50 years of star trek

Rediscover 50 Years of Film, Television, and Music. 100 city tour begins January 2016.

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Celebrate 50 Years of Star Trek with the 100-city concert tour. Featuring Star Trek 's groundbreaking musical achievements performed by a live symphony orchestra and the most iconic Star Trek film and TV moments beaming onto a 40-foot wide screen.

Boldly celebrating 50 years of ‘Star Trek’s’ all day long

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“Star Trek” celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, and the television series, along with its many spawned spinoffs and films, continues to be a relevant element of pop culture and an influential part of both Hollywood and space-based locales around the world. Fun fact: No one in the original “Star Trek” ever uttered the words: “Beam me up, Scotty.”

‘Star Trek Beyond’ stars discuss ‘uncomfortable conversations,’ Sulu’s sexual orientation and the future

• APPRECIATION: Leonard Nimoy made Spock ‘Star Trek’s’ most complicated hero
• PHOTOS: Notable cameo appearances in ‘Star Trek’ shows and film

The new Roddenberry Prize encourages participants to create a #boldlybetter future

By  Jevon Phillips

“Star Trek’s” influence is not felt just in entertainment circles, and the Roddenberry Foundation aims to make sure that the innovative themes and ideas started fictionally are backed by real encouragement.

The foundation has launched a new award program, the Roddenberry Prize, an annual $1-million gift in support of “solutions that address humanity’s greatest challenges.” The inaugural honor consists of one $400,000 grand prize and four $150,000 innovation awards, disbursed in lump sums to five recipients. And those recipients can be anyone who has an idea or invention that “could benefit humanity in areas as diverse as poverty, obesity, education or the environment.”

“We launched the Roddenberry Foundation to build on my father’s legacy and philosophy of inclusion, diversity and respect for life to meaningfully improve the lives of people around the world,” said Rod Roddenberry, son of “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry, in a statement. “With today’s launch of the Roddenberry Prize, we hope to heighten awareness of the critical needs that many face on this planet, and unleash the imagination and drive of those inspired to do something about it.”

The spork is already invented, but surely some enterprising person will submit a game-changing project -- this year’s application period opened yesterday and closes Nov. 16.

Applications and rules are posted at The Roddenberry Foundation’s prize website at RoddenberryPrize.org . Winners will be announced in January 2017 -- just in time for the debut of CBS’ new “Star Trek: Discovery” series.

Review: In ‘For the love of Spock,’ Adam Nimoy pays an emotional tribute to his dad

By  Michael Rechtshaffen

Just as Leonard Nimoy had an uneasy relationship with his famous alter ego, his standing with his son wasn’t always on terra firma, as explored in Adam Nimoy’s honest but warmly affectionate screen memoir, “For the Love of Spock.”

Originally envisioned as a companion piece to the 50th anniversary of the original “Star Trek” series, the documentary took on a more personal air in the wake of the elder Nimoy’s death in 2015.

But while Adam, a 60-year-old TV director, now describes the film as a journey of self-discovery about his relationship with his not-always-present dad, Trekkies need not fear about being left out in the cold.

Everything we know about the new ‘Star Trek’ series

By  Tracy Brown

While the new James T. Kirk and his U.S.S. Enterprise crew continue their adventures in the rebooted “Star Trek” films, the franchise is preparing to boldly return to where fans first fell in love with the original series: television.

More than 700 “Star Trek” episodes have aired throughout five series since the original debuted in September 1966, but the Bryan Fuller-helmed “Star Trek: Discovery” is the first new “Star Trek” television series since “Star Trek: Enterprise” ended its run in 2005.

The new show was first announced in November before Fuller was even attached to the project. While the first teaser for the series promised “new crews, new villains, new heroes, [and] new worlds,” not a lot of details about “Discovery” have actually been revealed.

Here is everything we know about “Star Trek: Discovery” so far.

Reader comment sparks ‘Star Trek’ vs. ‘Star Wars’ debate

By  Shannon O’Connor

In a response to the article, “ What the set of the original ‘Star Trek’ series was like 50 years ago ,” a commenter boldly went where few dare by declaring, “Greatest sci-fi story ever told, greater than ‘Star Wars.’”

In order to gauge a larger audience’s opinion on this epic sci-fi franchise battle, we took to Twitter and braced for the responses.

Are these fighting words?: As #StarTrek turns 50, a reader takes a bold stand. #StarTrek50 https://t.co/2wqy31Qezk pic.twitter.com/3F6lAy17kO — LAT Entertainment (@latimesent) September 8, 2016

Surprisingly many agreed with the commenter and took their side in the debate:

The truth. https://t.co/6IhSZbdzdz — egtrigg (@peoplegetready) September 8, 2016

Others argued the fact that the two franchises were too different to be compared to each other:

@Davidlaz star wars isn't Sci Fi, it's fantasy. — Sean (@SeanTheDestroyr) September 8, 2016

@latimes Star Wars isn't sci fi, it's just an action movie. The Force made it fantasy until midichlorians replaced magic. — JR Howell (@JR_Howell_JR) September 8, 2016

Some decided to play devil’s advocate and not choose either:

@latimes I think we can all agree that #GalaxyQuest is the greatest sci-fi story ever told. #StarTrek50 #ThursdayThoughts — Serenity (@orangechicken42) September 8, 2016

Those are fighting words, considering that both franchises have roots in cheesy sci-fi action serials. #StarTrek50 https://t.co/8l9OLAKZL0 — Eric Mrozek 🇺🇸🦅🌎🗽✍🏻 (@EricMMrozek) September 8, 2016

So what do you think, “Star Trek” or Star Wars”? Let us know on Twitter .

Ranking every ‘Star Trek’ movie and TV series from first to worst

By  Marc Bernardin

A franchise achieves the kind of permanence that “Star Trek” has only if it expands beyond its origins and original characters. “Star Trek” spun itself off into multiple TV series, movies, novels, video games, comic books… somewhere, there’s probably a puppet Kirk putting the moves on a puppet Orion slave girl.

While the tendrils of “Star Trek” have touched almost every aspect of our culture, it all began with content on a screen. So we’re ranking them: All of the TV shows and the movies, all together.

Even George Lucas acknowledges ‘Star Trek’s’ greatness

George Lucas talks about the connection between “Star Wars” and “Star Trek” in an interview, one of the bonus features on the DVD release of “Trek Nation.”

Among the bonus materials included on the DVD for the documentary “Trek Nation,” which chronicles Rod Roddenberry’s journey to explore the importance of the sci-fi franchise dreamed up by his father, Gene, is an interview with “Star Wars” creator George Lucas talking about the integral role “Star Trek” played in paving the way for his own space opera.

‘Star Trek’ softened up the entertainment arena so that ‘Star Wars’ could come along and stand on its shoulders.

— George Lucas

What the set of the original ‘Star Trek’ series was like 50 years ago

By  Meredith Woerner

Editor’s note: The first episode of “Star Trek” premiered today (Sept. 8) on NBC in 1966. The L.A. Times was there 50 years ago on the bridge of the Enterprise interviewing show creator Gene Roddenberry and taking in the “spectacular” set.

Not sure what to make of this highly ambitious sci-fi series, L.A. Times staff writer Don Page seemed impressed with the look but skeptical of the series’ potential longevity.

If the show happens to fail on television, they could easily turn the set into a tourist attraction.

— Don Page

We’ve republished Page’s article, originally titled “Star Trek is Costly Sci Fi Epic,” from Sept. 21, 1966. It’s a quick behind-the-scenes glimpse of a series that would live on and inspire television spinoffs for decades.

In the semi-darkness of a massive sound stage on the Desilu-Gower lot, strange creatures dart about through web covered catacombs.

Facebook gives its reaction buttons a ‘Star Trek’ theme

By  Christie D’Zurilla

For the 50th anniversary of “Star Trek,” Facebook has themed its reaction buttons, and it’s enough to get a person angry at an adorable puppy video just so they can use the Klingon.

“We chose the most iconic and recognizable characters and symbols from the original Star Trek series, as well as the Next Generation,” Lindsey Shepard, Facebook Messenger marketing lead, said in a post on Medium. “We also wanted to honor the original design and spirit of Reactions, so we needed visual cues that were easy to identify at a glance, like Geordi’s visor. This led us to our final cast: Kirk, Spock, Geordi and a Klingon.”

The special reaction buttons will be available to some Facebook users in the U.S. and Canada for a limited time, she said.

Note the key phrase “some users.” It seems to help if you’ve previously expressed an interest.

Want to nerd up your profile picture for a while? Go to the official Star Trek page , scroll through the selection of limited-time-only anniversary frames and knock yourself out.

That barren planet where Capt. Kirk fought the Gorn? It’s really L.A.’s Vasquez Rocks, Hollywood’s favorite outdoor set

By  Randy Lewis

The mission, from the day “Star Trek” premiered on America’s televisions on Sept. 8, 1966, was ambitious: “to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.”

Where did Gene Roddenberry’s TV series go to find those worlds?

Often as not, it was a piece of alien-looking geology right here in Southern California — amid the jagged, sandstone boulders of Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park, a Santa Clarita Valley desertscape of prehistoric waves, frozen in time, that has done star turns in Hollywood productions since the 1920s.

It’s where Capt. James T. Kirk famously battled a seemingly indestructible green lizard called a Gorn in the episode titled “Arena,” and it represented planet Capella IV, where Kirk and Dr. McCoy helped an Amazon-like queen give birth to a warrior prince in “Friday’s Child.”

Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park in Southern California has been used as a location on Hollywood productions dating back to the 1920s.

