HOUSTON, May 15 /PRNewswire/ — Moviegoers likely will sit in crowded theaters
to watch the new “Star Trek” movie, which premiered on May 8, but not NASA
astronaut Michael Barratt. He will have the opportunity to watch the film
aboard the International Space Station, while he and two crewmates fly 220
miles above Earth. The only thing missing will be the popcorn.

Paramount Pictures transferred “Star Trek” to NASA’s Mission Control in
Houston, which then uplinked the film to the space station on Thursday, May
14. Barratt plans to watch the film on a laptop computer inside the Unity
module.

“I remember watching the original ‘Star Trek’ series and, like many of my NASA
coworkers, was inspired by the idea of people from all nations coming together
to explore space,” said Barratt. “‘Star Trek’ blended adventure, discovery,
intelligence and story telling that assumes a positive future for humanity.
The International Space Station is a real step in that direction, with many
nations sharing in an adventure the world can be proud of.”

There is a collection of DVDs and uplinked movies aboard the space station.
The DVDs were delivered during previous shuttle and station missions and will
remain aboard for the enjoyment of future crews.

Some crews have had movie nights as regular activities. Former station
astronaut Greg Chamitoff and his crewmates viewed the entire “Star Trek”
series as a regular weekly event.

Aside from watching movies and television shows, space station astronauts have
a number of options for their leisure and personal time, such as reading books
or magazines, listening to music, and playing musical instruments and board
games. Chamitoff played chess in orbit with ground teams from station control
centers around the world and the public. During one game, the public voted on
the next move, choosing from four possibilities that students from Stevenson
Elementary School in Bellevue, Wash., suggested.

Films, books and music are important aspects of psychological support for
astronauts on long-duration missions.

Barratt launched to the space station aboard a Soyuz spacecraft in March. He
is scheduled to return to Earth on space shuttle Endeavour’s STS-127 mission
in June. His station crewmates are Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka and
Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. All three will
become part of the station’s first six-person crew, Expedition 20, when three
new crew members arrive on May 29.

For more information about Barratt and the International Space Station, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/station

To learn more about the science of “Star Trek,” visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/technology/features/star_trek.html

About “STAR TREK”
Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Entertainment Present a Bad Robot Production
“Star Trek” starring John Cho, Ben Cross, Bruce Greenwood, Simon Pegg, Chris
Pine, Zachary Quinto, Winona Ryder, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Anton Yelchin,
Eric Bana and Leonard Nimoy.

The greatest adventure of all time begins with “Star Trek,” the incredible
story of a young crew’s maiden voyage onboard the most advanced starship ever
created: the U.S.S. Enterprise. On a journey filled with action, comedy and
cosmic peril, the new recruits must find a way to stop an evil being whose
mission of vengeance threatens all of mankind.

The fate of the galaxy rests in the hands of bitter rivals. One, James T.
Kirk (Chris Pine), is a delinquent, thrill-seeking Iowa farm boy. The other,
Spock (Zachary Quinto), was raised in a logic-based society that rejects all
emotion. As fiery instinct clashes with calm reason, their unlikely but
powerful partnership is the only thing capable of leading their crew through
unimaginable danger, boldly going where no one has gone before!

SOURCE Paramount Pictures

John Yembrick, Headquarters, Washington, +1-202-358-1100,
john.yembrick-1@nasa.gov, or Kelly Humphries, Johnson Space Center, Houston,
+1-281-483-5111, kelly.o.humphries@nasa.gov, both of NASA

‘Star Trek’ flies again, with unwritten future

By DAVID GERMAIN
AP Movie Writer

Published: Sunday, May 17, 2009 at 8:00 a.m.

LOS ANGELES — They have Leonard Nimoy, and they have all the trappings, gadgets and crew mem-bers of the starship Enterprise.

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Yet even for a franchise that grew to six TV series and 10 previous mov-ies, J.J. Abrams’ “Star Trek” is the wildest makeover ever to Gene Rod-denberry’s vision of a future where humans have overcome their own squabbles and set out to make new enemies among the stars.

CLICK HERE TO READ REST OF THE STORY

It is a subject that has set off a fire-storm that even now sweeps across the internet as fans get out their rulers and count the windows in the pictures to figure out just how big it is.

After taking a step back, I decided to go to a source that just might be able to find out. … I went to the facebook page for Star Trek: The Magazine and put the question to the publisher on May 26.

I love the magazine just as I love the new movie.

The one thing I would like to learn (as I imagine many do) has to do with just what are the stats of the re-imagined Constitution-class Enterprise?

Is it the same size as the one from the original show or (as I suspect) about twice the size of the original?

I have seen the debate rolling across the internet like a hurricane.

Can you find the answers for us from the ones who developed it?

It took a day or two, but I finally got the following response from the magazine’s publisher, Paul Simpson, on May 28th.

Keep your eyes out for issue 21 which will include a detailed interview with ILM’s Roger Guyett… and that’s on my list of questions!

And then on May 31, he also posted the following:

And yes, I did get a definite answer to the size of the new USS Enterprise…

So … The only question left is … When does the new issue come out as we all want that answer!