Stewart's Signature Orbits Saturn

The autograph of Patrick Stewart (Captain Picard) is orbiting Saturn along with some 600,000 other signatures.

The Associated Press (via Yahoo! reported that Stewart's was among the 616,400 signatures taken to Saturn by the probe Cassini, which entered Saturn's orbit today after traversing the planet's famous rings.

The Planetary Society, which is devoted to space exploration and the search for extraterrestrial life, placed the autograph of the Star Trek: The Next Generation star aboard the probe along with thousands of others. Signatures from 81 countries, including those of other celebrities and the prints of a few dog and cat paws, were put on a DVD after to bring attention to the space mission.

"A signature is just as unique as a fingerprint, and back in the 1950s, even when JPL was conducting just rocket launches, engineers would often write their names with a grease pencil somewhere on the skin of the vehicle or inside," said Charley Kohlhase, the mission design manager for Cassini.

The original item may be found at Yahoo!

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