William Shatner Tweets Astronaut In Space, Gets Best Reply Ever

William Shatner hasn’t played Star Trek‘s Captain Kirk for almost two decades, but that doesn’t mean the Canadian actor doesn’t like to stay up to speed on what’s going on in space. Shatner tweeted astronaut Chris Hadfield, who’s currently on the International Space Station, and the response he got was priceless.

William Shatner tweeted Hadfield, Canada’s soon-to-be first space station commander, to confirm that that he is, indeed, in space. “@Cmdr_Hadfield Are you tweeting from space? MBB,” Shatner tweeted, signing off with his abbreviation of “My Best, Bill.” Hadfield, a mechanical engineer and retired colonel in the Canadian Armed Forces, responded quickly, confirming that he is presently on the International Space Station.

“@WilliamShatner Yes, Standard Orbit, Captain. And we’re detecting signs of life on the surface,” the astronaut tweeted.

Send a little shiver down your spine, doesn’t it, Trekkies? You’re not alone: “I’m very impressed!” Shatner tweeted back.

Hadfield’s mission has had Shatner’s very public support ever since the astronaut launched in December. Yahoo reports that in March, Hadfield will take charge of the station’s Expedition 35 mission increment, making him Canada’s first space commander.

As part of Shatner’s public outreach campaign to promote Hadfield’s mission, the actor tweeted a picture of himself holding a paper cut-out of Commander Hadfield. The astronaut tweeted the photo with the caption: “The last time @WilliamShatner and I met was in another dimension – 2D.”

Hadfield will return to Earth in mid-May.

He also made a hilarious reference to his Twitter-convo with William Shatner today:

I’m proud of being Canadian, but after yesterday’s twitter conversation am starting to question wearing this red shirt. twitter.com/Cmdr_Hadfield/…

— Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) January 4, 2013