NASA astronaut Michael Barratt didn’t have to stand in line to see the new Star Trek movie when it premiered but he also didn’t get to snack on delicious movie popcorn either since he and his two cremates watched the movie while on board the International Space Station floating high above the earth.

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 planed 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.”

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The Late Show Top 10 Lines Never Before Said in a ‘Star Trek’ Film

[As presented by actor Leonard Nimoy on the Thursday, May 7 broadcast of the LATE SHOW with DAVID LETTERMAN, seen weeknights on CBS.]

10. Warp factor 8! Arby’s closes in 10 minutes.

9. We’re entering a breach in the space-time continuum or a wormhole or some crazy crap like that.

8. Set phasers to fabulous!

7. Welcome aboard the Starship Enterprise - today’s in-flight movie is “Big Momma’s House 2.”

6. We’ve been hijacked by Somali pirates.

5. Sir, I’m going to need Saturday off to attend my nephew’s Bar Mitzvah.

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Today’s the release day for that new set of Star Trek DVDs in both standard and Blu-Ray and both Best Buy and Hollywood Video are offering exclusives.

The items should be good on the purchase of any of the following; Star Trek: Original Motion Picture Collection, Star Trek: Motion Picture Trilogy, The Best of Star Trek: The Original Series or The Best of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Hollywood Video / Movie Gallery is giving away a free poster featuring the original crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise!

Best Buy is offering an exclusive Klingon Bird-of-Prey Token for Star Trek Scene It? DVD Game!

Watch the credits on the original Star Trek and you’ll see the name D.C. Fontana all over the credits. Viewers in the 1960’s were quick to assume that the D stood for Doug or David when in actuality, the D stood for Dorothy. A woman writing a TV action series in the 1960’s?  It was unheard of, but D.C. Fontana worked her way into becoming one of the top screenwriters on TV taking on episodes of Streets of San Francisco, Bonanza, The Waltons and even the later Star Trek incarnations such as Next Generation.

D.C. Fontana inspired many and my friends over at SheKnows.com have a wonderful new interview with her where she talks about went from the MGM typing pool to becoming one of the creative forces behind the original Star Trek series.

Read the interview here at Sheknows.com.
While you’re there, check out this interview with one of Star Trek’s new ladies, Zoe Saldana.

Box art courtesy of Amazon.com

Can’t get enough Trek? You’re in luck. Paramount is about to release even more Trek into the atmosphere with several new DVD sets. First up we have The Best of Star Trek: The Original Series and The Best of Star Trek: The Next Generation both set to hit the stores on May 12. Sounds good, huh? Well, maybe not. Each DVD contains only four episodes which they suggest was done so that the casual viewer would be likely to buy for the low price of $14.99. However, I can’t imagine anyone getting too excited over only four episodes, let alone the four they chose.

I’d love to know how they picked the “best of” each series because I’m not following the logic here. (On the upside, I love the box art)

THE BEST OF STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES
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I Trekked Myself

He’s often talked about but never seen — he’s the mysterious and infamous William Bell, the man behind Massive Dynamics which is such a big part of the Fringe mythology. With the finale quickly approaching, it’s time for Bell to step out of the shadows and it sounds like he’ll have a familiar face.

According to Entertainment Weekly’s Michael Ausiello, Fringe is only a breath away from bringing in Star Trek legend Leonard Nimoy to play the pivotal role.

Says EW, “Although Nimoy has yet to sign on the dotted line, a Fringe insider says “everyone’s optimistic” that the 78-year-old Trek icon will be the one to play Walter Bishop’s former lab partner-turned-millionaire founder of Massive Dynamics.”

If everything is a go, you could be seeing more of Nimoy on Fringe not only on the season finale but next season as the mystery deepens.  (PRN / PR Photos)

In a related note, a strange man turned up in the American Idol audience last night. Take a look at the photo below and see if you see what I see. (CR: Frank MIcelotta. 2009 Fox)

What do you think of when you think of Star Trek? Rock music and video games, right? Okay, me, not so much, but someone thought this was a good idea. MTV Games and Paramount Pictures have joined forces to create Rock Band “Where No Man Has Gone Before.”

Says the press release, this “first-of-its-kind collaboration will fuse together the massive cultural followings of both Star Trek and the video game phenomenon Rock Band to engage fans with free music, an in-game battle of the bands, and futuristic avatar creation contest.”

Fire up Rock Band 2’s online Battle of the Bands mode to participate in the Star Trek Ultimate Battle. Bands of three to four players can battle the Rock Band galaxy. The band with the highest score will win a Star Trek hometown movie screening for their band and their friends. Additionally, twenty randomly selected players will win an awesome Star Trek/Rock Band prize pack equipped with Star Trek and Rock Band gear. The Battle of the Bands component will begin on April 20th and run through April 27th.

They’re also having an avatar creation contest and a sweepstakes so why not enter? I can see it now, McCoy on drums, Spock on the Vulcan harp, and Kirk on the mic singing Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. I’m there.  For more information on visit www.ROCKBAND.com/StarTrek.

Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures.

This is the news that may make me break down and get a Blu-ray player. The first season of Star Trek will be on Blu-ray April 28, full of new features and new interviews. This is the series that redefined sci-fi and became a TV/film franchise that’s still going strong today.

There’s a little Star Trek film coming out this May that you might have heard a little something about. This is seven discs, 29 episodes and really, it’s a large part of the reason we have Sci Fi Channels (whatever they call themselves these days) and sci-fi blogs.

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Every photo I see, I get more and more excited about the new Star Trek movie. Zachary Quinto was born to play Spock and I’m liking what I’m seeing so far from Chris Pine (which makes me think of Captain Christopher Pike) who is donning Kirk’s uniform. I certainly don’t envy any of them the task of taking on these much beloved characters but it sure must have been a cool experience for them and everyone who got to step foot on the new / old Enterprise bridge!

Star Trek hits theaters on May 8. In the meantime, visit the website for all kinds of great trailers, photos, downloads and more.

Photo credit: Industrial Light & Magic.

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