The science fiction multimedia franchise ofStar Trek since its original debut in 1966 has been one of the most successful television series inscience fiction television history and has had a large influence in popular culture as a result.[1][2][3]
The original series, which aired in the late 1960s, has since spawned eleven successor series and fourteen movies as of October 2025[update], merchandise, and a multibillion-dollar industry collectively known as theStar Trekfranchise. The franchise is owned byCBS Studios, which currently owns television properties previously held byParamount Pictures, the studio that producedStar Trek for many decades. Paramount Global continues to hold DVD rights to the television series, and the rights to produce feature films.
Two films,Galaxy Quest (1999) andFree Enterprise (1999), and a television series,The Orville, have been inspired by the cultural influence ofStar Trek.
The fact is, never in the history of any entertainment medium has there ever been a story, an idea, a situation, a set of characters, or a theme that has approached the magnitude or impact ofStar Trek.
— A Vision of the Future (1998)[4]
Gene Roddenberry soldStar Trek in 1964 toNBC as a classic adventure drama, calling it a "Wagon Train to the Stars". But Roddenberry wanted to tell more sophisticated stories, usingfuturistic situations asanalogies for current problems on Earth and showing how they could be rectified throughhumanism and optimism. The series' writers frequently addressed moral and social issues such as slavery, warfare, and discrimination. The opening line "to boldly gowhere no man has gone before" is almostverbatim from a USWhite House booklet on space produced after the flight ofSputnik 1 in October 1957.
A major inspiration forStar Trek was the science fiction filmForbidden Planet (1956), whose influence is especially apparent in the pilot episode "The Cage".[5][6] Previous sophisticated science fiction television series includedanthology series such asThe Twilight Zone and the BritishQuatermass serials, butStar Trek was the first American science fiction series with a continuing cast that was aimed at adults, telling modernmorality tales with complex narratives.
Earlier British science fiction series with marionettes[7] and soap operas[8] had interracial casting, but this was the first American live-action series to do this. At a time when there were few non-white or foreign roles in American television dramas, Roddenberry created a multi-ethnic crew for theEnterprise, including an African woman (Uhura), a Scotsman (Montgomery Scott), an Asian man (Hikaru Sulu), and analien, the half-VulcanSpock. In the second season, reflecting the contemporaneousCold War, Roddenberry added a Russian crew member,Pavel Chekov (played byWalter Koenig). The original series is also credited with American television's first interracial kiss, between a white man and an African-American woman, although this had happened earlier in a British medical soap opera,Emergency Ward 10.[9] Also, the spy seriesI Spy featured a scripted, unedited interracial kiss betweenRobert Culp (white) andFrance Nuyen (Vietnamese) in the episode "The Tiger"; a kiss that would not gain the controversy or attention as theStar Trek kiss did.
Star Trek's contributions to television history include giving women jobs of respect, most notably through the casting ofNichelle Nichols, a black actress, as Uhura, the ship's communications officer.[10] Black actresses at that time on television were almost always cast as servants. In fact,Whoopi Goldberg recalled that the first time she saw Uhura, she excitedly told her mother: "Mama, there's a black woman on television and she ain't no maid!"[citation needed] In an interview, Nichols said that the day after she told Roddenberry she planned to leave the show, she was at a fund-raiser at theNAACP and was told there was a big fan who wanted to meet her. Nichols said,
I thought it was a Trekkie, and so I said, 'Sure.' I looked across the room, and there was Dr.Martin Luther King walking towards me with this big grin on his face. He reached out to me and said, 'Yes, Ms. Nichols, I am your greatest fan.' He said thatStar Trek was the only show that he, and his wife Coretta, would allow their three little children to stay up and watch. [She told King about her plans to leave the series.] I never got to tell him why, because he said, 'You can't. You're part of history.'