Stars Zoe Saldana and John Cho and director Justin Lin discuss making “Star Trek Beyond,” fandom, Sulu’s sexuality, and how they approached a timeless story from new angles.

For 50 years, Gene Roddenberry’s “Star Trek” has been doing two things: enthralling audiences around the world with a vision of a future in which humanity has put aside its petty differences, and taking to the cosmos to show how that future is possible only through diversity.

As has been made clear over the course of six television series and 12 movies — the 13th, “Star Trek Beyond,” hits theaters Thursday night — Starfleet and its captains (most notably James T. Kirk) would be nowhere without women and people of color leading the way. “Beyond” advances that inclusion further with the revelation that helmsman Lt. Hikaru Sulu — played by George Takei in the classic TV series and by John Cho in the new cycle of movies that began with J.J. Abrams’ 2009 film — is gay.

We sat down with Cho, Zoe Saldana (who plays Lt. Nyota Uhura) and director Justin Lin for a frank roundtable discussion about the legacy of “Star Trek,” representation and optimism.

When I go to conventions like Comic-Con or when I meet a Trekkie or a Trekker, if anything, I’m the one who’s kind of in awe because it takes a great level of devotion and determination and time to sort of go, ‘I love what this is. I don’t care if you’re telling me it’s real or not. What it makes me feel is real ...’

— Zoe Saldana

Behold! Bryan Fuller’s new ‘Star Trek’ ship, the Discovery

By  Times Staff

Bryan Fuller joined the casts of “Star Treks” past at San Diego Comic-Con to talk all things Starfleet and celebrate the 50th anniversary of the series.

But in even bigger “Trek” news, Fuller decided to debut the first look at the new spaceship which will lead his new “Trek” series (officially titled “Star Trek: Discover” on CBS All Access). Take a good, long look at the test flight of the Discovery.

Read every single L.A. Times ‘Star Trek’ movie review from 1979 to 2016

“Star Trek” is celebrating 50 long years of existence, and tucked into those 50 years are 13 “Star Trek” movies of all kinds and caliber; there’s even one hinging on humpback whales.

If you’re planning a “Trek” movie marathon, look no further: We’ve cobbled together all the reviews from the first film in 1979 all the way to this year’s rebooted “Trek” offering.

The Roddenberry vault opens for never-before-seen ‘Star Trek: The Original Series’ deleted scenes and outtakes

For the “Star Trek” completionists out there, there’s more to boldly go watch when “Star Trek: The Original Series — The Roddenberry Vault” is released on Blu-ray on Dec. 13 in honor of the show’s 50th anniversary.

The release touts unprecedented access to never-before-seen footage from the production of the original “Star Trek.” Hard to believe that there was anything else on the cutting room floor after all these years, but apparently episodic footage was preserved in film canisters by the Roddenberry estate.

A panel on Saturday (6:30 p.m.) at the Star Trek: Mission New York convention gave a more visual look at some of the vault’s material, which includes alternate takes, deleted scenes, omitted dialogue, outtakes and original visual FX elements.

The Blu-ray will include 12 episodes (chosen for their relevance to the vault materials, says the news release), and 11 of them contain isolated music tracks. Also, new audio commentaries appear on three fan-favorite episodes.

Each of the set’s three discs also features new documentaries that connect unseen vault materials with all-new interviews with crew members and famous fans.

Here’s what the release will include:

• Isolated music track
• Audio commentary by Dorothy “D.C.” Fontana and Gabrielle Stanton
• Inside the Roddenberry vault (Part 1)
• Star Trek: Revisiting a Classic
• Audio commentary by Roger Lay Jr., Scott Mantz and Mark A. Altman
• Inside the Roddenberry vault (Part 2)
• Strange New Worlds: Visualizing the Fantastic
• Audio commentary by David Gerrold and David A. Goodman
• Inside the Roddenberry vault (Part 3)
• Swept Up: Snippets from the Cutting Room Floor

Pop music boldly goes to space

Unlike “Star Wars,” “Star Trek” takes place not “a long, long time ago,” but in the not-too-distant future. That has allowed the series, both on TV and on film, to reference contemporary pop culture in general — and pop music in particular — in smart and lively ways over the last half-century.

In the latest movie, “Star Trek: Beyond,” for instance, 20th century music turns up when a surviving recording of Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power” rumbles out of a vintage boom box aboard a centuries-old abandoned starship.

More than just a cute cultural reference, the “vintage” music is a sonic savior when Capt. Kirk and his crew need something “loud and distracting” to fend off a swarm of hostile invaders. In that crucial moment, the Beastie Boys’ 1994 track “Sabotage” helps save the entire United Federation of Planets.

Program your transporter settings for these upcoming ‘Trek’-related activities

By  Chris Barton

“Star Trek at 50”: Screenings and after-show panels discussing Robert Wise’s 1979 big-screen adaptation of the series, “Star Trek: The Motion Picture,” and the first features involving the original “Star Trek” cast. Sept. 9-16, American Cinematheque at the Egyptian Theatre, 6712 Hollywood Blvd. $11 www.americancinemathequecalendar.com .

“For the Love of Spock”: The Kickstarter-funded documentary about Mr. Spock actor Leonard Nimoy (directed by his son Adam Nimoy). This screening, which will feature an appearance by Adam, and other films are a part of “TREKTEMBER” celebration at Laemmle’s NoHo 7, 5240 Lankershim Blvd, North Hollywood Thursday, 7:30 p.m. (Also at the American Cinematheque at the Egyptian Theater on Sat., Sept. 10.)

“All Star Trek”: The Heroes & Icons TV network offers a lineup that features all five live-action “Star Trek” series six nights a week as well as “Star Trek: The Animated Series,” which airs Sundays at 4 p.m. PDT. Check listings and local channel availability at www.heroesandiconstv.com .

What if ‘Star Trek’s’ theme song had lyrics? Wait, it does!

For those who grew up with syndicated UHF programming, the opening to “Star Trek” is about as indelible as it gets.

With delicate orchestral flickers framing an introduction that begins with William Shatner’s stentorian narration “Space… the final frontier,” the familiar, one-minute theme gallops on an operatic soprano that resembles a theremin framed by strings and brass. But what if that wordless melody actually had lyrics?

Before you start picturing Bill Murray’s swinging lounge singer delivering a theme to “Star Wars,” those lyrics already exist, written by the series’ beloved creator, Gene Roddenberry. And somehow, they’re more awkward than even Nick Winters could have imagined.

Beyond   The rim of the star-light   My love   Is wand’ring in star-flight...

A Nimoy back on the bridge: Cruising the con with Mr. Spock’s son

By  Jordan Hoffman

Whirrs, bloops and pings greet visitors inside a darkened non-nondescript, corporate-friendly ballroom. Half hotel, half life-sized reproduction of the famous bridge of the NCC-1701, this is Starfleet’s flagship Constitution Class vessel of exploration, the Enterprise.

“This really feels like coming home,” Adam Nimoy says with a laugh as we’re granted permission to take a stroll where few fans have gone before.

I’m in Las Vegas with Adam Nimoy at the first official “Star Trek” convention since his father, Leonard Nimoy, died. Gatherings that his father referred to as “victory laps.” It had been more than five months since the 83-year-old’s passing, and while there was a cloud of melancholy, fans were ready for what the convention was dubbing a “celebration of life” in the renamed Leonard Nimoy Theater.

Jordan Hoffman provides commentary as he tours the Starship Enterprise before the “Star Trek” convention opens in 2015.

How Leonard Nimoy was cast as Mr. Spock on ‘Star Trek’

By  Scott Collins

His role as Mr. Spock made a lasting impact on pop culture, but Leonard Nimoy barely noticed when he first heard about the role back in 1966.

“I really didn’t give it a lot of thought,” Nimoy recalled of the time his agent first called about the part.

Nimoy -- who died at 83 -- recalled how he won the landmark role as the relentlessly logical half-human, half-Vulcan Spock during a November 2000 interview with the TV Academy for its Archive of American Television Project.

If I keep my mouth shut, I might have a job here.

— Leonard Nimoy

Enjoy some Mozart in the ‘Star Trek’ universe with Pacific Opera Project’s ‘Abduction from the Seraglio’

By  Catherine Womack

It’s the final act of Mozart’s “Abduction from the Seraglio” and a tenor channeling 1960s-era William Shatner is belting out a florid aria as he battles a pack of gnarled Klingons. Welcome to the Pacific Opera Project’s update of “Abduction from the Seraglio,” a production that takes Mozart’s tale of kidnapping and beams it into outer space — the final frontier of “Star Trek,” to be exact.

Clearly, Josh Shaw and Stephen Karr, the co-founders of POP, are not afraid to mess with Mozart.

“This is a man who wrote poop jokes in letters to his sister,” Karr, POP’s musical director, says of the composer. “Mozart was in no way a prude.”

Though it’s hard to know what the maestro had to say about Klingons.

This month marks the 50th anniversary of the original “Star Trek” television series. To mark the occasion, POP is restaging one of its biggest hits: The “Star Trek”-themed rendition of Mozart’s 18th century drama about two women kidnapped by pirates and sold into a Turkish harem, and the brave Spanish captain who comes to their rescue.

The show runs for a single performance on Saturday night at the newly renovated Ford Amphitheatre in Hollywood.

Appreciation: Leonard Nimoy made Spock ‘Star Trek’s’ most complicated, and modern, hero

By  Robert Lloyd

It is important, and sometimes difficult, to remember that Leonard Nimoy was an actor, not an alien.

As Mr. Spock, the elf-eared, half-Vulcan science officer and first mate of the Starship Enterprise, he created a role that turned him from a journeyman into a star. The role made a footnote of everything he’d done before and colored everything that came after.

