To boldly go where no one has gone before

Split infinitive, in my humble opinion, is perfectly acceptable usage when an emotion of awe is being expressed.

For all that all of us have come to accept this introduction as a cliché, it is no less a wonder to me that Patrick Stewart was able to summon up the feeling, Shakespearean actor that he was, to convey the awe.

As for "no one," why not recognize even Data, who is, after all, a thing.

Actually, if you refer to Fowler's Modern English Usage, third edition, you will find that splitting the infinitive is perfectly acceptable usage. And read 'Is Data Human? The Metaphysics of Star Trek' for an interesting and topical discussion on whether Data is a thing or not. Not to be pedantic, of course. :-)

Apart from this, of course, the original text was written to epitomise the fact that Star Trek is not just a "Wagon Train to the Stars", as Gene Roddenberry originally referred to it, but is a voyage of discovery, a meeting of cultures, a search for inner truths, and "the greatest thirty year thought experiment" ever conceived. I believe that it has acomplished this quite well.

It is said that the biggest compliment an idea can receive is that it is called a cliché. So many words of wisdom from Star Trek have accomplished this: be it the aforementioned introduction, or the ubiquitous and universally accepted "Beam me up, Scotty!"

It is in this spirit that I leave you with this word:
Qapla'

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