"Space... the final frontier." slotxo Bavarian premier Markus Söder knows the immortal words from Star Trek well, but his journey may end up in the chancellor's office in Berlin.
Angela Merkel has dominated German politics since 2005, but she will no longer be chancellor after the September federal election. Mr Söder is seen as the hot favourite to run as chancellor-candidate for her Christian Democrats (CDU) and their smaller Bavarian ally, the Christian Social Union.
If he makes it to the chancellery it will be something of a revolution in German politics: a conservative CSU candidate has never held the reins of power in Berlin before. But Mr Söder, the leader of Germany's largest state, has not yet put himself forward officially.
Two previous attempts by CSU leaders failed: Franz Josef Strauss in 1980 and Edmund Stoiber in 2002 were both defeated by the centre-left Social Democrats.
However, the coronavirus pandemic has convulsed Europe, making its politics even more volatile than before. And so far Mr Söder has proved popular in the crisis, even though Bavaria's Covid figures are no better than those of most other German states.
A decision on the CDU/CSU chancellor-candidate is expected before late May.