Historic collaboration will feature w programming to mark 60 years of Star Trek and 90 years of JPL
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — As both storied institutions observe milestone anniversaries in 2026, Roddenberry Entertainment, torchbearers of the Star Trek franchise and Gene Roddenberry’s legacy, and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, managed by Caltech have planned an exciting activation, bringing two stargazing stewards of science fiction and science together in an exciting extension of their enduring collaboration.
For Roddenberry Entertainment, September 8 marks the 60th anniversary of the day Gene Roddenberry’s groundbreaking sci-fi drama premiered on NBC. In over half a century since, The Original Series has grown into a sprawling universe of 12 spin-off television series, 13 feature films, and countless books, comics, and video games.
Meanwhile, October 31 marks nine decades since a group of Caltech graduate students and fellow enthusiasts began experimenting with rocketry in a dry riverbed near La Cañada Flintridge, Calif. The years that followed would see JPL grow from a test site in the Arroyo Seco to the crown jewel of Earth’s extra-planetary robotic research ambitions. Voyager, the Mars rovers, and the Deep Space Network all trace their beginnings to JPL.
Caltech JPL and Roddenberry Entertainment have shared a special relationship over their histories. Throughout the development and production of Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry consulted often with JPL scientists and engineers to ensure that his vision of a spacefaring future was as feasible and believable as possible. In the 1970s, Roddenberry contacted John Casani, then JPL’s Voyager project manager, who loaned Roddenberry a physical model of the Voyager probe, inspiring the sentient spacecraft V’Ger from “Star Trek: The Motion Picture.”
Roddenberry’s desire to ground his science fiction in real-world science meant a continued need to work closely with the real-world scientists at JPL. His stories and those that followed have honored those scientific advancements that have enabled us to travel to the stars in our time. In turn, many at JPL and Caltech proudly attribute their career paths to Star Trek and its vision of an interstellar future guided by reason, inclusion, and mutual aspiration.
The hub of this united celebration comes in the form of a uniquely exciting interview series titled “Those Who Look Up.”
VIEW “THOSE WHO LOOK UP” TEASER HERE
Those Who Look Up
Going all the way back to The Original Series, Gene Roddenberry sought inspiration from scientists of the day, whose work could catapult the mind into the 23rd century. Honoring the inspiration Gene found in science, and looking at the subsequent reverberative effect Star Trek has had on the scientific community, Roddenberry Entertainment will be releasing its “Those Who Look Up” series – A collection of interviews featuring JPL and Caltech subject matter experts and Star Trek actors. The series will showcase the synergy between the two entities, and give human faces to the enduring intersection between science and science fiction. JPLers and Star Trek stars will explore how the work they do every day has influenced another person, another industry, and the world at large.
The series will be structured in a way that reflects the cyclical nature of the rapport between Star Trek and Caltech JPLers. Including four people from JPL and four members of Star Trek talent, the series begins with a JPLer interviewing a Star Trek actor, who, in turn, interviews another JPLer. That JPLer then interviews another Star Trek actor, who interviews another JPLer. At the series conclusion, the last person in the sequence will close the loop by interviewing the person who conducted the first interview.
“Having been lucky enough to visit JPL on a number of occasions, I’ve often considered the wonderful gift JPL gave to my father and Star Trek so long ago,” said Roddenberry Entertainment CEO Eugene “Rod” Roddenberry, Jr. “Now, to recognize that his creation has reciprocated in such a significant way, and to see that in the faces of individuals who participated in our series, is tremendously rewarding.”
ABOUT RODDENBERRY ENTERTAINMENT
Roddenberry Entertainment is a science fiction leader, passionately providing thought-provoking, quality genre entertainment that sustains the legacy of our founder, Gene Roddenberry. We are devoted to producing viewer-centric entertainment that actively recognizes the integral role audiences play in the creation of any franchise, as well as the role substantive entertainment can play in bettering society. Our productions promote experience over observation; encouraging audiences to think, question and challenge the status quo of the world in which we live.
ABOUT NASA JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
A division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, JPL is NASA’s center of excellence for robotics and deep space exploration. The federally funded research and development center helped launch America’s first satellite, Explorer 1, in 1958, and became a part of the agency later that year. Since then, JPL has managed such historic missions as Voyager, Galileo, Cassini, the Mars Exploration Rover program, the Perseverance Mars rover, the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, Europa Clipper, and many more.
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SOURCE Roddenberry Entertainment