The titles of Nimoy’s two memoirs — “I Am Not Spock” (1975) and “I Am Spock” (1995) — indicate a process of rejection and acceptance the part played in his life. And each is true: He was all the while his own person — it’s interesting, even a little arresting, to watch him in “Star Trek” outtakes, smiling widely, cracking jokes — and yet there is no Spock without him. He is made from Nimoy’s own body and voice, his sense of timing and his sense of play.

Nimoy was 35 and had been a working screen actor for 15 years when “Star Trek” premiered in 1966. In series including “The Untouchables,” “Wagon Train,” “Perry Mason,” “Combat!,” “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” and “Get Smart,” he played all kinds of parts, good guys and bad ones.

‘Star Trek’ at 50: How the TV series inspired a boy to become a scientist

By  William Marcellino

Like “Star Trek,” I turn 50 this year. But that’s not my only connection to the original television series. “Star Trek” inspired me to become a scientist, convincing me at an early age that science and the advancement of human knowledge could make the world a better place.

Like many people my age, I was transfixed by the futurism of “Star Trek” and the adventures of the Starship Enterprise. Part of the appeal was the action and exotic science-fiction elements: giant space amoeba, time-travel, cloaking devices — even shape-shifting alien salt-vampires. (Like I said, I’m a lifelong fan.)

But part of what makes “Star Trek” so compelling has been a consistent commitment to a set of pro-social values. If an advanced alien species sets up some sort of bizarre test where the only way the crew could survive was by acting in some barbaric or murderous fashion, you could be darn sure that they would choose to die rather than betray their values, and they would make their stand exceedingly clear in a moral lecture to said advanced alien race.

Boldly laughing at ‘Star Trek’ for Earth’s future

By  Steve Appleford

Some of comedian Joshua Snyder’s most lasting memories of “Star Trek” came from the weekly TV ritual of watching new episodes of “The Next Generation” with his dad. Except one year they watched “SeaQuest DSV” instead, and taped “Star Trek” for later.

“Please don’t print that,” Snyder says with a laugh. His history as a nerd is secure, since it remains a central ingredient to his standup career, as he jokes about Captains Kirk and Picard, dueling starships and interplanetary relations.

“Kirk is one of my favorite heroes because he solved problems by having sex with people,” he says of the original series. “The sex was so good that the entire race would have this huge enlightenment. ... Imagine having sex that was so good that you started recycling.”

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50 Years of Star Trek [DVD + Digital]

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Product description.

This documentary celebrates the 50th anniversary of Star Trek, providing interviews with cast and crew members about the series' legacy, as well as the last filmed interview with Leonard Nimoy.

Product details

• Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
• Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 0.7 x 7.5 x 5.4 inches; 2.72 ounces
• Audio Description: ‏ : ‎ English
• Item model number ‏ : ‎ 43212931
• Director ‏ : ‎ Roumain, Ian
• Media Format ‏ : ‎ NTSC, Widescreen
• Run time ‏ : ‎ 1 hour and 25 minutes
• Release date ‏ : ‎ November 1, 2016
• Actors ‏ : ‎ Nimoy, Leonard, Abrams, J. J., Altman, Mark A., Barrowman, John, Beltran, Robert
• Studio ‏ : ‎ Lionsgate
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01KP7L4I4
• Country of Origin ‏ : ‎ USA
• Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1
• #1,971 in Science Fiction DVDs
• #2,775 in Documentary (Movies & TV)

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50 Years of Star Trek

• View history

50 Years of Star Trek is a celebratory, 85-minute documentary special first aired on The History Channel on 14 August 2016 , three months later released as a DVD home video format.

Summary [ ]

Credits [ ].

• J.J. Abrams
• Mark A. Altman
• John Barrowman
• Robert Beltran
• John Billingsley
• John D.F. Black
• André Bormanis
• Brannon Braga
• Bruce Campbell
• James Cromwell
• Marc Cushman
• Roxann Dawson
• John de Lancie
• Michael Dorn
• Doug Drexler
• Ike Eisenmann
• Patrick Fabian
• Bobak Ferdowsi
• D.C. Fontana
• Jonathan Frakes
• Whoopi Goldberg
• Peter Gould
• Dominic Keating
• Walter Koenig
• Christopher Lloyd
• Scott Mantz
• Chase Masterson
• Gates McFadden
• Michael McKean
• Nicholas Meyer
• Anthony Montgomery
• Ronald D. Moore
• Olivia Munn
• Nichelle Nichols
• Leonard Nimoy
• Jared Padalecki
• Ethan Phillips
• Kevin Pollak
• John Putman
• Rod Roddenberry
• Naren Shankar
• Armin Shimerman
• Sarah Silverman
• Michael Sussman
• Joe Sanfelippo
• Ian Roumain
• Joe Braswell
• Mark A. Altman – executive producer
• Lyndsey Autaubo – associate producer
• Steve Barry – producer
• Joe Braswell – executive producer
• Jen Proctor – talent producer (as Jennifer Proctor)
• Jordan Rubio – coordinating producer
• Akili Shine – producer
• Brian Volk-Weiss – executive producer
• Debbie Wunder – talent producer
• Joe Kraemer – composer
• Casey Sherrier
• Akili Shine
• Sean Basaman
• Phil Gibson
• Alan Maxson
• Mandy Artusato – makeup artist
• Alikona Bradford – makeup artist
• Dale Carroll – post-production supervisor
• Cisco Henson – executive in charge of production
• Steve Barry – assistant director: roundtable
• Joe Braswell – director: roundtable
• Tyler Neisinger – sound operator: roundtable
• Ben Nichols – sound operator
• Roger Nilsson – sound editor
• Meghan Underwood – sound operator: roundtable
• Drew Viehmann – sound
• Lee Walker – re-recording mixer
• Arianne Autaubo – still photographer
• Ethan Brookins – camera operator / camera operator: roundtable
• Kylie Cagle – camera operator: roundtable
• McNulty Nielsen – grip
• Albert Ortega Jr. – still photographer
• Jeremy Pion-Berlin – camera operator / camera operator: roundtable
• Manuel Quintanilla – camera operator / camera operator: roundtable
• Akili Shine – director of photography: roundtable
• Drew Viehmann – camera operator / camera operator: roundtable
• Ben Wilson – camera operator: roundtable
• Ron Boscacci – graphic artist
• Ash Chakamian – lead assistant editor
• Stephanie Gatica – assistant editor
• Gregorio Gonzalez – graphic artist
• Cesar Henriquez – assistant editor
• Adriano Munoz – assistant editor
• Roger Nilsson – assistant editor
• Tobin Phillips – on-line editor
• Alix Saline – lead assistant editor
• Daniel Wheeler – on-line assistant editor
• Katy Alimohammadi – clearance counsel (as Kathryn R. Alimohammadi)
• Julia Cearley – production assistant: roundtable
• Dean Cheley – clearance counsel (as Dean R. Cheley)
• Lauren Comes – production assistant: roundtable
• Eve Crusto – executive assistant to brian volk-weiss
• Donaldson & Califf – clearance counsel (as Donaldson Callif)
• Kristen Burns – special thanks
• Paul Cabana – special thanks
• Suzanne De Passe – special thanks
• Marc Finnegan – special thanks
• Edward Gross – special thanks
• Tim Healy – special thanks
• Daniel Holechek – special thanks
• David Holechek – special thanks
• Robert Holguin – special thanks
• Ruby Keister – special thanks
• Joseph Kelson – special thanks
• Ben McGinnis – special thanks
• Willie Mercer – special thanks
• Robeson Parks – special thanks
• Chupita Rhea – special thanks
• Gene Roddenberry – special thanks
• Michael Saltzman – special thanks
• Marilyn Szatmary – special thanks
• The Nacelle Company
• Blaze (UK, 2018)
• The History Channel (USA, 2016)

External link [ ]

• 50 Years of Star Trek at the Internet Movie Database
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Star Trek at 50

Stars spill insider tales of epic ad-libs, favorite captains

A dozen former cast members reveal which Trek tech they most want to see in real life and why they think the world's still captivated by the franchise.

How Gates McFadden kept her son from confusing her with Dr. Crusher

The star who played a single mom on TV also had a child during the show's run. Though she's happy with her real son, her fictional one could have used more work.

Nana Visitor loved playing Nerys, but had an unfulfilled Trek wish

The "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" star calls her time on the show an important part of who she is, but says she also finds it hard to watch reruns.

Can you imagine a Star Trek alien that squawks? John Billingsley did

Actor John Billingsley of "Star Trek: Enterprise" talks about creating a new alien race for the show, and why he doesn't have a Facebook account.

Robert Beltran: The Prime Directive is 'fascist crap'

The "Star Trek: Voyager" star had plenty of misgivings about the futuristic ideals his show portrayed. Still, he had a great time playing Chakotay.

Don't call Tim Russ a Trekkie

One of Trek's most prolific actors took a "just a job" approach to his work. Still, his time on the show made him appreciate the importance of science.

Trek turned Robert Picardo into a science nerd

The "Voyager" cast member describes his audition for The Doctor -- and how his years on the show made him a cheerleader for science.

Poking fun at fans made this Questarian value them more

The star of Trek homage "Galaxy Quest" talks about his deep connection to the franchise's biggest followers.

How the cosmos forced Star Trek's Dominic Keating to watch reruns

The "Enterprise" cast member on how fellow Brit Patrick Stewart was a role model, and why he was forced to watch "The Next Generation" over and over.

Jeri Ryan reaaaaally wants a transporter

How playing a character rediscovering her humanity after being kidnapped by the Borg paved the "Voyager" star's professional path.

