star trek crew tos

WHERE ARE THEY NOW: The cast of 'Star Trek: The Original Series'

• " Star Trek " debuted 56 years ago on September 8, 1966.
• After the show, the cast of the original series remained sci-fi icons.
• Only three stars of " The Original Series " are alive today, after Nichelle Nichols' death in July.

William Shatner led the crew of the USS Enterprise as Captain James T. Kirk.

"Star Trek" was originally going to be focused on a different  captain, Captain Christopher Pike, played by Jeffrey Hunter. A pilot was even filmed, called "The Cage," but it didn't make it to airwaves until the '80s. Gene Roddenberry, the creator, eventually retooled the show and cast Shatner as a new captain, Kirk. Some footage from "The Cage" was then reused for a season one episode called "The Menagerie."

Before "Star Trek," Shatner was famous for his role in an iconic " Twilight Zone " episode, "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet," in which he played a man recently released from a mental hospital who becomes convinced he can see a creature on the wing of the plane he's flying on. It aired in 1963, three years before "Star Trek."

In addition to his "Star Trek" roles, Shatner acted in "T.J. Hooker" and "Boston Legal," hosted "Rescue 911," and he has written numerous books. He finally made it to the final frontier in October 2021.

Though he's 91 years old, Shatner has shown no signs of slowing down. After "Star Trek" was canceled in 1969, he briefly returned to voice Kirk for the "Star Trek" animated series. In 1979, he again reprised his role as Kirk in " Star Trek: The Motion Picture ." He'd continue to do so regularly until 1994's "Star Trek Generations." He even directed one of the "Star Trek" movies: " Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. "

Besides "Star Trek," Shatner starred as the titular police officer on the '80s procedural "T.J. Hooker" and narrated " Rescue 911 ," a show that consisted of dramatic reenactments of real crimes.

Other roles that you might recognize Shatner from: a pageant host in " Miss Congeniality ," attorney Dennis Crane in " The Practice " and its spin-off " Boston Legal " for which he won two Emmys , and in the 2016-2018 reality show " Better Late Than Never ," in which Shatner, Henry Winkler, George Foreman, and Terry Bradshaw traveled around the world and experienced different cultures.

The actor is set to appear in the upcoming "Masters of the Universe: Revolution" series on Netflix. He also finally made it to space himself during a Blue Origin flight in October 2021, making him the oldest person to go into space at 90.

Shatner has written multiple books, both fiction and non-fiction over the course of his career. His 2016 book, " Leonard: My Fifty-Year Friendship with a Remarkable Man ," was about his friendship with "Star Trek" co-star Leonard Nimoy, who played his on-screen better half, Commander Spock.

Walter Koenig was cast as Ensign Pavel Chekov because of his resemblance to the Monkees' Davy Jones.

While Chekov was Russian, Koenig was born in America and based his accent on his parents' accents — they were Russian immigrants. Koenig was cast because, according to legend, he was supposed to help attract young girls as viewers due to his resemblance to teen idol Davy Jones. He even wore a Davy Jones-esque women's wig for the first seven or eight episodes, he told TV Insider in 2016.

Koenig's mainly recognized for his on-screen role as Chekov, though he became a pretty prolific screenwriter in the '70s. He wrote episodes for the "Star Trek" animated series, anthology series "What Really Happened to the Class of '65?" and children's series "Land of the Lost."

Koenig appeared in the 2018 film "Diminuendo."

Koenig, 85, (he's turning 86 on September 14) still makes frequent appearances on the "Star Trek" convention circuit, as well as acting in the occasional film. He appeared in 12 episodes of " Babylon 5 " in the '90s, voiced himself in an episode of "Futurama," and also voiced Mr. Savic on the Netflix animated series " Stretch Armstrong and the Flex Fighters. "

While not all of the "Star Trek" cast were on great terms, Koenig and his co-star George Takei remain close. Koenig was even the best man in Takei's wedding in 2008.

George Takei played Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu, a helmsman on the Enterprise.

Over the course of the show, Sulu was revealed to have many interests outside of Star Fleet, most famously fencing. At the time, Sulu was one of the first Asian characters on TV who wasn't explicitly a villain, and instead was a fully formed hero.

"Up until the time I was cast in 'Star Trek,' the roles were pretty shallow — thin, stereotyped, one-dimensional roles. I knew this character was a breakthrough role, certainly for me as an individual actor but also for the image of an Asian character: no accent, a member of the elite leadership team," Takei told Mother Jones in 2012.

Takei originally was supposed to play Sulu as an astrophysicist, but the role was changed to helmsman. Before "Star Trek," Takei also appeared in " The Twilight Zone " like his co-star William Shatner, among other '50s and '60s procedurals.

Takei is still acting to this day, though many people know him now for his social media presence.

Who says an 85-year-old doesn't know how to use social media? Takei's Facebook page has 9.5 million likes to date, and he has 3.4 million followers on Twitter .

In addition to his continued acting in films like "Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank," " Kubo and the Two Strings ," "Blazing Samurai," and "Mulan," and TV shows like "Heroes," "Supah Ninjas," and " Star Wars: Visions ," Takei is an activist. He came out as gay in 2005  and began working as a spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign.

Takei also starred in the 2012 musical "Allegiance," which was based on his and his family's experiences during Japanese internment in World War II.

Nichelle Nichols played Lieutenant Nyota Uhura, a translator, communications officer, and linguistics expert.

Uhura was one of the first Black television characters that didn't have a menial job — instead, she was in a position of power. She and Shatner were also involved in what is thought to be the first interracial kiss on American TV.

