Yesterday, Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield had an in-flight call with none other than William Shatner (also, not uncoincidentally, Canadian), aka Captain James Kirk, the famous starship commander of Star Trek.

The two had previously chatted via Twitter, with @WilliamShatner asking: “Are you tweeting from space?” @Cmdr_Hadfield replied: “@WilliamShatner: Yes, Standard Orbit, Captain. And we’re detecting signs of life on the surface.”

Later, other Star Trek Twitterers, like George Takei (Hikaru Sulu series), Will Wheaton (Wesley Crusher) and Leonard Nimoy (Spock), joined the virtual chat. 

Hadfield kicked off yesterday’s call by playing the famous ‘Captain on the bridge‘ whistle from Star Trek, reporting that he was on board ‘Science Research Vessel ISS’.

We guess that makes our favourite spaceship ‘Cargo Resupply Vessel ATV’…?

Watch the replay below, in which Shatner asks some excellent questions on space exploration, the life of an astronaut and courage.

PS: After the call, ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, now training for a mission to the ISS in 2014, tweeted: