Washington, Feb 28 (IANS): NASA is mourning the demise of Hollywood actor Leonard Nimoy, most famous for his role as Vulcan science officer Mr. Spock in the famous film "Star Trek".

The sci-fi classic served as an inspiration for many at NASA over the years, and Nimoy joined other cast members at special NASA events and worked to promote NASA missions.

Nimoy was there for the 1976 rollout of the shuttle Enterprise, named for the show's iconic spacecraft.

"Leonard Nimoy was an inspiration to multiple generations of engineers, scientists, astronauts, and other space explorers. As Mr. Spock, he made science and technology important to the story, while never failing to show, by example, that it is the people around us who matter most," NASA administrator Charles Bolden said in a statement.

"NASA was fortunate to have him as a friend and a colleague. He was much more than the Science Officer for the USS Enterprise," he continued.

Nimoy was a talented actor, director, philanthropist and a gracious man dedicated to art in many forms.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends, and the legions of Star Trek fans around the world," Bolden added.

NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, soon to go on a one-year mission to the International Space Station (ISS) and current station astronaut Sam Cristoforetti joined others in paying tributes to Nimoy on Twitter.

Nimoy's own final tweet, posted Feb 23, signed off like all his tweets, with "LLAP", an abbreviation for Spock's "Live Long and Prosper".