Nichols stayed with the show for all three seasons, but it wasn't without drama. She was tempted to leave during the first year, but none other than Martin Luther King Jr. convinced her to stay. She told the New York Post in 2011 that when she told him that she wanted to leave, he told her, "You can't do that. You have the first non-stereotypical, non-menial role on television. You have created strength and beauty and intelligence. For the first time, the world sees us as we should be seen. It's what we're marching for. You're a role model and whether you like it or not, you belong to history now."

She also released an album in 1967, "Down to Earth." In between "Star Trek's" cancellation and its return on the big screen, Nichols starred in the 1974 blaxploitation film " Truck Turner ," as Dorinda, a madam.

Nichols died in 2022 at the age of 89. She had retired from public appearances in 2018.

From 1977 until 2015, Nichols was involved with Women in Motion, a recruiting program for NASA to help get more women involved in the space program. In July 2020, a documentary about the program finally secured distribution and will be released in 2021, Deadline reported. 

"Nichelle Nichols not only was a trailblazer in Hollywood, she was a trailblazer for the future of our society. She took the fight for Civil Rights, diversity and inclusion and gender equality to new frontiers with NASA which continue to serve America's space program today. She was ahead of her time," said executive producer Ben Crump.

Nichols also appeared in " The Young and the Restless, " "Heroes," and " Futurama ." She was diagnosed with dementia in 2018 and subsequently retired from public appearances.

In July 2022, Nichols' son announced on social media that Nichols had died at the age of 89 .

Leonard Nimoy played Captain Kirk's first officer and close friend Commander Spock.

Spock was the only alien member of the original crew, as he was half-human, half-Vulcan — an alien race from the planet Vulcan whose residents operate solely from a point of logic, not feelings. Much of the show's comedy came from Spock and Kirk's differences and their amusement at each other. His frequent farewell, " Live Long and Prosper ," accompanied by the Vulcan Salute, are among the most recognizable pieces of the "Star Trek" canon.

Nimoy had multiple small parts in B movies and TV shows before booking "Star Trek," including an episode of " The Man from U.N.C.L.E. " alongside future co-star William Shatner, as well as an episode of " The Twilight Zone ."

But once "Star Trek" premiered, Nimoy would be forever linked with his Vulcan counterpart, and he mainly did voice work after the show ended. He also reunited with Shatner for an episode of his show, "T.J. Hooker."

Nimoy died in 2015 at the age of 83. He played Spock for the final time in 2013's "Star Trek Into Darkness," meaning he played the role for almost 50 years.

Nimoy is the only actor from the original series to appear in JJ Abrams' rebooted films, as he appeared in 2009's "Star Trek" and its 2013 sequel " Star Trek Into Darkness " as an older version of Spock who was trapped in an alternate universe.

In addition to acting, Nimoy was a photographer, recording artist, author, and director. He directed two "Star Trek" movies (" The Search for Spock " and "The Journey Home"), and "Three Men and a Baby," which became the highest-grossing film of 1987 .

Nimoy died in 2015 at the age of 83 due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

DeForest Kelley played the ship's curmudgeonly chief medical officer, Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy.

Bones, as he was affectionately called, was one of the oldest members of the crew, and thus got to be a bit more obnoxious than the rest of them. His frequent catchphrase, " I'm a doctor, not a ___, " is one of the most parodied lines of dialogue from the show.

Like his character, Kelley was older and a more established actor than the rest of the cast. Before the show, he had appeared in Westerns and historical films like " Gunfight at the O.K. Corral ," "Warlock," and " Raintree County " in the '50s.

Kelley died in 1999 at the age of 79, nine years after playing McCoy for the last time.

Kelley essentially retired from acting, besides playing McCoy, after the success of "Star Trek." He appeared in all six films starring the original cast, and appeared in an episode of " Star Trek: The Next Generation " as McCoy, as well.

While he wasn't much of a sci-fi fan, Kelley was proud of his "Star Trek" legacy. When asked what he thought his legacy would be, he explained that his character inspired people to enter the medical field. He told the New York Times , "These people [fans] are doctors now, all kinds of doctors who save lives. That's something that very few people can say they've done. I'm proud to say that I have.''

He died in 1999 at the age of 79 due to stomach cancer .

Majel Barrett had a recurring role as Nurse Christine Chapel.

Barrett was originally cast in the first version of "Star Trek" as Pike's first officer, but when that episode was scratched, so was her character. However, due to her romantic relationship with "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry (who she later married), she was brought back as Nurse Chapel (a divisive character).

Before the show, Barrett was in various bit parts in '50s and '60s shows, but her big break was " Star Trek ," which she stayed involved in for the rest of her life.

Barrett died in 2008 when she was 76 years old. Up until her death, she had been involved with every "Star Trek" series in some way, leading fans to call her the First Lady of "Star Trek."

Barrett reprised her role as Chapel in " Star Trek: The Motion Picture " and " Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home ." She also appeared in " Star Trek: The Next Generation " and "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" as Lwaxana Troi, the mother of Deanna Troi, a main character in "Next Generation." Her other involvement in the series was the voice of the computer in many of the other " Star Trek" films: "Generations ," " First Contact ," "Nemesis," and 2009's reboot.

She died in 2008 at the age of 76 due to leukemia . 

James Doohan played chief engineering officer Montgomery "Scotty" Scott.

Contrary to popular belief, the phrase " Beam me up, Scotty " is never actually uttered in the original series. The man on the other end of that command, Scotty, was played by Doohan, who was Canadian in real life, not Scottish.