When she told Roddenberry what King had said, he cried.[11][10]
The Original Series has later received some criticism for its portrayal of women, particularly its visual aesthetics. Women's crew uniforms, which consisted of miniskirts, high heeled boots, and heavy makeup, have been pointed-to as degrading to women for highlighting their frequent role as sexual objects. Researchers have pointed out that this was not necessarily the way the wardrobe, or the overall femininity of female characters in the series, was viewed by contemporary female viewers. Cited are the concerns of women of the time period with the perceived upsetting of traditional gender roles for women of the future, with the women of the show's feminine behavior acting to reaffirm that women's sexuality and traditional femininity would not be lost. This fear was manifested by the media's criticisms ofValentina Tereshkova, the first female astronaut to go to space, as masculine and "mannish".[12] The uniform's usage of the miniskirt was also considered progressive by some at the time, as the miniskirt, at that time, was a symbol of the modern woman's economic and sexual independence.[12]
Computer engineer and entrepreneurSteve Wozniak credited watchingStar Trek and attendingStar Trek conventions while in his youth as a source of inspiration for him co-foundingApple Inc. in 1976, which would later become theworld's largest technology company by revenue and theworld's third-largest mobile phone manufacturer.[13]
The series gained multipleEmmy Award nominations during its run, but never won. Despite a restricted budget, the series' special effects were superior to contemporary television series, its stories were often written by prominentscience fiction authors (though often re-written by the series' regular writers),[14] and many of its production values—such ascostuming andset design—were of high caliber for the series' low budget. Some of the production staff ofThe Outer Limits worked onStar Trek and often made creative re-use of props from the earlier series.[6]
During its network run from 1966 to 1969,TOSratings were mediocre. A letter-writing campaign by fans, unprecedented in size, contributed to NBC's decision to renew the series for a third season, but the network put the series in adisadvantageous timeslot, andTOS was finally canceled after its third season.
After its cancellation, through rerunsStar Trek became more popular and reached a much wider audience than when it had originally aired.[15] Known as"trekkies" or "trekkers", the series' fans formed clubs and organized conventions. In 1976, following another fan-organized letter-writing campaign,NASA named its firstSpace Shuttle orbiter,Enterprise (OV-101), after the fictionalstarship.[16]
After the series,Nichelle Nichols, who played Uhura, used her public standing to speak for women andpeople of colour and against their exclusion from the human space program of the United States. NASA reacted by asking her to find people for its future Space Shuttle program. Nichols proceeded and successfully brought the first people of colour andwomen into the US space program, working in this role for NASA from the late 1970s until the late 1980s.[17][18]
In the mid-1970s, encouraged by the burgeoning fanbase for the series, Roddenberry sought to start a second television series (Star Trek: Phase II); this abortive attempt morphed intoStar Trek: The Motion Picture in 1979. The movie did sufficiently well at the box office, grossing more than$80 million in the United States and $139 million worldwide,[19] to spawn several more movies during the 1980s. In 1987, Roddenberry created a second television series,Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG), which was set aboard the fifth starshipUSSEnterprise (NCC-1701-D) more than seventy years after events in the earlier series and related movies. UnlikeTOS—which often reflected a bold, interventionist American philosophy—TNG had a less aggressive and moresocially liberal message. Unlike its progenitor, this series enteredsyndicated, rather than a nationwide network, from the beginning, and was sold to individual local television stations. It became the number one syndicated television, lasting seven seasons, spawned two sequels, a prequel, four movies, and a vast marketing franchise.
Star Trek and its spin-offs have proved highly popular in television repeats, in the United States and through the world. TheStar Trek franchise is similarly prolific. OnlyStar Wars has had as significant an influence as a science fiction and popular culture phenomenon. According toForbes magazine, as of 2005:[20]
Fans commonly considered the films to follow a "curse" that even-numbered films were better than the odd-numbered films.[22][23] This is partially borne out by review aggregator statistics. For example, prior to the release of the 13th film the odd-numbered entries averaged 57% on the review aggregation websiteRotten Tomatoes while the even-numbered entries averaged 79%.[24] However, this perceived difference in quality is not reflected in box-office performance with the odd and even numbered entries having a virtually identical attendance in the United States and Canada on average.[25]
The 10th film,Star Trek: Nemesis, was considered the even film that defied the curse.[22][26][27] Its failure and the subsequent success of the11th film were considered to have broken the trend.[28][29] The respective mixed and negative reception of the12th and14th films, alongside the success of the13th film, has led some to claim that the Star Trek movie curse has been inverted.[30]
The curse has been mentioned often in popular culture. One of the best known examples[31][32] occurred in a 1999 episode of theChannel 4 sitcomSpaced, where it was referenced by Tim Bisley, played bySimon Pegg; Pegg, quite conscious of the irony,[33] playedScotty in the eleventh and subsequent films.
