Leonard Nimoy portrayed half-alien, half-human Spock in countless Star Trek films, TV shows and video games, but the 83-year-old actor’s contributions to the science world were as impressive as the impact he left on the science-fiction genre. Since news of Nimoy’s passing on Friday morning spread across the world, NASA administrator Charles Bolden and other prestigious members of the science community have been sending in their remembrances, and calling the four-time Emmy nominee an inspiration to “generations of engineers, scientists, astronauts and other space explorers.”

Susan Bay Nimoy confirmed that her husband died in their Los Angeles home on Friday morning. Nimoy’s death was caused by end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which the actor announced last year he had developed due to years of smoking.

The science-fiction community remembers Nimoy as Mr. Spock, the resolutely logical human-alien first officer of Star Trek‘s Starship Enterprise, but real-life scientists recall that the actor was always ready to give them a helping hand in his quest to learn more about life outside Earth. SETI Research’s senior astronomer Seth Shostak told the New York Times that whenever Nimoy was asked to narrate a planetarium introduction or appear as a guest at an event, he was happy to oblige free of charge.

“That struck me then, and it strikes me now… Nimoy was actually interested in the science — and he was always willing to help us out,” said Shostak. “All I can say is if and when we pick up a signal, it’ll be wonderful if the real aliens are half as appealing as Mr. Nimoy was as Spock.”

Nimoy and his wife donated $1 million to the Griffith Park observatory’s renovation, and the observatory’s theater is named after Nimoy as a result. He continued to contribute to the world of science and astronomy throughout his entire career, narrating a 2012 short film about NASA’s Dawn mission and the 1994 IMAX documentary film Destiny in Space. NASA paid tribute to Nimoy on Friday by posting a picture of Nimoy and his Star Trek castmates in front of the organization’s space shuttle Enterprise in 1976.

“Leonard Nimoy was an inspiration to multiple generations of engineers, scientists, astronauts and other space explorers,” said NASA administrator Charles Bolden. “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.”

Nimoy also earned a remembrance from space, as Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti tweeted, “Live Long and Prosper, Mr. #Spock!” aboard the International Space Station.