Before "Star Trek," Doohan served in the Canadian military and was even on the beaches of Normandy during D-Day, and was a pilot as well. After the war, he began acting and became a successful radio actor. Like his co-stars, he also appeared in an episode of " The Twilight Zone ," and other popular procedurals. 

In the animated series, Doohan proved to be indispensable, with his talent for voice acting and accents. He voiced over 50 characters during the show's run.

James Doohan died at the age of 85 in 2005.

Doohan didn't find much success outside of the world of "Star Trek," and thus embraced his role as Scotty. He appeared in "Generations," as well as an episode of " The Next Generation ." 

However, his impact on the field of engineering cannot be overstated. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Milwaukee School of Engineering "after half the students there said that Scotty had inspired them to take up the subject," according to the BBC .

Towards the end of his life, Doohan suffered from Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, and retired from public life in 2004. He died the following year, at 85, due to complications from pneumonia .

Grace Lee Whitney appeared in the first season of the show as Yeoman Janice Rand.

Rand appeared in eight episodes of the show's first 15-episode season as a clerical and administrative worker aboard the ship, before Whitney was released from her contract. At the time, the story was that the show didn't have enough money to keep everyone, but years later in her autobiography, Rand accused an unnamed executive producer , whom she called "The Executive," of sexually assaulting her.

"I tried to do what he wanted me to, so I could get it over with. I knew, deep down inside, that I was finished on 'Star Trek.' At that moment, however, I didn't care about that. Nothing else mattered — not my tarnished virtue, not my career, not my role on 'Star Trek.' The only thing that mattered was getting out of that room alive," she wrote.

Whitney died in 2015 at the age of 85.

After getting written off the show, Whitney struggled with her career, and alcoholism. She credited co-star Leonard Nimoy with helping her get back on her feet and involved with "Star Trek" once again. She reprised her role in four of the original "Star Trek" films, and in an episode of " Star Trek: Voyager " alongside George Takei.

She died in 2015 due to natural causes at the age of 85.

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Graeme McMillan

Star Trek's 100 Most Important Crew Members, Ranked

This week, we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the original Star Trek TV series. To do so, we thought it might be a good time to rank all of the Star Trek crew members. Before we do, a few stipulations:

1: Only Starfleet personnel and related enlisted crews have been considered for placement on this list. (Which means that characters such as Quark, Morn, or, let's be honest, half of Deep Space Nine are absent.) Placement on the list is the result of long consideration of characters' service to Starfleet and/or Starfleet-related causes as shown or implied during their appearances, with one exception that shall not be discussed further. (Good luck figuring out which one is placed specifically due to personal bias.)

2: Only original on-screen media was considered during deliberation. If spin-off material such as novels and comic books had been included, both Captain Clark Terrell and Commander Elizabeth Shelby would be considerably higher up in the ranking. ( Star Trek: Vanguard and Star Trek: New Frontier FTW, as the famous 24th century saying goes.)

3: Your argument is invalid.

Key: TOS: The Original Series, aka Star Trek (1966-1969) TAS: Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973-1974) TMP: Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) TWK: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) TUC: Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) STG: Star Trek: Generations (1994) TNG: Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994) DS9: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-1999) VOY: Star Trek: Voyager (1995-2001) ENT: Star Trek: Enterprise (2001-2005) KTL: The Kelvin Timeline, aka Star Trek (2009), Star Trek Into Darkness (2013), Star Trek Beyond (2016)