Star Trekconventions have been popular, and some are now meshed with conventions of other genres.Fans coined the terms"Trekkies" and "Trekkers" to describe themselves, and produce an abundance of material likefanzines with fiction, art and songs.
The series' cultural influence goes far beyond its longevity and profitability. An entire subculture grew up around the series and, anecdotally, there are indications thatStar Trek has influenced many people's lives. Many scientists and engineers claim that their professional and life choices were influenced byStar Trek.[34] An article inColumbia asserted that the starship captains of theStar Trek franchise are consistently among the best father figures on television, inspiring real fathers to embrace their responsibilities and act with "selfless authority".[35][full citation needed] The inventor of the first non-vehicular cell phone, Martin Cooper, states he was motivated to develop it from watchingStar Trek.[36] Others have also been inspired byStar Trek when designing new technology, such as Dr. Peter Jansen, who invented a functionaltricorder,[37] and several computer scientists at theUniversity of Illinois, who have created a prototypical version ofStar Trek's famousHolodeck.[38]
Some fans were drawn to a franchise that stood out for being unusually hopeful about the future, compared with most other works of science fiction.[39][40]Rolling Stone credited its appeal to "sunny assurances": "Optimism. Respect for diversity. Faith that reason shall triumph over ignorance. Confidence that our destructive emotions can be mastered without denying us the benefits of more saintly ones like loyalty and love."[2] Rejecting mainstream cynicism, the franchise presented the future Earth as a peaceful, egalitarian planet.[41] The original series presented a utopian future for humanity, to the point that conflict and allegory often had to be inserted through encounters with less "enlightened" nonhuman races that stood in, from the series' perspective, as didactic proxies for disfavored aspects of 20th-century culture.[42]
Some fans took the egalitarian nature of the show a step further. The unofficialhomosexual pairing "Kirk/Spock" (or "K/S") slowly became popular within fan spaces, particularly with female fans. This led to the production of an abundance of fanworks centered around the pairing, including stories, poems, and art. Most widely believed to be the first K/Sfan fiction is a 40-page privately-circulated novel written in 1968 by Jennifer Guttridge titledThe Ring of Soshern, which was later printed in the highly controversialfanzineAlien Brothers without the author’s knowledge and soared in popularity and notoriety within the fandom.[43][unreliable source?] The genre of "slash fiction" is considered to have originated or at least been popularized by the K/S fanbase, with the "slash" in the pairing lending itself to the genre’s name.[44] Over time, slash fiction has spread to other fandoms and remains popular in fan spaces to this day.
Well-known phrases like "Beam me up, Scotty", "Resistance is futile" (from theBorg), andTreknobabble have also managed to enter the English vernacular.[citation needed] Beyond this, "Trekkie" is the only fan label listed in theOxford English Dictionary, and words from the series includingKlingon have also been added to that dictionary.
Klingon has actually spawned a life of its own, going on to garner its own grammar and vocabulary[45] and dedicated speakers from across the globe.[46]
A broad consensus amongst fans is that theStar Trek franchise became formulaic and mediocre in the 1990s on account of over-exploitation of the franchise by Paramount and production of multiple spin-offs and movies, though fans do not necessarily agree as to when this began (some adult viewers ofTOS felt it also could be formulaic and repetitive[14]). The release in May 2009 ofStar Trek, a reboot involving characters from the original series and set in an alternate timeline, was developed with the partial hope to resurrect the franchise.[47][48]
Jeff Jensen ofEntertainment Weekly, in reviewing the new film states that theStar Trek franchise had "devolved into a near-irrelevant cultural joke, likely to inspire giggles and unprintable curses from even its most ardent supporters."[49]Leonard Nimoy wondered in 2003 whether or not the franchise "had run its course".[50] DirectorJ. J. Abrams said, "People [may not] even understand whatStar Trek means anymore," and joked that a parody likeGalaxy Quest which "mocks the paradigm" made the task of producing a credibleStar Trek film that much more challenging.[51] Even on set, Abrams felt nervous "with all these tattooed faces and pointy ears, bizarre weaponry and Romulan linguists, with dialogue about 'Neutral Zones' and 'Starfleet'".[52] In covering therelaunch film, Jensen remarked the series' optimistic nature ran counter to an increasinglycynical culture, and that the film had been delayed from December 2008 to May 2009 to "rehab" the series' image.[49]
Upon release, the film was a major critical and box office success, sparking comments by fans and critics that the franchise has a bright renewed future.[citation needed]
Star Trek is the only media franchise that's clearly referenced in theUnicode emoji standard. The 🖖 emoji has an American English short name of "vulcan salute".
