If you saw way too many “live long and prosper” hand signs Thursday, you know the reason. It’s the 50th anniversary of “Star Trek.”

Stars of the original series posted to social media, many using the hashtag #StarTrek50.

Among the real-life entities going “where no man has gone before” was Pasadena’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory at Caltech and NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

NBC News recalled: “It was not an instant success — in fact, it was canceled just three years later — but a famously devoted fanbase kept the sci-fi epic alive and it has since spawned numerous hit TV spin-offs and over a dozen blockbuster films that have dominated the box office for 35 years.

“The show, which followed the exploits of a 23rd century crew of interstellar explorers (working for the fictional United Federation of Planets, or ‘Federation’), distinguished itself with its intricate plotlines that often featured prescient social commentary, and its colorful cast of characters including the logical half-human Spock, the compassionate Dr. “Bones” McCoy and the purely passionate Captain James T. Kirk.”

A sampling of the celebrants:

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