100. Crewman Lon Suder (VOY) 99. Admiral Alexander Marcus (KTL) 98. Lieutenant Marla McGivers (TOS) 97. Lt. Commander Gary Mitchell (TOS) 96. Dr. Elizabeth Dehner (TOS) 95. Commodore Matthew Decker (TOS) 94. Captain Ben Maxwell (TNG) 93. Kes (VOY) 92. Fleet Admiral Cartwright (TUC) 91. Lieutenant Valeris (TUC) 90. Luther Sloan (DS9) 89. Commander Bruce Maddox (TNG) 88. Captain Phillipa Louvois (TNG) 87. Ensign Taurik (TNG) 86. Ensign Sito Jaxa (TNG) 85. Lieutenant José Tyler (TOS) 84. Crewman Michael Rostov (ENT) 83. Crewman Elizabeth Cutler (ENT) 82. Ensign Walsh (ENT) 81. Ensign Tanner (ENT) 80. Lieutenant Sam Lavelle (TNG) 79. Ensign Samantha Wildman (VOY) 78. Commander Kyle (TOS) 77. Lt. Commander Michael Eddington (DS9) 76. Vice Admiral Nakamura (TNG) 75. Captain Rudy Ransom (VOY) 74. Dr. Mark Piper (TOS) 73. Chef (ENT) 72. Ensign Melora Pazlar (DS9) 71. Ensign Robin Lefler (TNG) 70. Yeoman Janice Rand (TOS) 69. Rear Admiral Gregory Quinn (TNG) 68. Captain Edward Jellico (TNG) 67. Lt. Commander Jack Crusher (TNG) 66. Dr. Philip Boyce (TOS) 65. Lieutenant M'Ress (TAS) 64. Dr. Selar (TNG) 63. Nurse Alyssa Ogawa (TNG) 62. Neelix (VOY) 61. Lieutenant Arex (TAS) 60. Nurse Christine Chapel (TOS) 59. Captain Clark Terrell (TWK) 58. Captain Robert April (TOS) 57. Number One (TOS) 56. Commander Elizabeth Shelby (TNG) 55. Lieutenant Reginald Barclay (TNG) 54. Ensign Ro Laren (TNG) 53. Cadet Tim Watters (DS9) 52. Captain Erika Hernandez (ENT) 51. Lieutenant Nog (DS9) 50. Captain Willard Decker (TMP) 49. Lieutenant Ilia (TMP) 48. Lieutenant Saavik (TWK) 47. Captain Richard Robau (KTL) 46. Captain John Harriman (STG) 45. Captain Rachel Garrett (TNG) 44. Lieutenant Demora Sulu (STG) 43. Admiral Owen Paris (VOY) 42. Admiral Maxwell Forrest (ENT) 41. Admiral William Ross (DS9) 40. Chief Medical Officer Phlox (ENT) 39. Dr. Katherine Pulaski (TNG) 38. Lt. Commander George Kirk (KTL) 37. Seven of Nine (VOY) 36. Lt. Commander Tasha Yar (TNG) 35. Captain Christopher Pike (TOS) 34. Ensign Harry Kim (VOY) 33. Ensign Travis Mayweather (ENT) 32. Lieutenant Ezri Dax (DS9) 31. Ensign Wesley Crusher (TNG) 30. Commander Pavel Chekov (TOS) 29. Lieutenant Malcolm Reed (ENT) 28. Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres (VOY) 27. Lt. Commander Hoshi Sato (ENT) 26. Lieutenant Tom Paris (VOY) 25. Dr. Julian Bashir (DS9) 24. Counsellor Deanna Troi (TNG) 23. Commander Charles Tucker III (ENT) 22. Lt. Commander Jadzia Dax (DS9) 21. Chief Engineer Geordi LaForge (TNG) 20. Dr. Beverly Crusher (TNG) 19. Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott (TOS) 18. Captain Hikaru Sulu (TOS) 17. Chief Miles O'Brien (DS9) 16. Emergency Medical Hologram Joe (VOY) 15. Constable Odo (DS9) 14. Commander Nyota Uhura (TOS) 13. Lt. Commander Worf (TNG) 12. Lt. Commander Data (TNG) 11. Commander Chakotay (VOY) 10. Commander T'Pol (ENT) 9. Captain Jonathan Archer (ENT) 8. Captain Kathryn Janeway (VOY) 7. Colonel Kira Nerys (DS9) 6. Commander William Riker (TNG) 5. Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy (TOS) 4. Captain Spock (TOS) 3. Captain Jean-Luc Picard (TNG) 2. Captain Benjamin Sisko (DS9) 1. Captain James T. Kirk (TOS)

Matt Jancer

David Nield

Angela Watercutter

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Star Trek: TOS - All 79 Episodes Ranked

• Movies or TV
• IMDb Rating
• In Theaters
• Release Year

1. Star Trek (1966–1969) Episode: Who Mourns for Adonais? (1967)

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

A powerful being claiming to be the Greek god Apollo appears and demands that the crew of the Enterprise disembark onto his planet to worship him.

Director: Marc Daniels | Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , DeForest Kelley , Michael Forest

Votes: 4,023

2. Star Trek (1966–1969) Episode: The City on the Edge of Forever (1967)

When a temporarily insane Dr. McCoy accidentally changes history and destroys his time, Kirk and Spock follow him to prevent the disaster, but the price to do so is high.

Director: Joseph Pevney | Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , Joan Collins , DeForest Kelley

Votes: 6,577

3. Star Trek (1966–1969) Episode: The Trouble with Tribbles (1967)

To protect a space station with a vital grain shipment, Kirk must deal with Federation bureaucrats, a Klingon battle cruiser and a peddler who sells furry, purring, hungry little creatures as pets.

Director: Joseph Pevney | Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , DeForest Kelley , William Schallert

Votes: 4,931

4. Star Trek (1966–1969) Episode: All Our Yesterdays (1969)

When Kirk, Spock and McCoy investigate the disappearance of a doomed planet's population, they find themselves trapped in different periods of that world's past.

Director: Marvin J. Chomsky | Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , DeForest Kelley , Mariette Hartley

Votes: 3,392

5. Star Trek (1966–1969) Episode: Amok Time (1967)

In the throes of his Pon Farr mating period, Spock must return to Vulcan to meet his intended future wife, betrothed from childhood.

Director: Joseph Pevney | Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , DeForest Kelley , Celia Lovsky

Votes: 4,746

6. Star Trek (1966–1969) Episode: Journey to Babel (1967)

The Enterprise hosts a number of quarrelling diplomats, including Spock's father, but someone on board has murder in mind.

Director: Joseph Pevney | Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , DeForest Kelley , Jane Wyatt

Votes: 4,029

7. Star Trek (1966–1969) Episode: Return to Tomorrow (1968)

The Enterprise is guided to a distant, long-dead world where survivors of an extremely ancient race - existing only as disembodied energy - desiring the bodies of Kirk, Spock and astro-biologist Ann Mulhall so that they may live again.

Director: Ralph Senensky | Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , DeForest Kelley , Diana Muldaur

Votes: 3,309

8. Star Trek (1966–1969) Episode: The Cloud Minders (1969)

TV-PG | 51 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Kirk and Spock are caught up in a revolution on a planet where intellectuals and artists live on a utopian city in the sky while the rest of the population toils in mines on the barren surface below.

Director: Jud Taylor | Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , DeForest Kelley , Jeff Corey

Votes: 3,031

9. Star Trek (1966–1969) Episode: The Corbomite Maneuver (1966)

After the Enterprise is forced to destroy a dangerous marker buoy, a gigantic alien ship arrives to capture and condemn the crew as trespassers.

