Star Trek: Secrets of the Universe

The Star Trek Phaser movie prop hand delivered by Astronaut Gregory Chamitoff of Space Shuttle flight STS-134 to the set of "Into Darkness"was originally used in the Star Trek 2009 franchise reboot. The concept to take a movie prop from a film, send it to space, and then bring it back to Earth and into another film (first ever account) was conceived by NASA Senior Special Projects Producer Guy Noffsinger. As an avid fan of the Star Trek franchise and colleague of William Shatner, he asked Shatner for Director J.J. Abrams contact information to "pitch" the idea (one-upping the NASA space flight of Luke Skywalker's Lightsaber in October 2007 STS-120 mission aboard Space Shuttle Discovery). Noffsinger was able to successfully convince the director and soon, a real Star Trek phaser prop (with 10,000 insurance bond) was sent to Washington DC, inspected, photographed and then sent for processing at the Kennedy Space Center to be hand carried into space by Astronaut Chamitoff. After many photographs of it both aboard Space Shuttle Endeavor and floating within the International Space Station's Cupola (earth and shuttle behind it in space), the prop was returned as promised to Abrams on the set of the 2013 "Into Darkness" Enterprise bridge.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

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