Paramount has unveiled the new logo for J.J. Abrams‘ upcoming Star Trek XI, the Star Trek prequel which hits theaters on Christmas Day 2008.

Check out the new logo image here at right; click for larger view.

The Paramount feature film stars John Cho, Ben Cross, Bruce Greenwood, Simon Pegg, Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Winona Ryder, Zoë Saldana, Karl Urban, Anton Yelchin, with Eric Bana and Leonard Nimoy.

I’m not sure what the reason is behind the change, but the new design is not much different than the old one (which you can see here).

In other Trek news, according to Space.com NASA planetary scientist Carolyn Porco — who served as leader of the Imaging Science team on NASA’S Cassini mission at Saturn — has joined the Star Trek XI production team. Porco’s role will be to ensure the scientific accuracy of the film’s astronomical scenes as well as its planetary science and imagery.