Director: Joseph Sargent | Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , Anthony D. Call , Clint Howard

Votes: 4,884

10. Star Trek (1966–1969) Episode: Where No Man Has Gone Before (1966)

The flight recorder of the 200-year-old U.S.S. Valiant relays a tale of terror--a magnetic storm at the edge of the galaxy.

Director: James Goldstone | Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , Gary Lockwood , Sally Kellerman

Votes: 6,427

11. Star Trek (1966–1969) Episode: Space Seed (1967)

While on patrol in deep space, Captain Kirk and his crew find and revive a genetically-engineered world conqueror and his compatriots from Earth's Twentieth Century.

Director: Marc Daniels | Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , Ricardo Montalban , Madlyn Rhue

Votes: 5,413

12. Star Trek (1966–1969) Episode: The Devil in the Dark (1967)

The Enterprise is sent to a mining colony that is being terrorized by a mysterious monster, only to find that the situation is not that simple.

Director: Joseph Pevney | Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , DeForest Kelley , Ken Lynch

Votes: 4,299

13. Star Trek (1966–1969) Episode: Balance of Terror (1966)

The Enterprise must decide on its response when a Romulan ship makes a destructively hostile armed probe of Federation territory.

Director: Vincent McEveety | Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , Mark Lenard , Paul Comi

Votes: 5,699

14. Star Trek (1966–1969) Episode: The Cage (1966)

TV-PG | 63 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Capt. Pike is held prisoner and tested by aliens who have the power to project incredibly lifelike illusions.

Director: Robert Butler | Stars: Jeffrey Hunter , Susan Oliver , Leonard Nimoy , Majel Barrett

Votes: 7,171

15. Star Trek (1966–1969) Episode: Assignment: Earth (1968)

While back in time observing Earth in 1968, the Enterprise crew encounters the mysterious Gary Seven who has his own agenda on the planet.

Director: Marc Daniels | Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , DeForest Kelley , Robert Lansing

Votes: 3,701

16. Star Trek (1966–1969) Episode: The Galileo Seven (1967)

The Galileo, under Spock's command, crash-lands on a hostile planet. As the Enterprise races against time to find the shuttlecraft, Spock's strictly logical leadership clashes with the fear and resentment of his crew.

Director: Robert Gist | Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , Don Marshall , DeForest Kelley

Votes: 4,240

17. Star Trek (1966–1969) Episode: Plato's Stepchildren (1968)

After Dr. McCoy helps the leader of a planet populated by people with powerful psionic abilities, they decide to force him to stay by torturing his comrades until he submits.

Director: David Alexander | Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , DeForest Kelley , Michael Dunn

Votes: 3,287

18. Star Trek (1966–1969) Episode: This Side of Paradise (1967)

The Enterprise investigates a planet whose colonists should be dead, but are not.

Director: Ralph Senensky | Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , Jill Ireland , Frank Overton

Votes: 4,065

19. Star Trek (1966–1969) Episode: The Tholian Web (1968)

With Capt. Kirk and the derelict USS Defiant apparently lost, the Enterprise grapples with an insanity causing plague and an attack by the Tholians.

Directors: Herb Wallerstein , Ralph Senensky | Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , DeForest Kelley , James Doohan

Votes: 3,425

20. Star Trek (1966–1969) Episode: The Immunity Syndrome (1968)

The Enterprise encounters a gigantic energy draining space organism that threatens the galaxy.

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

Votes: 3,294

21. Star Trek (1966–1969) Episode: Wolf in the Fold (1967)

Kirk and the Enterprise computer become detectives after Scotty is accused of murdering women on a pleasure planet.

Director: Joseph Pevney | Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , DeForest Kelley , John Fiedler

Votes: 3,357

22. Star Trek (1966–1969) Episode: I, Mudd (1967)

Harry Mudd returns with a plot to take over the Enterprise by stranding the crew on a planet populated by androids under his command.

Director: Marc Daniels | Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , DeForest Kelley , Roger C. Carmel

Votes: 3,739

23. Star Trek (1966–1969) Episode: Mirror, Mirror (1967)

A transporter accident places Captain Kirk's landing party in an alternate universe, where the Enterprise is in the service of a barbarically brutal empire.

Director: Marc Daniels | Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , DeForest Kelley , BarBara Luna

Votes: 5,140

24. Star Trek (1966–1969) Episode: Elaan of Troyius (1968)

While transporting an arrogant, demanding princess for a political marriage, Captain Kirk must cope both with her biochemical ability to force him to love her, as well as sabotage on his ship.

Director: John Meredyth Lucas | Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , DeForest Kelley , France Nuyen

Votes: 3,167

25. Star Trek (1966–1969) Episode: The Menagerie: Part I (1966)

Spock kidnaps the disabled Capt. Pike, hijacks the Enterprise, and then surrenders for court martial.

Directors: Marc Daniels , Robert Butler | Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , Jeffrey Hunter , Susan Oliver

Votes: 4,862

26. Star Trek (1966–1969) Episode: What Are Little Girls Made Of? (1966)

Nurse Chapel is reunited with her fiancé; but his new obsession leads him to make an android duplicate of Captain Kirk.

Director: James Goldstone | Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , Michael Strong , Sherry Jackson

Votes: 4,642

27. Star Trek (1966–1969) Episode: The Man Trap (1966)

Dr. McCoy discovers his old flame is not what she seems after crew members begin dying from a sudden lack of salt in their bodies.

Director: Marc Daniels | Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , Jeanne Bal , Alfred Ryder

Votes: 5,867

28. Star Trek (1966–1969) Episode: The Gamesters of Triskelion (1968)

Kirk, Uhura and Chekov are trapped on a planet where abducted aliens are enslaved and trained to perform as gladiators for the amusement of bored, faceless aliens.

