Astronauts Watch The New Star Trek Movie From Space

NASA officials fulfilled the wishes of a Star Trek fan, who didn’t want to miss the premiere because of his space journey by beaming the movie to the International Space Station. Three astronauts enjoyed the special preview of the movie at the station.

Michael Barratt, the US astronaut requested this movie before he boarded the space shuttle in March. He told NASA officials that he was a big fan of the Star Trek TV series and didn’t want to miss the new movie, J. J. Abrams’ Star Trek.

NASA officials agreed and reformatted the movie so that the astronauts at the station can watch it in their laptop. NASA beamed the movie to the station on Friday morning.

Barratt with his colleagues, Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, 50 and Koichi Wakata, 46, of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency watched it at the node “Unity” after dinner. During the screening they had to secure the feet with floor straps to keep them from floating in space according to Nicole Cloutier, NASA spokeswoman.

Cloutier told New York Times:

“They just ended their crew day...so they’re watching it now, or just finishing it up. They can go all day without seeing each other, so this is a good chance to get together.”

Cloutier said the node is a “dark and quiet” area and the crew selected it as a good spot to watch the movie. She said the crew seldom see each other during the day and get together like this to watch a movie.

Barratt said the original TV series inspired him to become an astronaut. He said watching the new Star Trek movie would be a perfect one to watch at the International Space Station.

Barratt said in a press release:

“‘Star Trek’ blended adventure, discovery, intelligence and storytelling 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."