London's Science Museum marked 60 years of "Star Trek" this month by attempting something the franchise itself never officially measured: how many people can hold Mr. Spock's signature hand gesture at once.
On September 8, 934 fans gathered at the museum for a Guinness World Records attempt in a category that, notably, did not previously exist, according to Euronews' preview of the event. Participants were required to hold the salute, palm forward with the middle and ring fingers parted, for a full minute while a Guinness adjudicator counted the crowd.
A record with no prior holder
The gesture was devised by Leonard Nimoy for the 1967 second-season episode "Amok Time," drawing on a Jewish blessing gesture Nimoy had seen as a child and adapting it into what became one of science fiction's most recognizable images. Because no one had previously organized a mass attempt at the salute for the record books, the museum's tally of 934 fans immediately became the mark to beat, as local press coverage of the result confirmed.
The attempt was part of the museum's Star Trek Day programming tied to its "Star Trek Lates" event and the closing days of its Star Trek Warp Trail exhibit of props and uniforms. Ahead of the attempt, the museum's head of collections and principal curator, Glyn Morgan, said staff were "delighted to invite fans back" to mark the anniversary in the museum's galleries.
Among those in the crowd holding the salute was actor Martin Quinn, who plays chief engineer Montgomery "Scotty" Scott in "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds," lending the attempt a touch of on-screen legitimacy. Guinness World Records adjudicator Paulina Sapinska verified the final count and presented the certificate to the museum's commercial operations director, Ben Lheureux, once the minute-long hold was confirmed, according to a recap of the ceremony.
For a franchise built on optimism about the future, organizers noted the appeal of a record that requires nothing more than a raised hand and a bit of finger dexterity, no starship, transporter or replicator required, only a museum atrium and 934 people willing to hold a pose for 60 seconds in the name of "living long and prospering."