Michael Wong, a Caltech graduate student in planetary science, always wanted to boldly go where no one has gone before, but he never expected to end up on the bridge of the Starship Enterprise.

The scientist and applicant for NASA’s astronaut program stars as helmsman Hikaru Sulu in “Boldly Go!”, an original musical-parody of “Star Trek” playing six nights at Caltech over the next two weeks. The cast features physicists, chemical engineers and planetary scientists.

“I came in with no musical background,” Wong said. “I’m a huge ‘Star Trek’ fan.”

When he saw the call for auditions, he said he needed to be involved.

Now he’s skipping right past the Starfleet Academy, thanks to the family-friendly musical created by a Caltech graduate student and his brother. Grant Remmen is studying theoretical physics at Caltech, while his brother Cole Remmen is a theater major at the University of Minnesota. Shortly after J.J. Abrams’ “Star Trek: Into Darkness” premiered, light bulbs appeared above their heads.

The brothers wondered what it would happen if they combined their love of musical theater with the science fiction show.

They pieced together the musical — 19 songs in all — over a year and a half and finished it in January 2015. The story, running under 2 and half hours, pokes fun at the tropes of “Star Trek” and musical comedies in general, with the crew of the Enterprise dealing with Klingons, Spock’s struggle with emotions, a chorus of short-lived Redshirts and a mysterious threat.

“All sorts of mayhem happens,” Cole Remmen said.

While the characters might be familiar, the Remmens took some liberties for their satirical universe. For example, Wong’s Sulu is a mixture of his eccentric actor, George Takei. The musical’s writers said they tried to strike a balance between the original characters and their parody versions.

So far, the show has found some early success. A table read at Caltech in May 2015 packed the house with more than 180 people attending.

“That was when we realized we were putting this on in the perfect place,” Grant Remmen said.

Theater Arts at Caltech (TACIT) faculty member and the musical’s director Brian Brophy took notice. Soon, the table read evolved into a full production.

“It is something that I knew the Caltech audience would really relate to,” Brophy said.

Caltech has a bit of a history with “Star Trek.” Students in 1968 protested outside NBC after rumors circulated the television network would not pick up the show for a third year. Executives at the time said the protests factored into their decision to keep “Star Trek” on the air.

Brophy, the musical’s director, also once worked with a different “Star Trek” crew, appearing as Commander Bruce Maddox in “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”

Though “Boldly Go!” centers around the science fiction show, it’s not all inside jokes and obscure references. Some of the gags relate to musical tropes more than the Enterprise’s crew. Others jokes work for even non-Trekkies.

More than 50 people worked on the show, with the cast and crew including faculty members, NASA employees, students and a few Caltech alumni, according to the brothers. For many of the cast members, it’s their first brush with the stage.

Caltech admits less than 10 percent of the people who apply. It’s a rigorous school where undergraduate and graduate students dedicate themselves to the sciences. So finding time for auditions, rehearsals and crew meetings isn’t exactly easy.

It’s not unusual for the cast and crew to open up text books, work on papers and discuss theoretical physics in their downtime. It provides an opportunity to network too, with students acting beside people who work in the fields they’re studying, Wong said.

“To be able to stand on stage with all of these people and sing about ‘Star Trek’ that’s just crazy,” he said.

“Boldly Go!” started out with the cast meeting on weekends, before amping up to twice a week and nearly every day in the past month.

Marie Blatnik, who studies experimental nuclear physics and plays a fierce Klingon named Maltof, described the scheduling as hectic. She originally auditioned — in half a Starfleet uniform — for a different role, but the brothers recast a male Klingon when they saw her energy.

“It kind of feels like a cult where they lure you in with ‘it’s only 15 bucks’ then jump to ‘I want your life savings,” Blatnik joked about the time invested in the show.

For Wong, it’s become like a family. He said he hopes he’ll look back someday, as his cast members go on to accomplish great science, and say: “We met on the bridge of the Enterprise.”

“Boldy Go!” runs from Feb. 26 to Feb. 28 and then from March 3-5. Tickets cost $18 for the general public, $5 for Caltech students and $9 for staff and faculty members. For more information, go to tacit.caltech.edu.

IF YOU GO

What: “Boldly Go!,” an original musical-parody of “Star Trek”

When: Friday, 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, 2:30 p.m.; March 3, 7:30 p.m.; March 4, 7:30 p.m.; March 5, 2:30 p.m.

Where: Theater Arts at Caltech (TACIT), 275 S Hill Avenue, Pasadena

Cost: $18 for the general public, $5 for Caltech students and $9 for staff and faculty members

Information: 626-395-3295, tacit.caltech.edu