How Worf wasn't a wuss thanks to Michael Dorn

The star of "The Next Generation" talks about his first years on the show, how he made Worf lovable and why he adores his Tesla Model S.

We're ahead of schedule to turn Star Trek tech into reality

Some of the technology from the universe of Kirk and Picard could be a reality sooner than you think.

Quiz: Test your knowledge of the Trek universe

Find out how well you know your funky space sweaters, starships and captains as Star Trek hits the big 5-0 this year.

Really, 'Star Trek V: The Final Frontier' isn't the worst Trek film

An intrepid fan boldly faces her past by rewatching "The Final Frontier." Does it deserve its reputation at the bottom of the Star Trek movie pile?

Wil Wheaton talks growing up on Star Trek, as actor and man

The man who played "The Next Generation" boy genius Wesley Crusher opens up about his favorite behind-the-scenes moments.

Styley Star Trek stamps will deliver your mail at warp speed

New postage honoring 50 years of obeying the prime directive will soon whisk your letters to any starfleet address...on this planet at least.

Trekkie gets starry-eyed at her first convention

These are the voyages of a dedicated Star Trek fan boldly shaking Sulu's hand and seeing Capt. Kirk at her very first Trek confab.

Building a Borg: Lessons from a Star Trek makeup legend

One of Star Trek's most frightening enemies comes to life in a live makeup demonstration at the 50th anniversary convention.

10 best Star Trek episodes, according to the fans

Fans sort through the highlights from across the entire television franchise to seek out the single greatest Trek episode ever aired.

And Star Trek's worst episode ever is...

With so much Star Trek out there, there were bound to be missteps. Fans hash through space hippies, stolen brains and an awful series finale to find the worst.

Shatner talks Star Wars, Pokemon Go and 'Twilight Zone' monsters

William Shatner regales Star Trek convention fans with his thoughts on reading, seeing the Gorn on a plane and the importance of Star Wars.

George Takei calls 'Star Trek Beyond' gay Sulu scene 'a whisper'

George Takei has now seen "Star Trek Beyond," and he has both praise and criticism for the reboot movie and its depiction of Sulu as gay.

Whoopi Goldberg shares 'Next Gen' secrets at her first Star Trek convention

The actress and comedian dishes on Guinan's saucer-shaped hats, her weird on-set nickname and wanting to return to the Star Trek universe.

Fans pay tribute to Anton Yelchin at anniversary convention

Leaving personal messages on a larger-than-life poster, grieving fans honor the Star Trek actor who died in an accident in June.

Behind the seams of my Star Trek captain's costume

Delve into the anatomy of a Star Trek costume as CNET's Amanda Kooser preps for a coming convention in full Captain Kirk style.

Star Trek at 50: Artists celebrate the final frontier

Set phasers to stunning as artists create a range of art you're going to want in your starship quarters.

Beer us up with Star Trek anniversary golden ale

Shmaltz Brewing Company pours Star Trek Golden Anniversary Ale: The Trouble With Tribbles for the franchise's 50th anniversary.

Zoe Saldana: Boldly going where no one has gone before

She's played a blue-skinned alien and a green-faced warrior, and is now making her third appearance as communications officer Lt. Nyota Uhura in "Star Trek Beyond." Her dream: being able to use a real-life transporter.

Star Trek in pictures

50 years of Star Trek uniforms

The uniforms worn by the crew of the Starship Enterprise count as some of the most iconic looks ever. Here's how they've evolved.

Trek guests who brought their own star power

Joan Collins, Jason Alexander, Stephen Hawking...many stars have glowed in the Trek universe over the years.

Trek exhibit takes fans on a voyage

Gawk at Capt. Kirk's chair, scream like you've suffered the wrath of Khan, and get beamed up to the Enterprise.

One of Star Trek's most frightening enemies comes to life in a live makeup demonstration at the 50th anniversary convention in Las Vegas.

Out-of-this-world moments

The 50th anniversary convention had plenty of weird and wonderful moments. Engage!

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‘50 Years of Star Trek’ Documentary: Whoopi Goldberg, J.J. Abrams & More Celebrate The Starfleet

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The “ Star Trek ” fiftieth anniversary celebrations continue with a new two-hour documentary, “50 Years of Star Trek,” set to premiere this month on History . The film will celebrate the iconic franchise that has inspired a cult following and feature interviews with previous cast members and creators.

Best yet, the doc includes Leonard Nimoy in one of his final full length interviews where he gives an inside look into the series, shares memories and stories from the five decades he spent aboard the USS Enterprise as the beloved Spock.

READ MORE: ‘Star Trek Beyond’ Visual Effects Master Peter Chiang Goes Back to the Future

Directed by Ian Roumain, other actors and creators from “Star Trek” TV series and films included are Whoopi Goldberg, Jonathan Frakes, Nichelle Nichols, J.J. Abrams, Bryan Fuller, and Simon Pegg. Notable Trekkies Michael McKean, Olivia Munn, Bruce Campbell and others share their memories about the franchise and explore how it has impacted American history and culture.

The History channel Starfleet celebration is produced by New Wave Entertainment and executive produced by Brian Volk Weiss and Joe Braswell.

READ MORE: ‘For the Love of Spock’ Trailer: Heartfelt Documentary Pays Tribute to ‘Star Trek’ Legend Leonard Nimoy

“50 Years of Star Trek” premieres Sunday, August 14 at 8pm on History.

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Published Sep 5, 2016

Nichelle Nichols Celebrates 50 Years of Trek

Star Trek helped change the world forever - socially, politically and racially, and also in terms of sci-fi, pop culture and entertainment - and Nichelle Nichols played a huge role in that. Star Trek will turn 50 on September 8, and Nichols, despite a few health scares, including a stroke, joyously and joyfully carries on. She's still acting; in fact, she'll be on view today in her second episode of The Young and the Restless . She's got a jewelry line. And our beloved original Uhura continues to appear at conventions and autograph shows in the U.S. and around the world. StarTrek.com sat down to chat with Nichols during her whirlwind visit to San Diego Comic-Con earlier this summer. The actress looked radiant, as always, and sounded happy as she celebrated Trek 's 50th anniversary, filled us in on her current projects and shared her appreciation for all the love she's received from fans over the years.

What does it mean to you to be here and sharing in the celebration of Star Trek 's 50th anniversary?

I think it's fantastic, but I'm just not that old.

Star Trek is 50 and you're...40. Is that what you're saying?

I'm 32.

We'll go with that... 32.

And I lie well. (Laughs)

You lie very well. But, really, what does it mean to be here, to share the occasion with the fans here and at the screening of Beyond ? This trek just continues to live on.

Yes, it does. You could say it's amazing, but it doesn't amaze me.

It doesn't amaze me because Star Trek fans have been there from the beginning, and so they simply are fantastic. They know what they're doing. They know what they like. Star Trek ... it's not like silliness coming. They really know what Gene Roddenberry was doing, what he hoped for, for the world, when he wrote it.

What do you think Roddenberry would make of all of this, if he were still here with us?

He'd fit right in. He would love it. I think he would think it was wonderful and that he'd be saying, "This is great." And I'm sure he would be busy changing this and developing that.

What kinds of stories do the fans share with you about their love of Uhura and the way the character changed their lives?

I don't know if I can answer that, but only because there are all kinds of stories. Everybody has a different reason for being a Star Trek fan. People tell me they went into communications because of Uhura. I know that some people entered the space program, NASA, because of Uhura, because of Star Trek . And I know that because I recruited some of them!

And then there's Whoopi Goldberg, who saw a black face on television - YOURS - and said, "Look there's something in the future for me."

She was a fan first. And then she got so involved with it, with Star Trek . The first person she called was me. I'm so happy that we're friends. I love Whoopi.

On our way to sit down with you for this interview, we passed hundreds of fans who were waving to you, calling out your name, shouting Uhura's name. Do you just soak in all that love?

I love the love, and I love returning it. They know that. It's as simple as that.

M-A-C, the makeup company, is one of the companies that's celebrating Star Trek this year. They have their Trek station and one of the models is dressed and performs as Uhura. They're emphasizing Trek 's empowering women. Can we assume you always viewed Uhura as empowering?

Absolutely. There's no other way to see her. She always has been and is now and will continue to be. I was at their display and I met the young model. She is beautiful, inside and out.

You've designed a line of jewelry...

It's artistic. It's another form of artistry.

You had a health scare last year, with the stroke. How are you feeling?

I'm feeling great. I don't even remember the incident. What did I have? (Laughs)

Star Trek has outlived Gene Roddenberry, Leonard Nimoy and others. It'll outlive us...and even you. How reassuring is it to know the franchise and all it stands for will continue on for generations?

That's very true. I love it. Star Trek is so strong and it's so...Gene Roddenberry. It's really for all of us. You just say, "That's Star Trek ." It's a beautiful thing. It means so much (to so many people). And it's not just a show with some nice-looking people. It's really talking about something.

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50 years of Star Trek : Boldly inspiring generations of scientists

Scientists from caltech, nasa, boeing and wpi all say the 1960s sci-fi show fueled their passions.

For Robert Hurt, some of his earliest memories are of sitting with his dad in their den watching the original Star Trek and dreaming of space travel and astronomy.

Now 50 years later, Hurt is a physicist working at the California Institute of Technology on NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope , peering deep into areas of space that have always been hidden from us.

Like Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the starship USS Enterprise, Hurt is a space explorer.