Director: Gene Nelson | Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , DeForest Kelley , Joseph Ruskin

Votes: 3,501

29. Star Trek (1966–1969) Episode: By Any Other Name (1968)

Galactic alien scouts capture the Enterprise for a return voyage and a prelude to invasion. Kirk's one advantage - they're not used to their adopted human form.

Director: Marc Daniels | Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , DeForest Kelley , Warren Stevens

Votes: 3,389

30. Star Trek (1966–1969) Episode: For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky (1968)

The Enterprise discovers an apparent asteroid that is on a collision course with a planet is actually an ancient populated generation ship.

Director: Anton Leader | Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , DeForest Kelley , Katherine Woodville

Votes: 3,122

31. Star Trek (1966–1969) Episode: Is There in Truth No Beauty? (1968)

Lovely telepath Miranda is aide to Ambassador Kollos, in a box to stop insanity when humans see Medusans. She rejects Larry, a designer of Enterprise, and senses murderous intent nearby.

Votes: 3,205

32. Star Trek (1966–1969) Episode: Let That Be Your Last Battlefield (1969)

The Enterprise encounters two duo-chromatic and mutually belligerent aliens who put the ship in the middle of their old conflict.

Director: Jud Taylor | Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , DeForest Kelley , Frank Gorshin

Votes: 3,252

33. Star Trek (1966–1969) Episode: The Conscience of the King (1966)

While Captain Kirk investigates whether an actor is actually a presumed dead mass murderer, a mysterious assailant is killing the people who could identify the fugitive.

Director: Gerd Oswald | Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , Arnold Moss , Barbara Anderson

Votes: 4,214

34. Star Trek (1966–1969) Episode: The Enterprise Incident (1968)

An apparently insane Capt. Kirk has the Enterprise deliberately enter the Romulan Neutral Zone where the ship is immediately captured by the enemy.

Director: John Meredyth Lucas | Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , DeForest Kelley , Joanne Linville

Votes: 3,901

35. Star Trek (1966–1969) Episode: A Taste of Armageddon (1967)

Kirk and Spock must save their ship's crew when they are all declared killed in action in a bizarre computer simulated war where the actual deaths must nevertheless occur.

Director: Joseph Pevney | Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , David Opatoshu , Gene Lyons

Votes: 4,194

36. Star Trek (1966–1969) Episode: The Return of the Archons (1967)

The Episode of Star Trek: TOS That Stood Out to Anton Yelchin

A nton Yelchin, known for playing Chekov in the Star Trek reboots, held the “Star Trek: The Original Series” episode titled “Who Mourns for Adonais?” in high esteem. Originally aired on September 22, 1967, the episode unfolds with the USS Enterprise caught by a cosmic green hand. The crew, including Kirk, encounters Apollo (portrayed by Michael Forest), who appears to be the very deity from ancient Greek lore, yearning for adulation.

The crew soon hypothesizes that this so-called god could instead be an extraterrestrial that humans mistakenly worshipped as a deity millennia ago. Kirk informs Apollo that humanity has evolved past the need for gods, leaving Apollo disheartened, ultimately leading him to ascend to realm of his fellow “gods.” The episode concludes with Kirk reflecting on the significant impact of Greek culture on modern society, despite the disappearance of its gods. The episode’s namesake is a nod to Percy Shelley’s elegy mourning the poet John Keats.

Yelchin appreciated the episode, noting Chekov’s proactivity and the intriguing themes it presented:

“Probably the one with Apollo. I think is such an intelligent episode. It is an episode where the basic point is that humanity… looking at it in terms of the ’60s when men are their own gods, and look at where they brought their universe to. It was such a fascinating, touching, weird thing to have an episode. Where men come to a planet where a god wants to be a god again.”

The action-driven 2009 film didn’t encapsulate these profound concepts, but it’s evident that Yelchin found the philosophical depths of the original series quite captivating.

FAQ Section

This episode of “Star Trek: The Original Series” features the Enterprise crew’s encounter with Apollo, a being claiming to be the ancient Greek god, who seeks worship from the crew.

Yelchin enjoyed the episode’s intelligent commentary on humanity’s evolution and independence from divine beings, as well as Chekov’s significant involvement in the storyline.

The episode suggests that humans have surpassed the need for deities and can reflect on their cultural history with appreciation without the presence of those formerly revered gods.

According to Yelchin, the reboot focused more on action than exploring the more profound themes presented in “Who Mourns for Adonais?”

Anton Yelchin’s affinity for the “Star Trek: The Original Series” episode “Who Mourns for Adonais?” highlights the depth of storytelling within the original series and the meaningful exploration of human evolution and self-reliance. Despite the action-packed excitement of the newer films, it is evident that the thought-provoking nature of the series’ earlier episodes still resonates with fans and actors alike.

The Only Major Actors Still Alive From Star Trek: The Original Series

Gene Roddenberry's celebrated sci-fi TV series "Star Trek" debuted on September 8, 1966, and it recently celebrated its 57th anniversary. Initially, "Trek" wasn't terribly popular, and it only managed to make a third season thanks to a coordinated letter-writing campaign (a campaign that Roddenberry was accused of orchestrating and encouraging himself). It wouldn't be until after "Star Trek" was canceled in 1969 that its popularity would significantly begin to grow. 

Thanks to a sweet infinite syndication deal, "Star Trek" reruns were common, and a cult began to form. By the early 1970s, the first "Trek" conventions began to appear. Naturally, conventions were a great place for the show's stars and creators to congregate and share production stories with a rising tide of obsessives. Fans were able to talk to and get autographs from William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, Nichelle Nichols, Majel Barrett, Walter Koenig, George Takei, James Doohan, and Grace Lee Whitney, as well as many of the show's more supporting players. 

