Captain Kirk's Vulcan entry wins Pluto moons contest
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Five moons in their orbits around Pluto. An online vote to name Pluto's two newest, itty-bitty moon concluded on Feb 25, 2013, and the winner is Vulcan, a name suggested by actor William Shatner, who played Captain Kirk in the original Star Trek TV series. -- FILE PHOTO: AP
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AP) - Star Trek fans, rejoice.
An online vote to name Pluto's two newest, itty-bitty moons is over. And No. 1 is Vulcan, a name suggested by actor William Shatner, who played Captain Kirk in the original "Star Trek" TV series.
Vulcan snared nearly 200,000 votes among the more than 450,000 cast during the two-week contest, which ended on Monday. In second place with nearly 100,000 votes was Cerberus, the three-headed dog that guarded the gates of the underworld.
Vulcan was the Roman god of lava and smoke, and the nephew of Pluto. Vulcan was also the home planet of the pointy-eared humanoids in the Star Trek shows. Think Mr Spock.
