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On Episode 187 of This Week In Space, Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik talk with Glen Swanson, author of the new Star Trek history book "Inspired Enterprise."

Were you inspired by "Star Trek" (or one of its innumerable spinoffs) as a young person? We know we were. We've all heard lore about the original series, but Swanson, who was previously the Chief Historian at the Johnson Space Center, used his prodigious skills to perform a deep dive into the topic.

From Gene Roddenberry's original inspiration to working with Caltech, the RAND Corporation, and NASA; and on to the design of the good ship Enterprise itself (and the very popular AMT models that followed), this book provides everything you need to know to be a certified Trekker.

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Space news of the week

• NASA reveals new images of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS from across the solar system: 'It looks and behaves like a comet'

• SpaceX's 1st 'Version 3' Super Heavy Starship booster buckles under pressure during initial tests

• Spot Uranus shining at its brightest this year — here's what to expect on Nov. 21

• Inspired Enterprise

• The Original AMT Star Trek Models

• Where you can acquire signed copies of Glen's Book!

Model Falcon 9!

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About This Week In Space

This Week in Space covers the new space age. Every Friday we take a deep dive into a fascinating topic. What's happening with the new race to the moon and other planets? When will SpaceX really send people to Mars?

Join Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik from Space.com as they tackle those questions and more each week on Friday afternoons. You can subscribe today on your favorite podcatcher.