Star Trek Discovery Pays Tribute To Tesla, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk Again

Musk See TV Thursdays.

Over the course of 50 years and six television series, Star Trek has regularly name dropped historical figures for their contributions to science, art and technology. The most amusing of which was an episode of The Next Generation where Steven Hawking makes a guest appearance playing poker with Lieutenant Commander Data, Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton. No, really.

Well thanks to new series Star Trek Discovery, Elon Musk can count himself among the real world figures officially part of Trek canon. For the second time in the show's first two seasons, Star Trek Discovery has made mention of the well known Tesla and SpaceX CEO.

During the first season, Captain Lorca invoked the name of Elon Musk alongside a pair of great historical figures:

How do you want to be remembered in history? Alongside the Wright brothers? Elon Musk? Zefram Cochrane? Or as a failed fungus expert?

For those who don't know their history, the Wright brothers pioneered manned aircraft at the turn of the 20th century. And as everyone surely knows, Zefram Cochrane was the first human to conceive of and execute warp drive in 2063.

Now Musk has appeared a second time in the recent episode New Eden. It contains a quick mention of a Musk Junior High attended by Ensign Tilly. (Because the new scene contains spoilers, you'll have to watch the full episode for context.) Although this is a simple visual reference, it further cements the Tesla CEO as an important figure in the Trek universe.

Star Trek Discovery's first season was hit or miss for a lot of Trekkies. The show took Star Trek in a different direction than many fans wanted. However, the new season has so far shifted the tone for the better. The second season of Star Trek Discovery airs Thursdays on CBS All Access.