Just as William Shatner impacted millions of people with his role as Captain Kirk in "Star Trek," the role also impacted him. For his lifelong advocacy of math and science education, NASA rewarded him with their highest civilian honor, NBC reported.
"William Shatner has been so generous with his time and energy in encouraging students to study science and math, and for inspiring generations of explorers, including many of the astronauts and engineers who are a part of NASA today, " David Weaver, NASA's associate administrator for the Office of Communications at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said in a statement. "He's most deserving of this prestigious award."
NASA seems to maintain a pretty cool, even-keeled relationship with most things related to the space world. For example, a current member of theirs runs the company Uwingu, which sells naming rights to planetary formations in order to raise money for, among other things, charitable and space-themed projects. (Other space organizations aren't as cool; IAU, the official governing body of outer space naming rights, has fought with Uwingu on several occasions.)
Since Star Trek's rocky three-year debut from 1966 to 1969 (the show didn't develop a cult following until re-runs in the 70s), it and NASA have had something of a mutual admiration, according to NBC. Both have referenced each other: Stark Trek during episodes and NASA in naming one of their space shuttle prototypes.
Over the last few years, Shatner has helped generate publicity for several NASA projects. In 2012 for instance, he narrated a video about the Curiosity Mars rover a week before the robot began its exploration, NBC reported.
Shatner accepted the award Saturday night at one of his own fundraisers, the Hollywood Charity Horse Show. It raises money for children's foundations
