Carl Edward Sagan (November 9, 1934 – December 20, 1996) was a male Human astronomer, astrochemist, and a highly successful popularizer of astronomy, astrophysics, and other natural sciences. He pioneered exobiology and promoted the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI). Sagan frequently advocated skeptical inquiry, humanism, and the scientific method.

Sagan once commented that humans would likely have more success mating with a petunia than an extra-terrestrial lifeform. Commander Melody Sawyer misremembered this comment as claiming alien beings would look like petunias. ((TOS novel: Strangers from the Sky)

Terraformer Pascal Saadya would often interact with a holographic recreation of Sagan during his work terraforming the planet Venus. (SCE eBook: Ishtar Rising, Book 1)

The Sagan-class of ships is presumably named in Sagan's honor. (FASA RPG module: Star Trek: The Next Generation Officer's Manual)

Sagan was also the father of Nick Sagan, who wrote several episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Voyager.