"When I was in high school, I'd smoke a joint in my closet inYonkers, New York, and watchStar Trek," recalledAerosmith front-manSteven Tyler. "I knewSulu. WhenUhura said, 'Open all hailing frequencies,' I picked up my phone."[53]
The opening fanfare ofStar Trek: The Original Series, written byAlexander Courage, is one of the most culturally-recognized musicalmemes in existence.[54] Also included as the opening fanfare toStar Trek: The Next Generation and theStar Trekfilm series, it has come to iconically symbolizeStar Trek to even the casual viewer.Michael Giacchino has written a well-received distinctive new fanfare for the rebootStar Trek movie and its sequels,Star Trek Into Darkness andStar Trek Beyond.
Star Trek: Voyager andStar Trek: Deep Space Nine received their own distinctive opening fanfares. In a departure from the tradition of sweeping classical themes symbolizing the various incarnations ofStar Trek, the opening theme toStar Trek: Enterprise is the (pre-existing) pop song "Faith of the Heart", byDiane Warren (Star Trek: Enterprise episodes close with the orchestral "Archer's Theme" epilogue, a piece which is more similar to the precedingStar Trek themes than "Faith of the Heart").
Some of the most prominent composers of 20th- and 21st-centuryfilm music have written film scores and television scores forStar Trek. These includeJay Chattaway,Cliff Eidelman,Michael Giacchino,Jerry Goldsmith,James Horner,Dennis McCarthy andLeonard Rosenman.
A subgenre ofStar Trek fandom has developed, specifically for the music ofStar Trek, which includes music lovers who are not otherwise interested inStar Trek fandom. Dozens of commercially produced musical recordings of performances ofStar Trek music exist—unrelated to the performance of screenStar Trek itself—evidencing the intrinsic cultural value and influence of the music ofStar Trek.
A concert series,Star Trek: The Music, byErich Kunzel and theCincinnati Pops Orchestra, played in several American and Canadian cities between 2007 and 2010.
The first television series with comparable storyline and set-up toStar Trek (aside from the genre rivalDoctor Who) was the 1990s seriesBabylon 5. When pitching the series, the producerJ. Michael Straczynski had hoped that television executives would thinkTrek had opened up the market for science-fiction on television. However, he was told thatStar Trek only created a market for moreStar Trek and that the prospects for non-Trek related science fiction were seen as bleak. Eventually,Babylon 5 was greenlit. Three script writers who had worked for the originalTrek series were to write forBabylon 5 (includingD. C. Fontana who had written for three differentTrek series), andStar Trek actorWalter Koenig was cast in a recurring role. All this, and the strong similarities of the series' premise toStar Trek: Deep Space Nine invited comparison toStar Trek. In addition,Babylon 5 was the first television series sinceStar Trek to get nominated for or win the Hugo award for best science fiction drama, which had only recognized feature films in the media category sinceStar Trek. Gene Roddenberry's widow andStar Trek actress,Majel Barrett-Roddenberry, publicly stated that her decision to do a guest star appearance onBabylon 5 was to stop the feuding and bickering among hardline fans of the two series, which broke out occasionally at science fiction conventions. Ultimately, the series ran for its intended length of five seasons, making it the longest running American space oriented futuristic television series outside of theStar Trek franchise.
Some television series feature major or supporting characters whose love ofStar Trek affects the storyline of the series.