After Star Trek first aired – 50 years ago today – on Sept. 8, 1966, people could envision a time when the human race would explore space and “boldly go where no man (or woman) has gone before.” The show, which ran for three seasons, also began to inspire those kids in PJs or hanging out with friends watching Kirk and Mr. Spock meet aliens and explore distant planets.

For many researchers today, their passion for science was fed by the original series, along with the later spin-offs and movies that followed.

“It really fueled our interests,” said Hurt, adding that there’s a good chance he wouldn’t be a scientist today without Star Trek ‘s inspiration. “One of the things that was most formative for me as a child was that…with Star Trek , science isn’t something we fear. The second in command of the Enterprise was the science officer. That was a really powerful symbol growing up. Science doesn’t create monsters. Science is what we use to face problems and solve problems.”

That original show has been followed by five more TV series, including The Next Generation , Deep Space Nine and Voyager . And the franchise isn’t dormant. A seventh television series, Discovery , is expected to begin airing on CBS All Access in January.

There also have been 13 Star Trek films, including this year’s latest movie Star Trek   Beyond .

All served to create a mythology around space exploration, multi-cultural diversity and cooperation and an optimism around science.

John Smith, who does trajectory design for outer planets missions at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory , said Star Trek was one of the very first shows he can remember watching as a kid. It influenced his career, as well as his outlook on life.

“It drove me towards aerospace engineering,” Smith said, noting that he’s seen each of the original episodes at least a dozen times. “For that time period, there were few shows that reflected the optimism and the acceptance that was present in that show…. It was very revolutionary for the day and it was present throughout Star Trek .”

For Lee Sheldon, who today is a professor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) but was a writer and producer on the fourth season of The Next Generation , it was important to carry the message that science is cool and important throughout the different series.

He also noted that in his conversations with Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry , the people involved in the shows were conscious of the influence the series and movies had on kids and on the scientific community.

“Oh, I think we were all very aware,” Sheldon said. “Even though it’s set centuries in the future, we were very aware that the science should be as good as it could be. If we were going to speculate, it should be an extrapolation of science. It set goals for scientists today.”

Star Trek writers and actors even went out to talk to students about the importance of science. “Everyone was very aware that we had something important to say and that we could affect the future,” said Sheldon. “I think a lot of kids were incredibly inspired.”

Seeing that you could have an exciting job working in science was an ‘Aha’ kind of moment for Emily L. Howard, a senior technical fellow with The Boeing Company.

“Many of the women were scientists on the show,” she said. “I don’t know that I knew I was destined for a future in science, but seeing women who were solving problems and using their creativity absolutely inspired me.”

The real-life Apollo space program , the first moon landing in 1969 and physicist Sally Ride’s becoming the first female NASA astronaut , offered a lot of positive scientific influences for Howard. But the fictional world of Star Trek carried its own importance.

“I can’t give all that power to a single show, but it certainly helped fuel my interest,” she said. “There were other things happening at the time, but at that young [age] to be exposed to these amazing possibilities about the future, planted a seed very deeply in me.”

It planted a similar seed in Marc Rayman , the director and chief engineer of NASA’s Dawn mission.

Marc Rayman, director and chief engineer of NASA’s Dawn mission.

Rayman has been a serious Trekkie since the original show began when he was in the seventh grade. The first class he ever skipped in his life was when a Star Trek movie was opening at same time as his graduate class in statistical mechanics.

He would not only go on to himself be involved with spacecraft that explore alien worlds. And when he worked on NASA’s Deep Space 1 program , the first interplanetary mission to use low-thrust propulsion technology , Rayman began calling it ion propulsion — in honor of Star Trek .

“ Star Trek didn’t so much inspire me, but it fueled the passions that were already burning within me,” he said. “ Star Trek showed the future I wanted to be a part of…. It would never have occurred to me that in the year 2016 — 50 years after the first show was on — that the show would have that kind of longevity. That’s a testament to how powerful it was and how much it meant to so many people.”

Rayman said he found out a few years ago that he was working with a colleague who didn’t know the original series or the spinoffs.

“You kind of wonder how JPL could even hire a guy like that,” he said, laughing. “You’d think NASA would be a little more discriminating. Apart from that he’s a good guy, but this major deficiency in his education was troubling.”

Rayman has set about “rectifying this major flaw.”

That kind of education wouldn’t have been an issue for Mike Ciaraldi, a professor of computer science and robotics engineering at WPI. Ciaraldi still remembers watching the first episode of Star Trek , “ The Man Trap ,” when it premiered.

For him, science fiction in general, and Star Trek in particular, is all about using your brain to solve problems and how a hero avoids a fight or outright calamity by out-thinking an opponent.

Star Trek also let kids know there were other people interested in science.

Robert Frederking, an associate dean for Carnegie Mellon University’s school of computer science, had a fan club membership — and he still owns a set of blueprints of the starship enterprise.

“It made me think about things like were would warp drives really be possible and would transporters work. It made me think,” he said. “It certainly encouraged me. I think it’s safe to say I still think it’s interesting. Like Spock, I would say it’s fascinating.”

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50 Years of NASA and Star Trek Connections

Johnson space center.

Fans of the television science fiction series Star Trek were saddened when the show’s final episode aired on June 3, 1969. It seemed like the end of a very short era, as the program had only been on the air for three seasons. Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry first had the idea for a science fiction television series in 1964, set in the 23rd century aboard a starship whose crew was dedicated to exploring the galaxy. The National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) network introduced the show to its fall 1966 lineup, with the first episode airing on Sep. 8. To put that date in perspective, NASA was preparing to launch the Gemini 10 mission, and was still almost three years from landing humans on the Moon, while Star Trek ’s Starship Enterprise was making fictional journeys through the galaxy. What made the show particularly attractive to late 1960s television audiences was the makeup of the Enterprise ’s crew. Among the major characters were an African-American woman Communications Officer, an Asian-American helmsman, and a half-human half-Vulcan Science Officer, eventually joined by a Russian-born ensign. While the show enjoyed good ratings during its first two seasons, lower ratings in the third season led to its eventual cancellation, despite a concerted letter-writing campaign from its dedicated fans.

After the show’s cancellation, Star Trek lived on and prospered in syndication and attracted an ever-growing fan base. Often dubbed “trekkies,” these fans held the first Star Trek convention in 1972 and became a dedicated constituency. When in 1976 NASA announced that it would name its first space shuttle orbiter Constitution , in honor of its rollout on September 17, the anniversary of the ratification of the United States Constitution, trekkies engaged in a dedicated letter writing campaign to have the orbiter named Enterprise , after the starship in the television series. This time the fans’ letter writing campaign was successful. President Gerald R. Ford sided with the trekkies and directed NASA to rechristen the first space shuttle. When it rolled out of its manufacturing plant in Palmdale, California, it bore the name Enterprise . On hand to see the event were many of the original cast members of the show as well as its creator Rodenberry, hosted by NASA Administrator James C. Fletcher. Thus began a long relationship between the space agency and the Star Trek brand.

When NASA was developing the Space Shuttle in the 1970s, it needed to recruit a new group of astronauts to fly the vehicle, deploy the satellites, and perform the science experiments, and was encouraging women and minorities to apply to be astronauts. The Agency hired Nichelle Nichols, who played Lt. Nyota Uhura as the Communications Officer on the Starship Enterprise in Star Trek , to record a recruiting video . She came to JSC in March 1977, and accompanied by Apollo 12 and Skylab 3 astronaut Alan L. Bean, toured the center and filmed scenes for the video in Mission Control and other facilities. NASA hoped that her stature and popularity would encourage women and minorities to apply, and indeed they did. In January 1978, when NASA announced the selection of 35 new astronauts, among them for the first time were women and minorities. Nichols returned to JSC in September 2010 with the Traveling Space Museum, an organization that partners with schools to promote space studies. She toured Mission Control and the International Space Station (ISS) trainer accompanied by astronaut B. Alvin Drew. She also flew aboard NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) airborne telescope aircraft in September 2015, possibly the closest any of the cast members has come to flying in space.

Meanwhile, the Star Trek brand renewed itself in 1979 as a full length motion picture with the original TV series cast members reprising their roles. This first film was followed over the years with a number of sequels.  And on the small screen, a reboot of sorts occurred in 1987 with the premiere of Star Trek: The Next Generation , set in the 24th century aboard the Enterprise-D , a next generation starship with a new crew. That series lasted seven seasons and was followed by a near-bewildering array of spin-off series, all built on the Star Trek brand, that continue to this day.

The actor who played Lt. Cmdr. Montgomery “Scotty” Scott, the Starship Enterprise ’s chief engineer, James Doohan, had early associations with NASA. In April 1967, Doohan visited NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center, now Armstrong Flight Research Center in California, where he spent time with NASA pilot Bruce A. Peterson. Peterson was a test pilot for the experimental M2-F2 lifting body aircraft who a month later barely survived a horrific crash of the vehicle. Peterson became the inspiration for the 1970s TV series The Six-Million Dollar Man , and film of the crash was included in the show’s opening credits.  Doohan narrated a documentary film about the Space Shuttle released shortly before Columbia made its first flight in April 1981. In January 1991, Doohan visited JSC and accompanied by astronaut Mario Runco (who sometimes goes by the nickname “Spock”) toured the Shuttle trainers and Mission Control and tried his hand at operating the Shuttle robot arm in the Manipulator Development Facility. In a unique tribute, astronaut Neil A. Armstrong, the first person to step on the lunar surface, made a rare public appearance to speak at Doohan’s retirement in 2004, as “one old engineer to another.”

