40 years later, Star Trek lives long and prospers

Its mission to explore new worlds and seek new life forms lasted only three years, but the original television series Star Trek haslasted 40 years.

The first Star Trek episode was broadcast in the U.S. on Sept. 8, 1966, and its final episode aired in June 1969. One month later, NASA's Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon.

The universal appeal of the science fiction series following the crew of the USS Enterprise continues to resonate with new fans, spawning other television spinoffsThe Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise 10 feature films, one short-lived animation series, comic books, novels and video games.

Original series regulars Walter Koenig, Nichelle Nichols and George Takei are among the guests invited to a special three-day event starting Friday in Seattle. They will be joined by Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis from Star Trek: The Next Generation and Majel Roddenberry, widow ofseries creator Gene Roddenberry.

The Star Trek 40th Anniversary Gala Celebration and Conference launches with a party at Seattle's famous Space Needle, featuring live music by a Klingon band.

'Star Trek retains its core values - still very much needed in our sadly divided and quarrelling world.' -Science Fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke

Acclaimed science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke paid tribute to the series on the event's website.

"Over the years the sophistication of storylines and special effects has certainly improved," he writes.

"But Star Trek retains its core values still very much needed in our sadly divided and quarrelling world."

To mark the event, CBS Paramount is coming out with a reformatted version of the original Star Trek series using high definition and new CGI special effects.

Making the world a better place: Nimoy

Canadian actor William Shatner as Capt. James T. Kirk led the crew of the Enterprise along with his efficient science officer, the Vulcan Spock, played byLeonard Nimoy; the doctor-with-heart, Dr. Leonard (Bones) McCoy,played by DeForest Kelley, who died in 1999; and the cantankerous engineer Scotty, played by the late Canadian actor James Doohan.

Shatner, who stars in Boston Legal, and Nimoy have been making the rounds at fan expos, stopping by in Toronto in early September.

Four decades later, Nimoy says he gets children saying they love his character and people who say they pursued a career in science because of Spock.The 75-year-old actor says the lasting effect of the series was that it focused on people trying to understand each other, or rather, other species.

"It's all about trying to make the world and the universe a better place," Nimoy told the Gannett News Service. "I'm proud to be connected with it. I think we need that in our lives."

He also credits the original series with tackling the problems of the world, and its storylines reverberate today. Star Trek featured the first interracial kiss on television between Kirk and Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), and other progressive issues.

"There were stories about overpopulation. There were stories about global warming, stories about planet conservation, stories about ethnic wars, all the things that we're still dealing with," points out Nimoy.

The original characters and stories have become such a cultural phenomenon that the ashes of series creator Roddenberry were carried on board the space shuttle Columbia in 1992. Doohan, who died last July, has requested that his ashes be shot into space, scheduled for October.

British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson has named the first suborbital vehicle in his Virgin Galactic spaceliner fleet, the VSS Enterprise.

Director J.J. Abrams, creator of Lost and Alias, is set to launch the11th Trek film, rumoured to be a prequel to the original series. Nimoy says he's not sure if he and Shatner will be involved, but he would certainly be interested if he got the phone call.

And in October, the Christie's auction house in New York will host a Star Trek memorabilia bonanza.