HAVE you ever sat on your windowsill or a bench at night and just stared up at the night sky, wondering what lives amongst the tiny specks of light we see every day, imagining what beautiful and wondrous sights the universe must hold? If you have, then chances are you’re a Star Trek fan, whether you know it yet or not.
Star Trek is the oldest running science fiction franchise, falling just short of the British Doctor Who in terms of continuous length. To date the franchise includes 726 episodes across five live-action series and one animated series, as well as ten motion pictures with an eleventh currently in the works. It has run successfully for over 40 years and has a massive world-wide following encompassing people of all races, cultures, genders and sexualities. All though often considered to be “geeky” or “nerdy” in the modern American culture, Star Trek has given inspiration to millions of people across the globe – you might be familiar with one of them: Martin Luther King (Jr.). A visionary just like Roddenberry, Martin Luther King told actress Nichelle Nichols (who played Lieutnent Uhura, a female African member of the senior command crew in the original series) that the show was an inspiration to everyone – in particular young black women and girls struggling through life in the 1960s.
So, why should you watch Star Trek? Many people believe that Star Trek is just another television series, one unworthy of mainstream attention. In actuality Star Trek has influenced the lives of people across the globe in many ways. The idea of a small, portable hand-held communications device capable of communicating across vast distances was largely conceived on the set of Star Trek. A few decades on and we all utilise the same kind of device that appeared on our screens 40 years ago – we call it a “mobile” or a “cell phone”. On a more global scale, the idea of Ion propulsion made it’s first appearance in Star Trek. Ion propulsion is a form of propulsion that relies on ions and electrostatic/electromagnetic energy to operate – it has a very low acceleration rate (it takes four days to achieve a speed of 60mph) but is capable of exceeding any other engine we have in terms of maximum speed. The ion drive was invented 25 years after Star Trek began and is now used in major interplanetary missions by NASA.
As well as being a science fiction show, the Star Trek series were always full of rich and diverse characters. Many episodes had a dramatic theme, some had
British Doctor, Command Crew, Communications Device, Continuous Length, First Appearance, Global Scale, Ion Propulsion, Life In The 1960s, Mainstream Attention, Martin Luther King, Martin Luther King Jr, Massive World, Nichelle Nichols, Night Sky, Sexualities, Star Trek, Star Trek Fan, Tiny Specks, Windowsill, Wondrous Sights