George Takei, who played Starship Enterprise helmsman Lt. Hikaru Sulu, and his husband Brad, visited JSC in May 2012. Invited by both Asian Pacific American and LGBT Employee Resource Groups, Takei spoke of leadership and inclusiveness, including overcoming challenges while in Japanese-American internment camps during World War II and as a member of the LGBT community.  He mentioned that Star Trek was ahead of its time in creating a future when all members of society could equally participate in great undertakings, at a time when the country was struggling through the Civil Rights movement and the conflict in Southeast Asia.  He was greatly inspired by the inclusiveness that is part of NASA’s culture.  JSC Center Director Michael L. Coats presented Takei with a plaque including an American flag flown aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis ’ STS-135 mission.  He also visited Mission Control and spent some time with Robonaut.

The Science Officer aboard the Starship Enterprise , the half-human, half-Vulcan Mr. Spock, was played by Leonard Nimoy.  The actor was on hand in September 2012 when Space Shuttle Enterprise arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, on the last leg of its journey to the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, where it is currently on display.  “This is a reunion for me,” said Nimoy.  “Thirty-five years ago, I met the Enterprise for the first time.”  As noted earlier, the Star Trek cast was present when the first Space Shuttle rolled out of its factory in 1976.  Following his death in 2015, European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristaforetti paid tribute to Nimoy aboard the ISS by wearing a Star Trek Science Officer uniform, giving the Vulcan greeting and quoting Captain Kirk, “Of all the souls I have encountered … his was the most human.”

At the helm of the Starship Enterprise was Captain James T. Kirk, played by William Shatner.  The actor is a life-long advocate of science and space exploration.  His relationship with NASA began during the original series, with references to the space agency incorporated into several story lines.  An episode that aired in February 1967 featured a photograph of the Gemini 6 launch hanging on the wall.  In 2011, Shatner hosted and narrated a NASA documentary celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Space Shuttle program , and gave his time and voice to other NASA documentaries.  Most recently, he narrated the NASA video We Are Going , about our plans to land the next man and the first woman on the Moon by 2024.  NASA recognized Shatner’s contributions in 2014 with a Distinguished Public Service Medal , the highest award the agency bestows on non-government individuals.   The citation for the medal, presented to Shatner by NASA Deputy Associate Administrator for Communications Bob Jacobs, read, “For outstanding generosity and dedication to inspiring new generations of explorers around the world, and for unwavering support for NASA and its missions of discovery.” 

Elements of the Star Trek universe have made their way not only into popular culture but also into NASA culture. As noted above, Star Trek fans were instrumental in naming the first Space Shuttle Enterprise . When NASA was designing an Earth observation facility for the ISS to make use of its optical quality window, its formal acronym became the Window Observational Research Facility (WORF). The connection between that acronym and the name of a Klingon officer aboard the Enterprise in the Star Trek: The Next Generation TV series was an opportunity not to be missed. On the facility’s official patch, underneath the acronym WORF is the name written in the fictional Klingon language. Several astronaut crews have embraced Star Trek themes for their unofficial photographs. The STS-54 crew of Space Shuttle Endeavour dressed in the uniforms of Starship Enterprise officers from “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan,” the second full-length feature motion picture of the series. Space Shuttle and ISS crews create Space Flight Awareness (SFA) posters for their missions, and more than one has embraced Star Trek motifs. The ISS Expedition 21 crew dressed in uniforms from the original series, while the STS-134 crew of the Space Shuttle Endeavour chose as their motif the 2009 reboot motion picture Star Trek .

In the documentary “ NASA on the Edge of Forever: Science in Space ,” host NASA astronaut Victor Glover states, “Science and Star Trek go hand-in-hand.” The film explores how for the past 50 years, Star Trek has influenced scientists, engineers, and even astronauts to reach beyond their potential. While the ISS doesn’t speed through the galaxy like the Starship Enterprise , much of the research conducted aboard the orbiting facility can make the fiction of Star Trek come a little closer to reality. Several of the cast members from the original TV series added their viewpoints in the documentary, along with those of NASA managers and scientists. The mutual attraction between NASA and Star Trek is that both, to paraphrase the opening voiceover from the TV series, seek to explore and seek out new worlds, and to boldly go where no one has gone before. May everyone involved in these endeavors live long and prosper.

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Nbc news now, 'star trek' uss enterprise model found on ebay after nearly 50 years.

The original USS Enterprise model used in the introduction of the show "Star Trek" was found after being missing for nearly 50 years. The model went missing in the 1970s and was found being sold on eBay with a starting bid of $1,000.  April 26, 2024

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A 57-Year-Old Star Trek Mystery Has Finally Been Solved

• Nearly 60 years ago, Star Trek: The Original Series introduced the Mirror Universe.
• Star Trek: Discovery returned to that parallel dimension in Season 1, showing audiences more of that world.
• In the final season of Star Trek: Discovery, the fate of a key vessel in the mirror universe is revealed.

The following contains spoilers from Star Trek: Discovery , Season 5, Episode 5, "Mirrors," now streaming on Paramount+ .

One of the most interesting concepts in the Star Trek mythology is its "mirror universe," a parallel dimension where almost everyone is evil. Of the universe's dozen series, only four ever explored it, and only two did so more than once. Star Trek: Discovery made the mirror universe key to its first season, and in its final one, the series revealed what happened to the ISS Enterprise 57 years after it was first introduced. When the show first debuted, some long-time fans felt the crew and the captain were not in keeping with the tenor of proper Starfleet officers. However, Season 1 revealed Captain Lorca hailed from that universe , explaining why he seemed more "evil" than the typical starship captain.

Once the USS Discovery traveled through a wormhole to the 32nd Century, Dr. Kovich told Dr. Culber that the Mirror Universe and Prime Universe were too far apart for "crossings" to occur any longer. However, while on the hunt for the clues to the location of the Progenitors' technology, Captain Burnham and Cleveland "Book" Booker find a pocket of interdimensional space housing a vessel from the Mirror Universe. However, it's not any old starship, it is the ISS Enterprise last seen in "Mirror, Mirror" when the Prime Universe's Captain Kirk told Mirror Universe Spock it only took one good man to start a revolution. Once Star Trek: Deep Space Nine reintroduced the Mirror Universe, what happened to the ship was an open question Discovery just answered.

Where the Mirror Universe and the ISS Enterprise Came From

Star trek: discovery's mary wiseman, wilson cruz and blu del barrio hype finale.

When Gene Roddenberry put together his pitch for Star Trek 60 years ago in 1964, a loose idea of the Mirror Universe concept was on an early pitch document . The full concept came from writer Jerome Bixby, based on his decade-old short story "One Way Street." The writer said "the universe [he] created was a very savage counterpart" and that "it's arguable...the universe itself might be termed a 'character,'" in The Captain's Logs Supplemental by Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman.

In "Mirror, Mirror," Kirk, Doctor McCoy, Uhura and Scotty are sent via transporter accident to the Mirror Universe. The episode is mostly about them trying to survive long enough to be returned to their own universe. However, Mirror Spock figures out the captain and crew aren't from his version of reality. So, he ends up helping them recreate the accident so they can return home. Tiberius Kirk and the evil versions of the crew are also sent back, but it's strongly implied that Spock will quickly take control from him.

In Star Trek: Enterprise , a two-part episode set in the Mirror Universe brought the USS Defiant from The Original Series episode "The Tholian Web" to the past. This helps explain why the ISS Enterprise is so much like the Constitution class vessels from the prime universe. Each starship is also equipped with a Tantalus Field, a mysterious device that makes a captain's enemies vanish. Presumably, Spock used the vessel to start his revolution, and Deep Space Nine reveals how it all turned out. Yet, what happened to the ISS Enterprise remained a mystery, until "Mirrors."

The USS Discovery's Search for Clues Led Burnham to the Enterprise

Star trek: discovery's alex kurtzman & michelle paradise talk final season.

Captain Burnham and the USS Discovery crew are familiar with the USS Enterprise, though Captain Christopher Pike was her commanding officer then. After surviving the Time Bug placed on the ship by Moll, Burnham and Book take a shuttle into an "aperture" of extradimensional space to follow their ship's warp trail. When they enter it, Burnham recognizes the ship, but tells Book that during her time in the Mirror Universe in Season 1, she never saw that particular vessel. The ship has been stuck there for some time, and it's damaged. Not just from the pocket dimension it sits in, but it had been in a battle.

When Burnham and Book board the vessel, they discover something surprising. Rather than a Terran warship, they see the ISS Enterprise seemingly serving as a home to refugees . After restoring some power to the ship, they are able to locate Moll, L'ak and the clue they seek by scanning for the quantum signature of people and objects from the prime universe. A short fight breaks out, but circumstances align so that Moll and Booker have to work together to free L'ak and Michael from a security protocol.

When L'ak and Michael fight, she's able to get the clue and she, accidentally, wounds the Breen exile. Moll and L'ak escape in the shuttle Michael and Book arrived on, so they have to figure out a way to get the ISS Enterprise out of the extradimensional space it was marooned in so long ago. Naturally, they succeed with the help of quick-thinking by Commander Rayner on the USS Discovery. What's most interesting, however, is that throughout this adventure no one really wonders just how the clue from the Prime Universe ended up on the flagship of the Terran Empire.

Deep Space Nine Revealed the Fate of Spock's Terran Empire

Star trek: discovery actors doug jones & david ajala prepare for their last adventure.

The first show to return to the Mirror Universe was the first serialized Star Trek , Deep Space Nine in Season 2, Episode 23, "Crossover." Naturally, because that series was set on the space station close to the planet Bajor, this was the corner of the Mirror Universe that the episode (and its many sequels over seven seasons) explored. Rather than the jingoistic rules of the Terran Empire, however, humans were an oppressed class working the ore processing facilities on the Deep Space 9 station. It was ruled by an alliance of Klingons, Cardassians and Bajorans.

