The actor best known for guiding the USS Enterprise through space has received NASA's highest honor for a civilian.

William Shatner, who played Captain Kirk for three seasons of "Star Trek" in the late 1960s, was awarded the Distinguished Public Service medal over the weekend, Space.com reported.

The Canadian actor, who accepted the award from NASA on April 26 in Los Angeles, has been an advocate for science education and space exploration.

"William Shatner has been so generous with his time and energy in encouraging students to study science and math, and for inspiring generations of explorers, including many of the astronauts and engineers who are a part of NASA today, " David Weaver, NASA's associate administrator for the Office of Communications at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said in a statement quoted by Space.com.

The space agency and the Star Trek franchise have intersected frequently in the past, with NASA references being woven into Star Trek's film and TV storylines. NASA also renamed its Constitution space shuttle prototype, calling the spacecraft Enterprise.

In recent years, Shatner has narrated a NASA documentary to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the space shuttle missions and a video preview for the Mars Curiosity Mission, The Washington Post reported in a blog post.

The 83-year-old received the medal at his annual fundraiser for children's causes, where NASA honored him for "outstanding generosity and dedication to inspiring new generations of explorers around the world, and for unwavering support for NASA and its missions of discovery."

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