On this day, 50 years ago, Star Trek premiered on TV. And perhaps no group is celebrating that pop culture milestone than NASA.

The space agency has released several videos Thursday to wish Star Trek a happy anniversary, from NASA Kennedy Space Center to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and all the locations in between. 

Star Trek and NASA have shared an indelible link.

Star Trek premiered only a few years before NASA put a man on the moon.

In 1976, a letter-writing campaign by Star Trek fans to the White House led to NASA naming its space shuttle test version Enterprise, after the show's iconic starship. 


Castmembers of Star Trek, along with creator Gene Roddenberry, are present for the roll out of Space Shuttle Enterprise in 1976. (NASA)

Star Trek's science fiction technology has spawned countless innovations, many of which were created, either by or with help from, NASA.

A branch of the agency, NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts, looks at concepts that are in the realm of science fiction and investigates how to make them real -- everything from warp drive to replicators.

"We don't have warp drive yet, we do study advanced propulsion in a number of different ways," NIAC's Jay Falker told fans at a San Diego Comic-Con panel on Star Trek and NASA earlier this year. "Replicators are becoming a reality with the advent of manufacturing machines. I think we'll see that within our lifetime. And I have actually studied tractor beams in two different forms."

Star Trek also inspired scientists and engineers, many of whom now work at NASA. The agency has also used Star Trek as a way to inspire future scientists and engineers with contests like the Star Trek Replicator Challenge  and the Future Engineers Challenge.

NASA administrator Charles Bolden says he benefited from the frequent collaborations between Star Trek's actors and the space agency.

Nichelle Nichols (Uhura) and George Takei (Sulu) were both involved in bringing more diversity to NASA.

"John Yardley [NASA associate director who helped start space shuttle program] requested my help because NASA knew how much our space program meant to me and how much I cared about making our space program more inclusive," said Nichols, who was involved in a program to recruit astronauts of color.

NASA so loves Star Trek that it has an entire Star Trek section on the NASA website dedicated to the show's 50 years of collaboration and inspiration.

In honor of Star Trek's anniversary, NASA unveiled the Enterprise Nebulae, starship-shaped nebulae first spotted from the Spitzer Space Telescope.

The nebula on the right is the original USS Enterprise, captained by James Kirk, while the one on the left resembles the USS Enterprise-D, captained by Jean-Luc Picard.

NASA says the region is within our Milky Way galaxy.  

They also released three special videos in tribute to Star Trek.

Star Trek first premiered on Sept. 8, 1966. The sci-fi show featured a diverse crew on a five-year space mission about the Starship Enterprise to "seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man [no one] has gone before."

The futuristic show broke ground in science fiction, storytelling and social and political commentary. It was canceled three years later, but the support of fans plus reruns kept the show alive. The crew of the Enterprise returned for feature-length films, while four spinoff TV series brought the future and space exploration to "the next generation."

A reboot in 2009 added new viewers and movies. A new Star Trek show is set to premiere on CBS' new streaming service in 2017.