A SCOTS MP gave a Vulcan salute in the House of Commons yesterday after Captain Kirk backed the SNP’s space call.
Dr Philippa Whitford emulated Spock’s Vulcan peace gesture yesterday as members of the Star Trek cast tweeted their support for a SNP-led debate on space policy.
Actor William Shatner sent a message to MPs ahead of the debate, which came as astronaut Tim Peake prepared to make history today as the first Briton to do a space walk.
The former RAF pilot will leave the International Space Station 250 miles above the earth as part of a team undertaking the six-hour operation.
Yesterday, Whitford set out her case for making Prestwick – part of her Central Ayrshire constituency – the host site for a UK spaceport, telling the House: “During the election, whenever I talked to anyone about this they would always just laugh because to us in this country we think space is for other people, it’s for the big boys: North America, Russia, maybe even China, but not us.
“That is something we have to change. We need to believe what we can do.
“I think Major Tim Peake’s mission will achieve that. This is a real industry, not the ‘beam me up Scotty’ or fretting about the dilithium crystals that we see on the telly, but a multi-billion-pound industry.
“So I’d call on the minister to be imaginative and to be brave and to be boldly going where no minister has gone before.”
Giving the Vulcan salute, she added: “I call on the minister to please be imaginative, enable this industry across the entire UK so it can live long and prosper.”
The call came after George Takei – who played crewman Mr Sulu in the original series – tweeted his support to the SNP, saying: “I wish the SNP and the House of Commons well on their debate about their space program tomorrow. #WhereNoBritHasGoneBefore.”
Last year, Alex Salmond made headlines after attempting to use the name James T Kirk while flying: a measure adopted while First Minister for security reasons.
Reading a message from Shatner yesterday, Whitford said: “Some people who follow the media will be aware that our former first minister has used as a travelling pseudonym the name of that famous captain of the USS Enterprise.
“But for a debate as important as this I felt that we should actually contact the real McCoy and I therefore have a message to the House of Commons from William Shatner: ‘Space is one of the last known frontiers, mostly untouched by mankind and his politics.
“In opening a debate on this subject, it is my hope that you take the tenets of Star Trek’s prime directive to universally and peacefully share in the exploration of it.”
An SNP motion calling on the Government to support the UK space industry was approved by the House unopposed.
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