Kira Nerys met her counterpart, the leader of the station known as "the Intendant." She explained to her what happened after the real Captain Kirk transported back to his universe. Spock used the ISS Enterprise to become Chancellor of the former Empire, all the while making institutional reformations that made the society more peaceful and equitable. However, after years of being oppressed by the Terrans, the Klingon and Cardassian alliance was able to launch a successful campaign against them.

Still, Deep Space Nine left the ultimate fate of the Terran Empire -- and, more specifically, the ISS Enterprise -- an open question . In fact, Intendant Kira never really clarified when the Terran Empire fell, beyond saying that Spock's reforms began "almost a century ago." Still, knowing that the Terran Empire fell under a brutal assault by Klingons and Cardassians , a picture starts to emerge about why the ISS Enterprise would have been a home for refugees and made the perilous, impossible journey across dimensions.

A Terran Refugee Hid the Clue In the ISS Enterprise In the 24th Century

Star trek: discovery's sonequa martin-green embarks on one final voyage.

At the end of "Mirrors," Michael Burnham reveals the scientist who hid the clue on the ISS Enterprise was able to do so because she was, herself, a Terran . Some time before The Next Generation's "The Chase," she and a group of refugees fled the ISS Enterprise in shuttles and made their way into the Prime Universe. From there, many of them made homes in the Federation, and this particular scientist was the Junior Science Officer on the ISS Enterprise, Dr. Cho.

This means the Terran refugees fled the Mirror Universe sometime before the events of "The Chase." Yet, it was close enough to those events that Dr. Cho was able to make her way back to the ship that carried her and her fellow immigrant in order to hide the clue there. As Booker notes in the episode, the clues to the Progenitors' technology each come with a lesson. In this case, Dr. Cho wanted to subtly teach the searchers who followed her that things can always get better. She went from being a Terran scientist to a Branch Admiral in Starfleet. It's kind of like Starfleet's first mutineer becoming the captain of the first vessel on which she served afterward.

No matter the timeline or universe, the Enterprise is an important, historic vessel. The ISS Enterprise was a warship that brought fear and terror to whomever it visited. At least, until a man named Kirk told a man named Spock there was a better choice to make. In its final season, Star Trek: Discovery has found yet another way to tie its story into the fabric of the universe's past and the message Gene Roddenberry and all those who followed him wanted to give the audience. Things can always be better, but it takes people making the right choices to get there.

Star Trek: Discovery debuts new episodes Thursdays on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Discovery

Release Date September 24, 2017

Cast Oyin Oladejo, Emily Coutts, Anthony Rapp, Sonequa Martin-Green, Doug Jones, Mary Wiseman

Main Genre Sci-Fi

Genres Drama, Sci-Fi, Action, Adventure

Rating TV-14

Screen Rant

Star trek 4 has to happen in 2026.

Star Trek 4 is still in development, but J.J. Abrams' sequel needs to make a 2026 release date to celebrate a huge Star Trek milestone.

• Star Trek 4 is crucial for the 60th anniversary celebration in 2026 to honor the franchise's legacy with a big-screen mainstream blockbuster.
• Star Trek 4 is in development with new screenwriter Steve Yockey.
• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds offers an opportunity to honor the 60-year milestone with Kirk and Spock on the USS Enterprise.

Star Trek 4 needs to be released in 2026 to properly celebrate Star Trek 's momentous 60th anniversary. Star Trek: The Original Series premiered on September 8, 1966, and the franchise is going stong going into its sixth decade. The J.J. Abrams-produced Star Trek 4 is currently in active development with new writer Steve Yockey tackling script duties. Star Trek 4 has the opportunity to honor Star Trek 's 60th-anniversary milestone and continue the adventures of Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine), Spock (Zachary Quinto), and the beloved USS Enterprise crew in Star Trek 's alternate Kelvin Timeline.

In 1996, Star Trek celebrated its 30th anniversary with crossover episodes in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager . DS9 's “Trials and Tribble-ations” sent Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) and his crew back to the 23rd century to save Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and the USS Enterprise. Voyager 's "Flashback" featured Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) interacting with Captain Sulu (George Takei) and Commander Janice Rand (Grace Lee Whitney). However, Star Trek ’s 40th anniversary passed without much fanfare, although Star Trek Beyond was released in 2016 to mark Star Trek' s 50th anniversary. Star Trek 4 must now seize the opportunity to release in 2026 to honor Star Trek 's 60th anniversary .

Every Star Trek Movie Ranked (From Worst To Best)

Star trek 4 has to release in 2026 for star trek’s 60th anniversary, star trek beyond, the franchise's latest movie, was released in 2016.

The 60th anniversary of Star Trek in 2026 presents a perfect opportunity for the release of Star Trek 4 in tandem with wider franchise celebrations. Despite persistent interest from fans and cast members, a movie continuation of the alternate Kelvin Timeline has been in development hell for almost a decade. Star Trek 4 offers a return of the Chris Pine-led USS Enterprise cast for what has been dubbed its “ final chapter .” While details remain unknown, the timing for Star Trek 4 is crucial. Ten years after the release of Star Trek Beyond , Star Trek 4 must embrace the 60th anniversary deadline to avoid missing a huge opportunity.

Star Trek evolved from a groundbreaking science fiction show into a cult phenomenon.

A 2026 movie release would make Star Trek 4 the centerpiece of Star Trek' s 60th anniversary celebrations . Aligning with other franchise festivities to blend innovation, continuity, and tradition would appeal to longtime fans and modern audiences and offer a unique chance to celebrate everything and everyone great about Star Trek . Celebrating 60 years since Star Trek began and evolved from a groundbreaking science fiction show into a pop culture phenomenon and multi-decade global movement, Star Trek 4 could unify the franchise's legacy with a modern generation and pave the way for a new era of Star Trek .

Star Trek On Paramount Plus Can Also Mark Star Trek’s 60th Anniversary

But a new star trek movie in theaters is a bigger draw for star trek's 60th anniversary.

Paramount+ positions itself as " the home of Star Trek ," but uncertainties loom over the future of Star Trek content on the platform, with shows like Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Lower Decks coming to an end. Multiple Star Trek series cancelations diminish Paramount+’s potential to celebrate Star Trek's 60th anniversary with a wide range of legacy characters through animation, archive footage, or live-action. In 2026, only two Star Trek shows are expected to be streaming on Paramount+: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Star Trek: Starfleet Academy.

Director Toby Haynes's Untitled Star Trek Origin Movie has been announced for a 2025 release.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is Paramount+'s best bet to honor Star Trek's 60th anniversary. Strange New Worlds is renewed for season 4 , which could potentially be released in 2026 following season 3's expected 2025 premiere. Since it also has Lt. Spock (Ethan Peck) and Lt. James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley) aboard the Starship Enterprise, Strange New Worlds is Paramount+'s best opportunity to honor Star Trek's 60 years . However, the return of Captain Kirk, Spock, and the USS Enterprise to movie screens in a multiplex blockbuster like Star Trek 4 would be an even bigger event to capture mainstream audiences in 2026 and give Star Trek 's 60th anniversary the prestige it deserves.

All Star Trek series (except Prodigy), and J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movies are available to stream on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Prodigy is available to stream on Netflix.

Star Trek movies I-X are available to stream on Max.

Star Trek 4

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1. Star Trek (1966–1969)

TV-PG | 50 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

In the 23rd Century, Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise explore the galaxy and defend the United Federation of Planets.

Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , DeForest Kelley , Nichelle Nichols

Votes: 92,897

2. Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973–1975)

TV-Y7 | 30 min | Animation, Action, Adventure

The further adventures of Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the USS Enterprise, as they explore the galaxy and defend the United Federation of Planets.

Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , DeForest Kelley , George Takei

Votes: 8,178

3. Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

G | 143 min | Adventure, Mystery, Sci-Fi

When an alien spacecraft of enormous power is spotted approaching Earth, Admiral James T. Kirk resumes command of the overhauled USS Enterprise in order to intercept it.

Director: Robert Wise | Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , DeForest Kelley , James Doohan

Votes: 96,600 | Gross: $82.26M

4. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

PG | 113 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

With the assistance of the Enterprise crew, Admiral Kirk must stop an old nemesis, Khan Noonien Singh, from using the life-generating Genesis Device as the ultimate weapon.

Director: Nicholas Meyer | Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , DeForest Kelley , James Doohan

Votes: 129,196 | Gross: $78.91M

5. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)

PG | 105 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Admiral Kirk and his bridge crew risk their careers stealing the decommissioned U.S.S. Enterprise to return to the restricted Genesis Planet to recover Spock's body.

Director: Leonard Nimoy | Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , DeForest Kelley , James Doohan

Votes: 86,156 | Gross: $76.47M

6. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)

PG | 119 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy

To save Earth from an alien probe, Admiral James T. Kirk and his fugitive crew go back in time to San Francisco in 1986 to retrieve the only beings who can communicate with it: humpback whales.

Votes: 91,468 | Gross: $109.71M

7. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)

PG | 107 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy

Captain Kirk and his crew must deal with Mr. Spock's long-lost half-brother who hijacks the Enterprise for an obsessive search for God at the center of the galaxy.

Director: William Shatner | Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , DeForest Kelley , James Doohan

Votes: 64,195 | Gross: $52.21M

8. Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987–1994)

TV-PG | 45 min | Action, Adventure, Drama

Set almost 100 years after Captain Kirk's 5-year mission, a new generation of Starfleet officers sets off in the U.S.S. Enterprise-D on its own mission to go where no one has gone before.