In the Cold War submarine filmCrimson Tide (1995), in a moment of crisis, the USSAlabama's executive officer (played byDenzel Washington) gives a pep talk to his young radioman, urging him to repair the ship's radio by referring to Captain Kirk telling Scotty they need "more power".[citation needed]
The romantic comedyFree Enterprise (1999) centers around the lives of two men (played byEric McCormack andRafer Weigel) who grew up worshippingStar Trek and emulating Captain Kirk. Most of the movie centers on William Shatner, playing a parody of himself, and how the characters wrestle with their relationships withStar Trek.[citation needed]
Over a dozen actors from variousStar Trek series have made guest appearances on one or the other of theStargate series. In those series, ColonelJack O'Neill makes unsuccessful pitches to name new space vessels after theEnterprise, and also gives the Vulcan salute in tribute toTrek. In an earlier episode ofStargate: SG-1, O'Neill travels back in time to the 1960s and during an interrogation by an Air Force officer he refers to himself as "James T. Kirk, captain of the federation starship Enterprise". AnotherTrek reference is made when a character questions whether or not another team member can be "beamed up". The response is "What am I, Scotty"? Later on the series, advanced alien technology allows team members to "beam" up and down in manner similar to that seen onStar Trek.[citation needed]
"The Replacement", a season 5 episode ofBuffy the Vampire Slayer, features two versions of the characterXander Harris. During development, the episode's writer was aware of the original series episode "The Enemy Within", in which there are two Captain Kirks.[55]
TheTrek fandom of Noel Shempsky, a recurring character on the sitcomFrasier, plays a role in several episodes, including "Star Mitzvah", in which he deceives Frasier Crane into believing a speech is written in Hebrew when it is really in the Klingon language.[56]
In crossover casting, two other television series have cast actors fromStar Trek in series in which other characters areStar Trek fans who frequently refer toTrek moments or citeTrek storylines. The characterHiro Nakamura on NBC'sHeroes likes to describe his ability to teleport as "likeStar Trek", and has often performed Mr. Spock'sVulcan salute. His father is played byGeorge Takei, who playedHikaru Sulu on the original series. Additionally,Nichelle Nichols, who playedNyota Uhura on the original series also appears on the series.
The main characters from the sitcomThe Big Bang Theory, especiallySheldon Cooper, make various references to and are huge fans ofStar Trek, with Sheldon even citing Starfleet regulations during an argument in one episode and the main characters dressing up asData,Worf,Captain Picard and aBorg drone, respectively, in another. Also the series featuresWil Wheaton in a recurring role as a fictionalized version of himself plus guest appearances fromBrent Spiner,LeVar Burton andWilliam Shatner, and a voice-only cameo fromLeonard Nimoy, who voices a Mr. Spock action figure talking to Sheldon in his dreams. There was also an appearance of aGorn in one episode.[57]
The Gorn captain's fight to the death with Captain Kirk in the original series episode, "Arena", was the subject of an episode of the television seriesMythBusters, in which the viability of Kirk's improvised bamboo cannon was put to the test.[58]
The filmPlease Stand By (2017) centers around Wendy Welcott (played byDakota Fanning), a huge fan ofStar Trek with autism who writes a screenplay for aStar Trek film, intending to enter it into a script-writing competition sponsored by Paramount Pictures.[59][60]
Star Trek has been the subject of a large number of parodies and tributes.
Prominent among film parodies is the 1999 filmGalaxy Quest, as it parodied the originalStar Trek series, elements ofStar Trek: The Next Generation, and the wholeTrekkie phenomenon.
On television, the animated seriesFuturama makes frequent references toStar Trek and parodies some of its better known plot elements on a regular basis, including the characterZapp Brannigan who is based on a combination of Captain Kirk and William Shatner, and cast members of the original series have taken part inone episode.[61] Prominent examples in other television series include multiple episodes ofThe Simpsons andFamily Guy. The children's seriesThe Backyardigans has an episode titled "Garbage Trek" that is an homage to the original series.Joss Whedon has citedStar Trek as being the father of his cult seriesFirefly and its filmSerenity (2005).
