Mr. Sulu gets his own asteroid!

This story... reprinted below details how George Takei (famed Mr. Sulu, helmsman aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise captained by Capt. James T. Kirk) has had a star name after him. Pretty cool stuff! It's nice to know that scientists can mix a little Sci-Fi in with their appreciation for true science.

Here is the story courtesy of StarTrek.com and the Associated Press:

10.01.2007 Asteroid Named After Takei (UPDATE)

No, it's not one of those deals where you pay someone to "name a star" after yourself — it's legitimate and official. George Takei has been immortalized in the heavens with his name permanently affixed to an asteroid between Mars and Jupiter.

Last week the Committee on Small Body Nomenclature of the International Astronomical Union approved the name "7307 Takei" for the asteroid previously labeled "1994 GT9." The Takei reference will be used in the scientific community to identify this minor body from now on, presumably forever. Only about 14,000 asteroids have been named after specific people, out of about 400,000 such bodies known to exist.

"I am honored, indeed transported to the galaxies, to know that my name has been assigned to an astronomical object in our solar system," Takei told STARTREK.COM. "I am yet to come down to Earth."

Asteroid 7307 Takei is approximately 5 miles in diameter, located in an orbit ranging between 2.5 and 3.0 AUs from the Sun in the mid-solar system asteroid belt (an AU is the distance from the Sun to the Earth). It was discovered in 1994 by two Japanese astronomers.

The name was suggested by Tom H. Burbine, a Massachusetts astronomer, who cited Takei's work with the Japanese American Citizens League and the Human Rights Campaign, as well as his celebrity.

See for yourself: The asteroid is now listed with its new name on this page at the JPL Small-Body Database Browser. In addition to scientific data, the page shows the citation for naming the body after Takei.

It is also now listed in Harvard's Minor Planet Center database (alphabetically under "T").

For explanations on how asteroids are named, and how official designations differ from the selling of star names, see further articles listed below under Related Links.

Takei, of course, is best known for the role "Sulu" in the Original Series, which he has reprised in the Animated Series, six "Star Trek" movies, an episode of Voyager, and the independently produced "Star Trek: New Voyages." He can currently be seen on TV as a recurring player in Heroes, airing Monday nights on NBC (that is, if his character didn't really die last week!), and has several movies coming up, including "The Great Buck Howard" starring Tom Hanks and John Malkovich.

UPDATE 10.02.07: The Associated Press has now picked up this story, and has expounded on it with further information and quotes. Here are a few excerpts:

"I am now a heavenly body," Takei said Tuesday, laughing. "I found out about it yesterday ... I was blown away. It came out of the clear, blue sky — just like an asteroid."

The celestial rock ... joins the 4659 Roddenberry (named for the show's creator, Gene Roddenberry) and the 68410 Nichols (for co-star Nichelle Nichols, who played Lt. Uhura). Other main-belt asteroids are already named for science fiction luminaries Robert Heinlein and Isaac Asimov.

"It's in general considered quite an honor," Lars Lindberg Christensen, spokesman for the International Astronomical Union, said of the latest renaming...

Takei, 70, said he and his Star Trek co-stars had always stuck to discussing more earthly honors.

We were "privileged to work on a show that had this kind of a vision for our future, but we're actors," he said by telephone from his Los Angeles home. "Yes, we all lobbied ... for a star on Hollywood Boulevard, but never a star up in the heavens."

Sci Fi Exclusive: Quinto on: playing Spock, Nimoy, the whole Trek project

Here's the link to the Zachary Quinto interview. He talks, Spock, Trek XI, Nimoy and a few general thoughts on the project

Yep, its not a "quiet" project.

Interesting note was that when asked how familiar he is with the original series, he replied...

Quinto: "Um, Well, ya know, I'm becoming more and more familiar with it. I'm becoming more familiar with the mythology of it...."

Hmmm.

Star Trek XI News: Quinto as "Spock"

As rumors abound, this one is actually true.

As most "Trekkies" are aware, Star Trek XI is in the works, and the story (unconfirmed but widely accepted) is currently being toted as the early days of James T. Kirk and Spock at Star Fleet Academy. This is good news for those of us that are ardent fans of the original Star Trek (now dubbed "Star Trek: The Original Series or ST: TOS).

It was announced today that Zachary Quinto has been cast in the role of Spock. Although he played villain "Sylar" in "Heroes", I'm not very familiar with Qunito as an actor, but most are giving a thumbs up to his selection. Here is a good synopsis on Quinto's acting career.

There are rumors that Matt Damon may be cast as James T. Kirk, but most sites flying this rumor are also stating that Adrien Brody was to play Spock, and Gary Sinise would play Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy. Good likeness on Sinise with DeForest Kelley (McCoy), but I don't know that I'd be sold on Damon. Star Trek acting is a franchise-type of role that may warrant additional films and endless convention appearance. A lot of actors want to steer clear of these types of roles because once played, its hard to shake the label.

Star Trek fans have been doing a lot of whining since the writers "rolled back the clock" to launch the Star Trek series "Enterprise" which took place in the Pre-Kirkian era. I was a huge fan of Enterprise and found the criticism of the show pretty narrow-minded; the outspoken fans weren't interested in learning about the "history of Star Fleet" and were more interested in the left-wing stories of transsexual creatures lead by a fema-nazi Captain Janeway. The Janeway character lost me forever, when during one episode she made a sarcastic, condescending comment about both Captain's Kirk and Sulu. After all, who is hell is Janeway, to criticize two the of the greatest Captains in Star Fleet history, hmm? That would be like one of today's generals criticizing General George Washington, General Horatio Gates, or even Nathan Hale. We don't let our heroes (pretend or not) get raked over the coals by non-factor characters that lose ships in the Delta Quadrant.

The problem with the Star Trek franchise in recent years has always been the new age, anti-Christian, anti-war fan base that Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Star Trek: Voyager fostered. Both shows drifted from the idea that good stories, like the ones in Star Trek: TOS, could carry the show without insulting, or scolding the fans with mind-numming liberalism. Yeah, sure - Kirk was a bit of a cowboy - taking risks and kicking Klingon but. And Picard was a big talking wimp, always kissing Star Fleet's rear end and seeking a peaceful solution to every problem he encountered. Don't get me wrong... I am still a fan of TNG, but I loved James T. Kirk. Much probably has to do with the halarity in his protrayal by William Shatner. Shatner just played Kirk so well that he's just hard to beat. Although I have to say the Kirk of TOS was better than the more quirky Kirk in the Star Trek movies.

The only fear that REAL Star Trek fans have is the hope and prayer that character evolution is at a minimum. We don't want to see the kind of re-imaging that was done to Battlestar Galactica (despite its success). Kirk, Spock, Bones, Scotty, Uhura, Sulu, Chekov - are all time immortal - perfect as they are. They are the holy of holy relics, to be left alone, unchanged by twisted writers with poor imaginations and large agendas.

The current release date for Star Trek XI is set for Christmas 2008. Pray they don't screw this up.