14 DAY TRIAL // If SciFi movies haven't given a boost to science and technology, then I don't know what could have. Remember the Alcubierre warp drive? Yep, you guessed it, Star Trek warp drives were already working by the time Alcubierre calculated the physical theory on how to make such a devices work in 1994; not only that but they also imply the same principle. Teleportation? "Beam me Scotty!" The same theoretical principle on how experimental teleporters work were already thought of by movie makers, long before any of us would have spawned such a brilliant idea!
Now, it seems that the movie industry wants something in return, thus "Star Trek" movie makers went for a consultation to one of NASA's planetary scientists to ensure that the astronomical scenes in the future film are scientifically accurate. Carolyn Porco eventually joined the film production team, as she is leader of the Imaging Science team on NASA's Cassini mission, and often guided other scientists and engineers that were responsible for recreating illustration of the results of the mission.
The man responsible for such an important decision was director and producer of the "Star Trek" movie, J.J. Abrams, who also co-created, produced and directed some other TV series and films, such as 'Lost' or 'Mission: Impossible III'.
Carolyn Porco has been directing image producing for the Cassini spacecraft, ever since the mission has been launched in 1997, and the Cassini Imaging Central Laboratory for Operations at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, the institution that is responsible for releasing to the public artistic impressions of images surprised by the Cassini orbiter. She has also served as scientific consultant for Warner Bros. and A&E television, during the production of the movie 'Contact' and the 'Cosmic Journey' documentary celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Voyager mission, thus she has some experience in the movie industry.
Porco is currently involved in NASA's New Horizons mission to Pluto and was also part of the imaging team during the Voyager mission and, better still, has an asteroid named after her - Asteroid (7231) Porco - in recognition of the scientific contribution brought to solar system exploration.
The original 'Star Trek' television series has been aired during 1966-1969, was created by Gene Roddenberry and spawned another six series, totaling 726 episodes, while the 10 'Star Trek' films sold tickets worth one billion dollars across the world. The currently filmed 'Star Trek' movie is expected to be released at the end of the year.