The direct-to-video seriesVeggieTales features twoStar Trek parodies, including "The Gourds Must Be Crazy" (fromAre You My Neighbor?) andVeggies in Space: The Fennel Frontier which serves as a sequel to the other. The character Scooter is based on Montgomery Scott.[citation needed]
There are many other parodies in comic strips, music and computer games, such asEminem's song "We Made You". In the music video, Eminem was dressed as Mr. Spock andDr. Dre as Captain Kirk.[citation needed]
In 1995, MTV's animated seriesBeavis and Butt-Head parodied the series with Beavis as Captain Picard and Butt-Head as Commander Riker.[62]
NASA and other institutions have paid explicit tribute to the series in the use of names of ships and characters from the series. Subtle acknowledgments in media and real life include the use ofStar Trek ships' registry numbers, especially theEnterprise's NCC-1701.[63]
Two episodes ofEek! The Cat parodiedStar Trek (with the main character as a Captain Kirk-esque character; one episode featured William Shatner voicing the villain Captain Berserk).[citation needed]
In August 2010, the members of theInternal Revenue Service created a six-minuteStar Trek themed training video for an agency conference. The video featured a mock set of theEnterprise in one of the agency's studios. The project cost 62 hours of staff time and cost $3,100. Revealed to the public in 2013, the spoof along with parodies of other media franchises was cited as an example of the misuse of taxpayer funds and "insulting the beloved sci-fi TV show".[64][65][66]
Animaniacs has made an obvious parody ofStar Trek, calling itStar Truck. AnotherStar Trek band,Warp 11, has released several studio albums.[citation needed]
Actor William Shatner re-enacted his battle fighting the Gorn, for an advertisement for the 2013Star Trek video game (Kelvin Timeline).[67] In the spot they have similar fight, but it takes place in a modern day living room starts with the two playing a console video game together inco-op mode.[68]
Starting in 2017,Seth MacFarlane produced a television series heavily inspired by the originalStar Trek and itsNext Generation successor, titledThe Orville. Like the series it pays homage to,The Orville is set in the 25th century, features an interstellar alliance of Earth and many other planets, and follows an exploratory space vessel interacting with various monocultures.
A limited number ofFamous Players theatres in Canada house large replicas of theUSSEnterprise (NCC-1701-A). They can be found in the cities ofThunder Bay,Windsor, Ottawa,Winnipeg andRichmond. In theGreater Toronto Area, replicas can be seen in theYorkdale Shopping Centre, in theCineplex at theScarborough Town Centre, and in theSilverCity in Richmond Hill.
In addition, a replica of the Sovereign-classUSSEnterprise (NCC-1701-E) can be found in Laser Planet inOakville, Ontario as well as in the Colossus theatres, inLangley, British Columbia andLaval, Quebec.
The coincidentally-namedVulcan, Alberta hostsTrek-related memorabilia and events.
_at_the_Warp_Drive_exit_in_Sterling%2c_Loudoun_County%2c_Virginia.jpg)
Riverside, Iowa has proclaimed itself the future birthplace of Captain James T. Kirk. Gene Roddenberry, the creator ofStar Trek, asserts in the bookThe Making of Star Trek by Stephen Whitfield, that the character Kirk had been born in the state of Iowa. In March 1985, when the town was looking for a theme for its annual town festival, Steve Miller, a member of the Riverside City Council who had read Roddenberry's book, suggested to the council that Riverside should proclaim itself to be the future birthplace of Kirk. Miller's motion passed unanimously. The council later wrote to Roddenberry for his permission to be designated as the official birthplace of Kirk, and Roddenberry agreed. In the rebootStar Trek movie, Riverside is depicted as having a Starfleet shipyard on its outskirts, where the USSEnterprise (NCC-1701) was built.
The city ofGarland, Texas is the first city known to have an official place name based on the television series: "Star Trek Lane", located off of Apollo Road and east of North Jupiter Road (32°57′11″N96°40′52″W / 32.953°N 96.681°W /32.953; -96.681).[69]
The city ofBirmingham, Alabama also boasts a "Star Trek Lane" and "Star Trek Circle", in the Sunrise East subdivision of its Roebuck neighborhood.
The unincorporated Sky Parkway area of SouthSacramento, California has a number of space-themed street names, including Klingon Court and Romulan Court.
An unincorporated area near theLas Vegas Strip contains a residential street named "Roddenberry Avenue". While the mailing address lists the avenue as being located inLas Vegas, Nevada, the physical address is an unincorporated township called "Enterprise". There is no indication that the township's name has any connection with theStar Trek series, and it is unknown whether or not the street name is a deliberate tribute to theStar Trek creator.[70][original research?]
Turlock, California has a subdivision with several Trek-themed road names including Picard Lane, Warp Drive, Impulse Lane, Crusher Avenue and Federation Court.
