Star Trek: Voyager's Tim Russ helped NASA detect Patroclus, an asteroid orbiting Jupiter

Tim Russ as Tuvok from Star Trek: Voyager, with the NASA logo

AUGUST 30, 2021 - Star Trek actor Tim Russ is no longer a crewmember on the U.S.S. Voyager, but he still has his eyes on the skies.

Russ and five other citizen astronomers were recently credited with aiding NASA in the detection of Patroclus, one of the Trojan asteroids orbiting the planet Jupiter.

There are plenty of asteroids flying around in space, so why is this one so special?

Patroclus is one of eight celestial bodies targeted for NASA’s upcoming mission “Lucy”. A statement from the NASA website reads, “No other space mission in history has been launched to as many different destinations in independent orbits around our sun. Lucy will show us, for the first time, the diversity of the primordial bodies that built the planets. Lucy’s discoveries will open new insights into the origins of our Earth and ourselves.” Lucy’s mission is expected to last for 12 years.

Russ elaborated on his involvement in an interview with USA Today.

"These Trojan asteroids were captured in Jupiter's orbit, probably from farther out in the solar system, so they're more rare and more pristine in terms of what information they might have in their chemical makeup," Russ said of the Lucy mission. 

Russ has been a long-time space enthusiast, with his interest in space predating his first appearance in Star Trek. In 1993, Russ appeared as the title character of the TNG episode “Devor”. He is a 29 year member of the Los Angeles Astronomical Society and has also worked with outreach programs at Griffith Observatory. What started out as a hobby has become a lifelong interest and - because of Star Trek - a profession for the 65-year old actor and director. 

 "The two paths kind of crossed each other because of [Star Trek: Voyager],” Russ told USA Today. “The fact that I'm actually doing it – it's serendipity but it starts from the inside out. A person must have an interest in the subject.”

Russ is a member of the Unistellar Global Network of Citizen Astronomers, working in partnership with SETI to detect and record observations made across the planet. Russ detected Patroclus using a Unistellar eVscope eQuinox telescope. The GPS-driven, computerized telescope allowed Russ to quickly and accurately detect, and follow, Patroclus across the sky.

"The scope and scale of the universe are incalculable and to be able to observe that inside an eyepiece to me is just absolutely phenomenal," Russ said of his love for astronomy.

To read the full coverage of the interview with Tim Russ, visit usatoday.com. To learn more about the NASA mission Lucy, which is scheduled to launch in October, visit the mission information page at nasa.gov.