September 8 is officially Star Trek Day and according to our captain’s log, we had two visits from iconic Star Trek cast members in the spring of 1977.
James Doohan, better known as “Scotty,” toured our Electric Propulsion Lab to learn about the finer points of long duration space travel made possible by our ion engine technology. He stopped by after addressing students at two area universities.
Lieutenant Uhura, played by Nichelle Nichols, was in Cleveland to encourage minorities to apply for positions with NASA – particularly in the shuttle program which was looking to fill their first class of astronauts. She posed with center staff members including future director Dr. Julian Earls to her immediate right.