generosity and dedication to inspiring new generations of explorers around the world, and for unwavering support for NASA and its missions of discovery.”
One receiving the award, Shatner tweeted:
Words cannot express my thoughts on being recognized by @NASA. I'm doubly blessed to have shared the moment with my family and friends.
— William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) April 27, 2014
David Weaver, NASA’s associate administrator for the Office of Communications at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said:
“William Shatner has been so generous with his time and energy in encouraging students to study science and math, and for inspiring generations of explorers, including many of the astronauts and engineers who are a part of NASA today. He’s most deserving of this prestigious award.”
