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Leonard Nimoy's family warmly welcomes new Spock to Star Trek

Actor Ethan Peck gets a warm Vulcan greeting as he joins Star Trek: Discovery.

Amanda Kooser
Freelance writer Amanda C. Kooser covers gadgets and tech news with a twist for CNET. When not wallowing in weird gear and iPad apps for cats, she can be found tinkering with her 1956 DeSoto.
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Amanda Kooser
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There's a new Spock in the universe and he's received a Vulcan salute from some very important people: Leonard Nimoy's family, including son Adam Nimoy. 

CBS All Access announced on Tuesday the casting of Ethan Peck as a younger Spock for the second season of the streaming show Star Trek: Discovery. (Disclosure: CBS is CNET's parent company.) 

Adam Nimoy tweeted a photo of himself with his arm around Peck while giving the Vulcan salute. Adam's sister Julie Nimoy and her husband David Knight also appear. "There's a new Spock in town! Welcome to the family Ethan!!" Adam Nimoy wrote.

Adam Nimoy is married to Terry Farrell, who played the alien Jadzia Dax on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Farrell appears in the tweeted photo and shared her own thoughts about Peck on Twitter, calling him "a gorgeous person inside and out." She said it was a lot of fun to keep his casting a secret.

Peck responded to the Star Trek love through his own Twitter account, writing, "Thanks to the Nimoy family for your open arms, warm welcome, smiling curiosity and support, for making me feel worthy, as I embrace and take into my heart the iconic half alien we know as Mr. Spock. It is an incomparable honor."

Peck will bring his own take to the role of the half-Vulcan science officer, which was originated by Leonard Nimoy in the 1960s and later continued by Zachary Quinto in the Star Trek big-screen reboots. 

The Nimoy family has been active in preserving and promoting Leonard Nimoy's legacy. Adam Nimoy released a 2016 documentary on his father called For the Love of Spock. Julie Nimoy and her husband created a separate 2017 documentary called Remembering Leonard: His Life, Legacy and Battle with COPD. Leonard Nimoy died in 2015 from complications related to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Leonard Nimoy last appeared in a television show as Mr. Spock when he guest-starred in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Peck's version of the character will predate Nimoy's Spock. His role in the storyline for Discovery remains mysterious.

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