Star Trek badge floats in space

ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot wore Captain Christopher Pike's Delta badge aboard the International Space Station to mark the franchise's 60th anniversary.

“I’m wearing Captain Pike’s badge aboard the ISS in celebration of continuing the real world work of science and exploration.”

Shared vision of discovery

Wearing the prop worn by actor Anson Mount on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Adenot highlighted how real science relies on curiosity and global teamwork.

“For me, exploration and science are about curiosity and cooperation daring to go a little farther together...”

Building the imagined future

The European Space Agency noted that international space station crews carry out the exact same core mission dreamt up decades ago by sci-fi writers.

“Science fiction imagines the future. We build it.”

Global cooperation in orbit

Reflecting Star Trek's United Federation of Planets, representatives from 12 countries have maintained a continuous human presence on the space station.

A history of orbital tributes

Adenot is not the first astronaut to celebrate Star Trek in orbit. Samantha Cristoforetti wore a Starfleet uniform while brewing space espresso in 2015.

“Coffee: the finest organic suspension ever devised.”

Turning sci-fi into real tech

Technologies first envisioned on the show, such as tablet computers, handheld medical devices, and 3D printers, are now standard tools used in space.

From what if to why not

Six decades of storytelling continue to push real-world engineers and astronauts to turn speculative ideas into active space hardware.

“So here’s to 60 years of a series that turned ‘what if’ into ‘why not’ and to every explorer it sent looking up at the stars.”