Trek Trivia

Face to Face

In our continuing series of Star Trek trivia, we ask:

Why do starships always (or most of the time) meet horizontally and face to face?

You must have noticed that all encounters of vessels in outer space in the Star Trek universe take place where they are all facing each other, and where up is the top of the screen. But there are no directions in outer space. There is no up and no down.

Our Star Trek characters must have used a 3-dimensional map of the galaxy, but such maps were always depicted as 2-dimensional in the TV episodes and the movies. Even the huge Stellar Cartography wraparound display screen, introduced in Star Trek Generations, was a two-dimensional affair.

Dangerous Encounter

Guns at my Ship!

Thus, if the Star Trek Navigation people really wanted to pinpoint a location within the Galaxy, they would first of all have to refer to a rather large 3D map (our Galaxy is a rather large place, after all), whittled down to usable sections for convenience, and then they would have to be very clever in determining the desired 3D coordinates, utilizing at least 3 sets of numbers.

But like other complicated stuff in Star Trek, this was swept under the rug. Maybe that’s why, when asked for a heading by Sulu at the end of Star Trek the Movie, Captain Kirk responded, with an indifferent  wave of his hand, “Out there…that away.”  In other words, whichever direction the ship happened to be pointing.

What difference did direction make? Adventure could always be found toward the second star on the right.

Will they back off?

Staring them down

When starships meet in the vastness of outer space, isn’t it just as likely that one of the ships will be perpendicular to the other, because it came from a direction that was “below” the first ship?

The ship that is pointed upward towards a ship that is horizontal will suffer no falling or disorientation, because the artificial gravity generated in their ship will always make the ship’s floor their center of gravity.

Thus, the odds are overwhelming that ships in outer space will approach each other from completely different angles. In fact, it’s rather a neat trick to have starships meet at all in the vastness of outer space.

Gryphon-and-Defiant

A Defiant approach

Still, these encounters are essential to practically every Star Trek storyline, and all starship encounters in Star Trek have them meeting where they face each other horizontally, at least as viewed on the screen.  It is as though they are hovercraft-capable airplanes meeting in earth’s atmosphere, and with normal earth gravity.

So why is this so? Very simple: Because to show starships otherwise oriented in space would be disorienting to the viewer, and thus unacceptable to the producers.

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Stardates

In our continuing series of Star Trek trivia, we ask:

Why are stardates so different from calendar dates?

A stardate is a timekeeping system which is used to provide a standard galactic temporal reference, compensating for relativistic time dilation, warp speed displacement, and other peculiarities of interstellar space travel. At least, that’s what it’s supposed to do.

Star Chart

In actuality, however, its use has been rather arbitrary among the various series. We usually hear a stardate mentioned at the beginning of a Star Trek episode, where the Captain is making an entry in the Captain’s Log describing the opening scenario.  Over the years, writers and producers have selected numbers using different methods, where some methods are more arbitrary than others, and thus makes it impossible to convert all stardates into equivalent calendar dates. Stardates were originally intended to disguise the precise era of Star Trek, including the specific calendar date, although the era was clarified later on the show.

The Star Trek Guide

The following instructions to writers were transcribed from the series bible Star Trek Guide, third revision, dated April 17, 1967 (page 25). Their original date of composition and the author are unclear, but the sample stardates are consistent with the range from the second pilot.

We invented “Stardate” to avoid continually mentioning Star Trek’s century (actually, about two hundred years from now), and getting into arguments about whether this or that would have developed by then. Pick any combination of four numbers plus a percentage point, use it as your story’s stardate. For example, 1313.5 is twelve o’clock noon of one day and 1314.5 would be noon of the next day. Each percentage point (sic) is roughly equivalent to one-tenth of one day. The progression of stardates in your script should remain constant but don’t worry about whether or not there is a progression from other scripts. Stardates are a mathematical formula which varies depending on location in the galaxy, velocity of travel, and other factors, can vary widely from episode to episode.

What is called a “percentage point” is actually the tenths digit. While this 24-hour increasing stardate with noon at .5 wasn’t always adhered to within episodes, the initial four digits weren’t selected quite as randomly as described here. An overall increase with time can be observed in the above table of stardates, from 1312.4 in the second pilot to 5928.5 in the final episode of the series.

For further information about stardates in the fictional Star Trek universe, see here.

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License

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Shields up!

In our continuing series of Star Trek trivia, we ask:

Where was the term Shields first mentioned in Star Trek?