Stars: Patrick Stewart , Brent Spiner , Jonathan Frakes , LeVar Burton

Votes: 135,948

9. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)

PG | 110 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

On the eve of retirement, Kirk and McCoy are charged with assassinating the Klingon High Chancellor and imprisoned. The Enterprise crew must help them escape to thwart a conspiracy aimed at sabotaging the last best hope for peace.

Votes: 80,895 | Gross: $74.89M

10. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993–1999)

In the vicinity of the liberated planet of Bajor, the Federation space station Deep Space Nine guards the opening of a stable wormhole to the far side of the galaxy.

Stars: Avery Brooks , Rene Auberjonois , Cirroc Lofton , Alexander Siddig

Votes: 70,770

11. Star Trek: Voyager (1995–2001)

TV-PG | 44 min | Action, Adventure, Drama

Pulled to the far side of the galaxy, where the Federation is seventy-five years away at maximum warp speed, a Starfleet ship must cooperate with Maquis rebels to find a way home.

Stars: Kate Mulgrew , Robert Beltran , Roxann Dawson , Robert Duncan McNeill

Votes: 77,309

12. Star Trek: Enterprise (2001–2005)

TV-PG | 60 min | Action, Adventure, Drama

A century before Captain Kirk's five-year mission, Jonathan Archer captains the United Earth ship Enterprise during the early years of Starfleet, leading up to the Earth-Romulan War and the formation of the Federation.

Stars: Scott Bakula , John Billingsley , Jolene Blalock , Dominic Keating

Votes: 59,089

13. Star Trek: Generations (1994)

PG | 118 min | Action, Adventure, Mystery

With the help of long presumed dead Captain Kirk, Captain Picard must stop a deranged scientist willing to murder on a planetary scale in order to enter a space matrix.

Director: David Carson | Stars: Patrick Stewart , William Shatner , Malcolm McDowell , Jonathan Frakes

Votes: 87,030 | Gross: $75.67M

14. Star Trek: First Contact (1996)

PG-13 | 111 min | Action, Adventure, Drama

The Borg travel back in time intent on preventing Earth's first contact with an alien species. Captain Picard and his crew pursue them to ensure that Zefram Cochrane makes his maiden flight reaching warp speed.

Director: Jonathan Frakes | Stars: Patrick Stewart , Jonathan Frakes , Brent Spiner , LeVar Burton

Votes: 132,036 | Gross: $92.00M

15. Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)

PG | 103 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

When the crew of the Enterprise learn of a Federation conspiracy against the inhabitants of a unique planet, Captain Picard begins an open rebellion.

Votes: 79,449 | Gross: $70.12M

16. Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)

PG-13 | 116 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

The Enterprise is diverted to the Romulan homeworld Romulus, supposedly because they want to negotiate a peace treaty. Captain Picard and his crew discover a serious threat to the Federation once Praetor Shinzon plans to attack Earth.

Director: Stuart Baird | Stars: Patrick Stewart , Jonathan Frakes , Brent Spiner , LeVar Burton

Votes: 83,916 | Gross: $43.25M

17. Star Trek (2009)

PG-13 | 127 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

The brash James T. Kirk tries to live up to his father's legacy with Mr. Spock keeping him in check as a vengeful Romulan from the future creates black holes to destroy the Federation one planet at a time.

Director: J.J. Abrams | Stars: Chris Pine , Zachary Quinto , Simon Pegg , Leonard Nimoy

Votes: 620,204 | Gross: $257.73M

18. Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

PG-13 | 132 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

After the crew of the Enterprise find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one-man weapon of mass destruction.

Director: J.J. Abrams | Stars: Chris Pine , Zachary Quinto , Zoe Saldana , Benedict Cumberbatch

Votes: 497,046 | Gross: $228.78M

19. Star Trek Beyond (2016)

PG-13 | 122 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

The crew of the USS Enterprise explores the furthest reaches of uncharted space, where they encounter a new ruthless enemy, who puts them, and everything the Federation stands for, to the test.

Director: Justin Lin | Stars: Chris Pine , Zachary Quinto , Karl Urban , Zoe Saldana

Votes: 258,466 | Gross: $158.85M

20. Star Trek: Discovery (2017–2024)

TV-14 | 60 min | Action, Adventure, Drama

Ten years before Kirk, Spock, and the Enterprise, the USS Discovery discovers new worlds and lifeforms as one Starfleet officer learns to understand all things alien.

Stars: Sonequa Martin-Green , Doug Jones , Anthony Rapp , Mary Wiseman

Votes: 134,834

21. Star Trek: Picard (2020–2023)

TV-MA | 46 min | Action, Adventure, Drama

Follow-up series to Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) that centers on Jean-Luc Picard in the next chapter of his life.

Stars: Patrick Stewart , Michelle Hurd , Jeri Ryan , Alison Pill

Votes: 94,681

22. Star Trek: Lower Decks (2020–2024)

TV-14 | 25 min | Animation, Action, Adventure

The support crew serving on one of Starfleet's least important ships, the U.S.S. Cerritos, have to keep up with their duties, often while the ship is being rocked by a multitude of sci-fi anomalies.

Stars: Tawny Newsome , Jack Quaid , Noël Wells , Eugene Cordero

Votes: 24,956

23. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022– )

TV-PG | 52 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

A prequel to Star Trek: The Original Series, the show follows the crew of the USS Enterprise under Captain Christopher Pike.

Stars: Anson Mount , Ethan Peck , Christina Chong , Melissa Navia

Votes: 58,856

24. Star Trek: Prodigy (2021–2024)

TV-Y7 | 24 min | Animation, Action, Adventure

A group of enslaved teenagers steal a derelict Starfleet vessel to escape and explore the galaxy.

Stars: Rylee Alazraqui , Dee Bradley Baker , Brett Gray , Angus Imrie

Votes: 5,583

25. Star Trek: Short Treks (2018–2020)

TV-PG | 10 min | Short, Action, Adventure

A series of stand-alone short films featuring characters and storylines from Star Trek: Discovery (2017).

Stars: Anson Mount , Rebecca Romijn , Ethan Peck , Jenette Goldstein

Votes: 3,142

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Star Trek Just Quietly Brought Back Deep Space Nine’s Most Underrated Villains

Never turn your back on a Breen.

One of the deadliest alien species in all of Star Trek has never been fully revealed. After an offhand reference in The Next Generation , the Breen appeared in the Deep Space Nine episode “Indiscretion,” encased in suits that felt like they borrowed from Princess Leia’s bounty hunter disguise in Return of the Jedi. The Breen are infamous but seldom seen, a tradition which Star Trek: Discovery is subtly rebooting in Season 5.

Amid an episode about time jumps and flashbacks to the beginning of the series, Discovery quietly snuck the Breen in and positioned them as possibly the most important factor in the fate of Star Trek’s future. Here’s why the Breen matter, and how this comeback could expand on the canon laid down by Deep Space Nine almost three decades ago. Spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Discovery Season 5, Episode 4, “Face the Strange.”

Who are the Breen?

A member of the Breen in Deep Space Nine.

The Breen began life as a random, hostile race tossed around in dialogue only. In 1990, in the TNG episode “The Loss,” Data lists alien races who “are not empathically detectable,” including the Breen. In the 1994 film Generations , when Riker and Worf investigate an observatory that’s been raided by people using a “type-three disruptor,” Riker notes only three alien races could be suspects: “Romulan, Breen, and Klingon.”

While TNG was still airing, writer Ira Steven Behr described the Breen as a “running joke” since they never appeared. Although TNG writer Jeri Taylor wanted to reveal the Breen for a storyline in TNG’s sixth season in 1993, it wasn’t until 1995, in DS9 Season 4, in the episode “Indiscretion,” that the Breen actually showed up in those iconic helmets. As DS9 went on, the Breen became major players in the Dominion War, and were responsible for attacking Starfleet Headquarters on Earth in 2375, seriously damaging the Golden Gate Bridge in the process.

The Breen are Back in the 32nd Century

Rayner is a member of another deep-cut DS9 species, the Kelleruns.

Mentioned offhand in the Discovery Season 5 debut episode, “Red Directive,” the Breen became a big deal in the time-jump episode “Face the Strange.” After being hit by a temporal weapon called a Time Bug, Burnham and Rayner find themselves jumping to different moments in time aboard the USS Discovery. This takes them to the pivotal moment where Discovery jumped to the future at the end of Season 2, as well as all the way to very early in Season 1, before Burnham gained the trust of the crew.

Burnham and Rayner also end up in 3218, which Rayner notes is “almost 30 years in the future” from their current home timeline. In this future, Discovery’s friendly AI Zora is alone on the ship and tells Burnham and Rayner, “You all died years ago.” Zora then reveals the Breen destroyed the entire Federation.

Zora explains the Breen weaponized the secret Progenitor tech and “launched a devastating attack” on the Federation. Rayner suggests the Breen must have been “Moll and L’ak’s highest bidder,” meaning that in one timeline, the mercenaries Starfleet is so keen to apprehend sold what they found to the Breen.

The future Burnham and Rayner see echoes what actually happened in Deep Space Nine , when the Breen decimated Starfleet and the Federation way back in 2375. While the good guys recovered then, the Federation and Starfleet are on shakier ground in the 32nd century of Discovery post-Season 3.

As of Episode 4, Discovery still hasn’t revealed what the Breen look like under those helmets. But by introducing this doomsday outcome for the Federation, Discovery has made one thing very clear for the rest of Season 5. The Breen are back, and this time, they may truly live up to their deadly reputation.

Star Trek: Discovery streams on Paramount+.

• Science Fiction