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William Shatner Stops by GEOINT 2017, Pitches NASA TV Program

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Shatner at GEOINT 2017
Actor William Shatner, best known for his role as Capt. James T. Kirk on Star Trek, speaks to attendees at the annual GEOINT Symposium, June 5, 2017. (Image credit: USGIF)

SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Captain James T. Kirk himself, actor William Shatner, visited the opening ceremonies of the annual GEOINT Symposium Monday.

The Star Trek actor said he's trying to create a new TV program to focus on young professionals at NASA, at the moment called "The Young Guns of NASA."

Shatner said he wants to find out what "young scientists who are involved in planning new things at NASA, JPL" are curious about, and where they feel space efforts should be invested. ['Star Trek' & NASA: Where Science Fiction Meets Fact]

Sci-fi celebrity William Shatner meets GEOINT celebrity Robert Cardillo, director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, at the annual GEOINT Symposium, June 5, 2017. (Image credit: USGIF)

"What significant thing should our science or this country do? Where should we apply this intelligence and this American know-how?" Shatner said. "These young minds [are] coming to bear on problems that old people may not have thought of."

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Phillip Swarts
Phillip Swarts
Contributing Writer

Phillip Swarts covered the military, national security and government contracting in space for Space News from 2016 to 2017. A master's graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, Swarts's work can also be found at The Washington Times and Air Force Times. More recently, he has worked as a teacher for the Arlington Public School District.