NASA Helps Celebrate Star Trek Creator Gene Roddenberry's Centennial

NASA is helping the legacy of inspiration, hope, and diversity fostered by the creator of #startrek to live long and prosper. The agency will observe the late Gene Roddenberry’s 100th birthday with a special program called, Celebrating #generoddenberry: Star Trek's Bridge and #nasa – a panel discussion airing on #nasa Television, the agency’s website, the NASA App, and #nasa social media at 2 p.m. EDT Thursday, Aug. 19.

The program includes introductory remarks by #nasa Administrator Bill Nelson followed by a panel discussion moderated by Rod Roddenberry, son of #generoddenberry. Special guest George Takei, #startrek actor and activist, will participate in the question-and-answer session.

The #nasa panelists includes:

• Tracy Drain, Europa Clipper flight systems engineer
• Hortense Diggs, director of the Office of Communications and Public Engagement at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida
• Swati Mohan, lead for Mars 2020 Guidance, Navigation, and Controls Operations at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California
• Jonny Kim, #nasa astronaut

Coinciding with the program, #nasa will broadcast into space a 1976 recording of Gene Roddenberry's remarks on diversity and inclusion through the agency’s Deep Space Network of radio antennas. #nasa also is inviting people on social media to join celebrating Roddenberry’s 100th birthday on Thursday by posting a Vulcan salute selfie with the hashtag #Roddenberry100.

More information about Roddenberry’s centennial is available at: http://roddenberryfoundation.org/centennial