Enterprise Model

Our Enterprise model outside the GFC Personnel Offices

The word Shields appears for the first time in the TOS episode “Balance of Terror” (1966), where they were used, not too effectively, by a Federation outpost which was being attacked by the Romulans.  The first time Shields were used by a starship was in the TOS episode “Arena” (1967).  For the very first time in Star Trek history, the USS Enterprise raised its Shields when it was attacked by an alien starship.  It’s interesting to note that the episode “Arena” was also the first Star Trek episode to demonstrate a fact that we all take for granted:  It’s not possible to beam in or out of starships when Shields are deployed.

For further information about Shields in the fictional Star Trek universe, see here.

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License

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NCC or USS – Test your Trek Knowledge

In the first in our series of Trek Trivia, we’ll try to answer a few of your Trek questions.

USS Enterprise, NCC 1701

Using “USS Enterprise NCC 1701” as an example, what does “USS”, and “NCC” stand for?

Let’s not forget that the original Star Trek series was produced in the 1960’s, during the time of very limited budgets, and limited technology compared to the 23rd century which the series was attempting to depict.  Some might believe that the series’ designations and processes were conceived by the scriptwriters without thought of having to actually explain them logically or scientifically at any time during the run of the series.  After all, they were depicting the future, and those marvels of technology were simply self-evident, and thus not subject to question. But as we know, the future of the original series at that time was rather uncertain, and their “Five Year Mission” was actually curtailed at three and a half years.  Who knew at the time that it would become iconically popular?  Who knew that these designations and processes, as a vital aspect of the lore and myth of Star Trek would thus be scrutinized and wondered about by hordes of fans?

Certain facts and ideas in Star Trek became “canonized” when sufficient proof of their authenticity could be established via definitive mention in one or more episodes, or, for example, through the words of a recognized authority, such as the originator, Gene Roddenberry himself.  Thus, when so “canonized”, these facts became universally established and accepted by the vast majority of the Star Trek community of fans.

So then what about USS and NCC?  Alas!  These two terms have not been canonized per se, with the required universal acceptance.  There is no definitive consensus of opinion on their usage or origin.  Could it be true, as speculated above, that perhaps the scriptwriters didn’t give adequate consideration to the logic and background of such designations?  Perish the thought.  We are certain that they merely kept the reasoning to themselves, which of course, has been lost in the mists of 20th century antiquity.  However…there is speculation, which persists to this day, which we now reveal here.

“Star Trek art director Matt Jefferies designed the original Enterprise, which was originally named Yorktown in series creator Gene Roddenberry’s first outline drafts of the series.  Jeffries’ experience with aviation led to his Enterprise designs being imbued with what he called “aircraft logic”.  The ship’s “NCC-1701” registry number stemmed from “NC” being one of the international aircraft registration codes assigned to aircraft registered in the United States; the second “C” was added for differentiation. The “1701” was chosen in order to avoid any possible ambiguity; according to Jefferies, the numbers 3, 6, 8 and 9 are “too easily confused”.  Other sources cite it as a reference to the house across the street from where Roddenberry grew up…  Jefferies’ own sketches provide the explanation that it was his 17th cruiser design with the first serial number of that series: 1701.  The Making of Star Trek explains that “USS” should mean “United Space Ship” [not United STAR ship?] and that “the Enterprise is a member of the Starship Class”. (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Enterprise_%28NCC-1701%29)

“NCC doesn’t stand for anything. It was devised by Matt Jefferies, art director of the first Star Trek series. Jefferies, who is a pilot, based NCC on 20th century aircraft registration codes. In such 20th century usage, an “N” first letter refers to an aircraft registered in the USA. A “C” second letter refers to a civil aircraft. Jefferies added a second “C”, just because he thought it looked better.”

“In plate #3 of the Original Franz Joseph Designs Star Trek Blueprints, NCC-1700 is clearly labeled as the “Naval Construction Contract Number” for the USS Constitution.”

“NCC does in fact mean Naval Construction Contract. Not everything in star trek is completely made up out of thin air. NCC [designations] go way back with the American and British navies, all the way back to the first diesel engine powered warships in WW1.”

…and lastly:  “According to both “The Making of Star Trek”, and the second season writers guide update, NCC officially stands for “Navy-Curtis Craft”, referring to the fact that the design and construction of the cruisers was a combination of the Navy’s and Curtis Industries inputs. Curtis Industries is (will be) an industrial ship-builder located in San Francisco that has fulfilled many Starfleet-bid projects. The Navy was responsible for transporting the components into low Earth orbit, and assembling the ship in space.”

Portions of text adapted from http://en.memory-alpha.org under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License, and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Enterprise_%28NCC-1701%29 under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.

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