NASA salutes ‘Star Trek’ icon Leonard Nimoy

by Jesse Byrnes - 02/28/15 2:46 PM ET

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) honored the late “Star Trek” actor Leonard Nimoy on Saturday, saying he helped inspire future scientists around the world.

{mosads}Nimoy’s calculated Mr. Spock character in the series and subsequent films “served as an inspiration to generations of scientists, engineers and sci-fi fans around the world,” the agency said Saturday, posting to its website a photo of the Vulcan hand salute that is out of this world.

Nimoy, who died Friday at 83 from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, according to multiple reports, was honored by the agency in an ethereal photo of the bright blue earth captured by NASA astronaut Terry Virts aboard the International Space Station:

pic.twitter.com/ErjTLgCIrL

— Terry W. Virts (@AstroTerry) February 28, 2015

NASA notes that Nimoy’s hometown of Boston, Mass., is visible in the photo.

“With the passing of Leonard Nimoy, we have not only lost a talented actor, but a proud product of Boston’s neighborhoods and English High School,” Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said in a statement Friday, adding “the spirit of his work lives on” in future generations of inspired children.

“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory,” Nimoy wrote in his final tweet.

President Obama joined other “Star Trek” fans and several lawmakers Friday mourning the actor’s death, saying in a statement that “long before being nerdy was cool, there was Leonard Nimoy.”

“Cool, logical, big-eared and level-headed, the center of Star Trek’s optimistic, inclusive vision of humanity’s future,” Obama said. “I love Spock.”

Tags Leonard Nimoy NASA