60 years later, 'Star Trek' continues to 'live long and prosper'

The original cast of Star Trek. The television series turns 60 on Tuesday and while the show aired for only three seasons, it spawned prequels and sequels (on TV and in theaters) and still has a cult following today. Star Trek Archive hide caption

60 years ago, NBC aired the first episode of Star Trek , a television show that became a pop culture phenomenon. The original series starred William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk, who led his diverse crew of humans and at least one alien , on adventures in space.

"Space: The Final Frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise ," Kirk says, narrating in the title sequence of each episode. "Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life, and new civilizations. To boldly go where no one has gone before."

Over the decades, the original series and its spinoffs earned generations of devoted fans. They're commemorating Star Trek 's 60th anniversary with worldwide celebrations, from the Hollywood Walk of Fame to New York Comic-Con to the International Space Station, where one astronaut plans to wear a badge from Star Trek: Strange New Worlds .

At the Science Museum in London, fans hope to set a Guinness World Record for the most people performing the Vulcan Salute — a greeting made famous by Star Trek 's beloved half-human, half-alien character Spock.

In Los Angeles recently, the show was honored at a Writers Guild Foundation fundraiser by the cast of the hit TV series The Pitt . Actor Noah Wyle, a Star Trek fan, performed as Captain Kirk. Onstage before an audience at The Lodge Room in Highland Park, Wylie and his castmates read the script of the show's first episode The Man Trap .

The Pitt cast members Fiona Dourif, left, and Noah Wyle read the script of Star Trek 's first episode at a fundraiser for The Writers Guild Foundation. Liezl Estipona via the Writers Guild Foundation hide caption

NBC aired that first episode on September 8, 1966 (the world premiere was broadcast two days earlier, in Canada). Besides Shatner , the show also featured actors DeForest Kelley as Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy, Leonard Nimoy as first officer Spock , whose mother was an Earthling and his father from the planet Vulcan.