Northern Virginia has a fewStar Trek-inspired locations includingWarp Drive at the headquarters oflocal space companyOrbital ATK, named such at the request of the company;[71] and theIntelligence and Security Command's Information Dominance Center, whose interior was designed to mimic the bridge of theEnterprise by a Hollywood set designer.[72] TheSteven F. Udvar-Hazy Center annex of theNational Air and Space Museum occasionally hosts set pieces and movie screenings.
The series greatly influenced public interest in the United States Space Program and in education on the topic of space exploration.Star Trek: The Original Series ran from 1966 to 1969 benefited from the popularity of the televised July 1969Apollo 11 Moon landing. The association betweenStar Trek and NASA grew stronger over time – the first NASA orbiter shuttle,Space ShuttleEnterprise, was named after the USSEnterprise ofStar Trek fame.[73] TheIXSEnterprise, NASA's conceptual design for asuperluminalspacecraft, was similarly named after the USSEnterprise in 2014.
Nichelle Nichols appeared in a promotional film aimed at recruiting women and people of color to apply to be astronauts.[74] The next astronaut class, appointed in 1978, included Guy Bluford, the first Black American in space, and Sally Ride, the first American woman in space.[75]
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson remembered Nichols in a statement:
“Nichelle Nichols was a trailblazing actress, advocate and dear friend to NASA. At a time when Black women were seldom seen on screen, Nichelle’s portrayal as Nyota Uhura on Star Trek held a mirror up to America that strengthened civil rights,” said Administrator Bill Nelson. “Nichelle’s advocacy transcended television and transformed NASA. After Apollo 11, Nichelle made it her mission to inspire women and people of color to join this agency, change the face of STEM and explore the cosmos. Nichelle’s mission is NASA’s mission. Today, as we work to send the first woman and first person of color to the Moon under Artemis, NASA is guided by the legacy of Nichelle Nichols.”[75]
This connection remained solid through the 1990s, when many of the cast members began narrating documentaries about the franchise's content and space exploration.[citation needed] Some of these documentaries were produced in cooperation with NASA itself, most notably the IMAX titleDestiny in Space (1994), narrated by Leonard Nimoy. In 2013, NASA produced a 30-second commercial to accompany the theatrical release ofStar Trek Into Darkness in an effort to bolster support for its space program.[76]
In addition, NASA has named a number ofasteroids after people or elements connected to theStar Trek franchise:
In addition to space exploration, other government activities have been influenced byStar Trek. In 2020, the United States effort to develop a vaccine to protect againstCOVID-19 was namedOperation Warp Speed, which is the brainchild of a hugeStar Trek fan,Dr. Peter Marks. Dr. Marks led the unit at theFood and Drug Administration which approves vaccines and therapies.[77]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)From the late 1970s until the late 1980s, NASA employed Nichelle Nichols to recruit new astronaut candidates. Many of her new recruits were women or members of racial and ethnic minorities, including Guion Bluford (the first African-American astronaut), Sally Ride (the first female American astronaut), Judith Resnik (one of the original set of female astronauts, who perished during the launch of the Challenger on January 28, 1986), and Ronald McNair (the second African-American astronaut, and another victim of the Challenger accident).
Ten years after "Star Trek" was cancelled, almost to the day, I was invited to join the board of directors of the newly formed National Space Society. They flew me to Washington and I gave a speech called "New Opportunities for the Humanization of Space" or "Space, What's in it for me?" In [the speech], I'm going where no man or woman dares go. I took NASA on for not including women and I gave some history of the powerful women who had applied and, after five times applying, felt disenfranchised and backed off. [At that time] NASA was having their fifth or sixth recruitment and women and ethnic people [were] staying away in droves. I was asked to come to headquarters the next day and they wanted me to assist them in persuading women and people of ethnic backgrounds that NASA was serious [about recruiting them]. And I said you've got to be joking; I didn't take them seriously. . . . John Yardley, who I knew from working on a previous project, was in the room and said 'Nichelle, we are serious.' I said OK. I will do this and I will bring you the most qualified people on the planet, as qualified as anyone you've ever had and I will bring them in droves. And if you do not pick a person of color, if you do not pick a woman, if it's the same old, same old, all-white male astronaut corps, that you've done for the last five years, and I'm just another dupe, I will be your worst nightmare.
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