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INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION — Over the phone, an astronaut in space shared his wisdom with the man who most famously portrayed Captain Kirk.
William Shatner, who played Captain James T. Kirk in the "Star Trek" television series for three years, and later voiced the character in the animated series of the show, originally contacted Commander Chris Hadfield via Twitter on Jan. 3.
"Are you tweeting from space?" Shatner asked of Hadfield.
Hadfield, a Canadian astronaut, is living aboard the International Space Station as a flight engineer on Expedition 34. Hadfield gives daily updates that feature pictures as the ISS orbits Earth from the International Space Station on his Twitter account. The space station completes an orbit of Earth every 90 minutes, Hadfield said.
"Yes, Standard Orbit, Captain. And we're detecting signs of life on the surface," Hadfield replied to Shatner's tweet.
Thanks to @williamshatner for the thoughtful, researched and insightful questions today. Looking forward to meeting in-person back on Earth!
— Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) February 7, 2013
Good Morning, Earth! Today the Space Station hosts a real-life Star Trek episode - looking forward to talking with @williamshatner !
— Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) February 7, 2013
Other "Star Trek" actors joined in the January conversation: George Takei, Will Wheaton and Leonard Nimoy.
The captain and commander finally spoke over the phone on Feb. 7. The conversation was [broadcast over NASA Television](<Captain Kirk Chats Up Countryman on Station >).
Shatner asked Hadfield about his experience travelling space in a shuttle and why he was sent in a Russian shuttle to ISS.
"What it takes is an enormous effort of will and technical know-how to build a spaceship and then to be brave enough to launch one, because you risk lives every time you do," Hadfield said. "And right now we're just in between vehicles. Much as we were after Mercury, after Gemini, after Apollo, we're just in the after-shuttle era right now.
"But fortunately, because of international cooperation, we're not grounded. This is place is built by the world and very much put together with United States as the foreman, and fortunately we didn't have to abandon it as we did SkyLab because we didn't have a vehicle or cooperation."
Shatner then asked him about his future trip to Mars and about the risk.
"You've taken a lot of risks in your life as well," Hadfield said. "It was a risk that I decided to take many, many years ago. Really, to accomplish anything worthwhile in life is going to take risk. ... And some things are really worth directing your life toward and putting your life on the line for."
Hadfield said past astronauts and characters like Captain Kirk inspire people like himself to take risks and pioneer, despite fear.
"I read somewhere that you always knew your lines whenever you had a job in the acting profession. I have tried to always know my lines," Hadfield told Shatner. "The way I deal with fear is I try to define what it is that's scaring me. What I'm scared most of is not knowing what to do next; to be struck dumb on stage or to be responsible for a vehicle and not know the right actions to take next with my hands or the spaceship. So I spent almost my entire adult life making sure I knew my lines."
The conversation, including questions from America, can be seen in its entirety in the YouTube video above.