Many decades have passed, but the surviving "Star Trek" cast members, now in their 80s and 90s, still appear at conventions to share details of their now-long and storied careers. Over 57 years ago, they were at the start of a phenomenon; none of them could have likely predicted just what a massive impact "Star Trek" would have on the pop culture landscape. Three members of the original "Star Trek" cast appeared at Creation Entertainment's 57-Year Mission convention in Las Vegas, and one of them is already confirmed for the 2024 con  next August. 

If you're eager to get an autograph or merely to hear an amusing anecdote from across many decades of interaction with the "Trek" franchise at large, the following surviving actors will still happily oblige.

William Shatner

In March of 2023, Shatner, who played the resolute Captain Kirk on "Star Trek," turned 92, yet he still makes convention appearances. Stories have been told throughout Trekkie-dom that Shatner can occasionally be spiky at cons, but has clearly embraced them, even going so far as to say that fans are the future  of anything so deeply beloved as "Star Trek." Indeed, in many cases, fans care more about carrying on the legacy of a show than the studios; in many ways, Trekkies take the show more seriously than the people who make it.

Shatner has, of course, had a textured career. Some of his earlier films include adaptations of "The Brothers Karamozov" (in which he played Alexey) and "Oedipus the King" (in which he played a masked member of the chorus), as well as genre films like "The Intruder" and "Incubus." Although Shatner is best known for "Trek" — a common side-effect for most any actor who appeared on any "Star Trek" show — he forged an interesting acting career beyond ii. He appeared in the hit cop show "T.J. Hooker," and appeared in spoof films like "Airplane II: The Sequel" and "National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1." He released several notorious albums of speak-singing, and directed several documentaries about "Star Trek," including "The Captains" and "Chaos on the Bridge." 

Shatner also authored several "Star Trek" novels and even launched his own modestly successful sci-fi book series with "TekWar" (ghost-written by Ron Goulart) in 1989. He won two Emmys in 2004 and 2005 for his role as Denny Crane in "The Practice" and "Boston Legal." He's also an equestrian enthusiast and has won a few horseback riding awards. Shatner is spry for 92.

George Takei

In 2019, George Takei , who played the practical and intelligent Hikaru Sulu on "Star Trek," authored a graphic novel all about his childhood experiences of being rounded up and imprisoned in a Japanese internment camp during World War II. Takei was born in Los Angeles in 1937 (he's the only main cast member from the original show who is an L.A. native), and recalls being held against his will by the U.S. government as a child. It may have been that experience that made Takei as political as he is. In the early 1970s, after "Star Trek," Takei ran for a set on the Los Angeles City Council, and served as an alternate delegate at the 1972 Democratic National Convention. At conventions, Takei has spoken at length about his beliefs in civic infrastructure, encouraging L.A. to improve its long-beleaguered public transportation.

Takei came out as gay in 2005, revealing that he had been with his long-term partner, Brad Altman, for the last 18 years. He and Altman married in 2008, one of the first same-sex couples to be granted a marriage license in West Hollywood, California. Takei has been an outspoken queer rights activist ever since, raising money for charities and speaking at charity events regularly. He makes appearances at fan conventions on the regular. 

As an actor, Takei began reading English-language dubs for imported Toho monster movies prior to "Star Trek." He also starred in movies like "The Green Berets" and "Mulan." On TV, Takei guest-starred on many, many programs, including a notable regular role on the hit show "Heroes." His deep voice also afforded him an opportunity to regularly contribute to dozens of animated programs, most recently in Max's "Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai."

Walter Koenig

There were rumors circulating through the Trekkie community for years that Walter Koenig was hired to appear on the second season of "Star Trek" because the then-30-year-old actor looked an awful lot like Davy Jones from "The Monkees." This wasn't the case, but Koenig provided a youthful, heartthrob quality with his character, Pavel Chekov. His character was Russian, a notable character decision to make in the mid-1960s as the U.S. was still embroiled deeply in the Cold War. Chekov was a symbol that peace would eventually come. Koenig was never anything less than 100% committed, and reacted to extreme sci-fi scenarios with fire and aplomb. 

In the early '60s, the actor worked his way through smaller roles in multiple well-known TV series like "Mr. Novak," "Gidget," and "I Spy" before joining "Star Trek" in its second season. After, he continued apace, working on TV regularly, eventually landing a recurring role on a second beloved sci-fi series  "Babylon 5." He has also stayed a part of "Star Trek" up until the present, having provided a voice cameo in the most recent season of "Star Trek: Picard," as well as reprising his role as Chekov in the semi-professional and well-respected fan series "Star Trek: New Voyages." He's also dabbled in many amusing B-movies like "Mad Cowgirl" and "Scream of the Bikini," as well as animated shows like "Stretch Armstrong and the Flex Fighters."

Additionally, Koenig has served as an advocate for civil rights in Burma, having visited refugee camps there. Koenig still appears at conventions, happy to talk about his various projects and acting endeavors. Just please, whatever you do, don't ask him to say "nuclear wessels." The man just turned 87. He deserves a break from that. 

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Published Apr 22, 2024

The 10 Plagues of Star Trek: The Original Series

As Passover brought 10 plagues to test Pharaoh, so too did The Original Series test the crew of the Enterprise!

StarTrek.com

Considering Gene Roddenberry stated that there would be no religion in the future when he conceived of Star Trek , a lot of Judaism sure did manage to creep it's way in!

From Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner bonding on the set of The Original Series over their shared Jewish background, and Nimoy being inspired by his Orthodox upbringing when creating Vulcan culture , to later series with Jewish actors and parallels such as Worf's diasporic experience, and Marina Sirtis drawing on inspiration from an Israeli friend as she created Deanna Troi. It makes sense, then, to spend some time during Passover reflecting on the many aspects of Jewish influence seen on Star Trek .

So, of course, I’ve decided to give you the 10 Plagues of Passover as episodes from The Original Series . Let’s get into it.

1. Rivers of Blood, " Amok Time "

"Amok Time"

When Aaron turned the Nile into a river of blood, it shook the Pharaoh to his core, much like how the blood fever of Pon Farr shook up Spock's usual calm and logic. Hormonal imbalances are no joke, and this quickly descended from throwing soup and nearly ended with Captain Kirk's death on Vulcan!

Much as I hate to parallel the Pharaoh, the villain of the Passover story, with Spock, a hero and a pacifist, they are both powerful men brought low (and emotional) by blood.

2. Frogs, " And the Children Shall Lead "

"All the Children Shall Lead"

There is a debate in Judaism over whether the second plague was a swarm of frogs, or one giant frog that covered the land of Egypt. But if we go with the more traditional interpretation of a swarm, then the Star Trek equivalent swarm would be the children from "And The Children Shall Lead" who take over the Enterprise .

Not only are they a hive mind (very swarm-like behavior) controlled by an evil embodiment called Gorgon, but they also bring the majority of the bridge crew under their sway. Whichever frog interpretation you go with, Kirk was as deeply unhappy with this plague-parallel as the Egyptians were with their own froggy problem — and he was pretty hostile to the kids too!

3. Lice, " Operation — Annihilate! "

"Operation — Annihilate!"

Whilst it may not be as scary or strange as the other plagues, the plague of lice always makes me wince and want to scratch my scalp in sympathy.

The episode "Operation — Annihilate!" also makes me wince, as a meeting with behavior-altering parasites is not how I imagine Kirk wanted his family reunion to go. But while lice do alter behavior, making people far more irritable, I wonder if they could cause the collapse of civilizations as this Star Trek parasite did before the crew of the Enterprise stopped it?

4. Flies or Deadly Animals, "Wink of an Eye"

"Wink of an Eye"

Here we find ourselves with another heavily debated plague. Some scholars believe it was the buzzing of flies that punished the Egyptians, while others believe it was a hoard of deadly animals destroying everything in their path. Luckily, "Wink of an Eye" covers both!

It begins when a landing party on Scalos and Kirk hears a mysterious buzzing noise like a swarm of insects before one of their party goes missing. Kirk continues to hear this insect buzzing on the Enterprise . However, it turns out to be a group of people living at hyper-accelerated speed, causing mischief all over the ship as they try to put the Enterprise into a deep freeze. Moreover, when they try to hyper-accelerate the humans, they end up causing them to age and decay rapidly. Deadly creatures destroying everything in their path indeed!

5. Pestilence, " The Trouble with Tribbles "

"The Trouble with Tribbles"

The fifth plague was a pestilence that killed all the Egyptians livestock, and what better episode to compare this with than "The Trouble with Tribbles."

The tribbles not only eat all of the grain supplies, they also end up dying en masse because the grain has been poisoned by saboteurs. This makes them not only the pestilence, but also the dead livestock in the Passover parallels! It's said the Egyptians grieved when they looked upon the dead animals they worshipped like gods, and whilst I doubt the tribbles were worshipped, I'm sure the Klingon vessel they were eventually beamed onto did indeed grieve having this fluffy plague.

6. Boils, " Miri "

"Miri"

When painful boils appear on the people of Egypt, it was meant to have caused horror and agony. Well, the episode "Miri" caused so much horror, it was banned by the BBC in the 1970s and 1980s!

In this episode, the landing party, except for Spock, begin developing purple lesions on their bodies and are told by the children of the planet they will die horribly in a week. Even Spock can't return to the Enterprise , because they don’t know whether or not he'll infect the rest of the crew. The boils end up being painful physically and emotionally, as the crew seek to save themselves and the children who have trapped them.

7. Hail, " Mirror, Mirror "

"Mirror, Mirror"

The seventh plague was a hail-storm of unprecedented strength that damaged every living thing in its path — much like the wrath of the Mirrorverse that Kirk and company discover in the episode "Mirror, Mirror"!

When negotiating with the Halkan's for dilithium, the council says there is no guarantee the Federation will always be peaceful. A violent and unpredictable ion-storm proves they may have a point when it causes the transporter malfunction that takes our Enterprise crew to a parallel universe of unprecedented violence!

8. Locusts, " The Conscience of the King "

"The Conscience of the King"

On Moses' eighth attempt to sway the Pharaoh, a devastating plague of locusts is summoned. The bugs devour everything green that has escaped the hail and previous plagues. This brings to mind one of Kirk's most famous pieces of backstory — the Tarsus IV massacre.

In "The Conscience of the King," we discover that as a teenager, Kirk lived in the Tarsus IV colony when a food crisis allowed Governor Kodos to take control and order the deaths of half the population. While it might not have been locusts that destroyed the grain on Tarsus IV, this event certainly caused untold devastation.

9. Darkness, " The Tholian Web "

"The Tholian Web"

Space, the final frontier. In the context of Star Trek , it's hard to think of darkness as a plague when it is the mission and adventure of our voyagers to explore it. But darkness in the Passover story was terrifying, as for several days all of Egypt was enveloped in a thick and impenetrable veil of darkness which extinguished all lights kindled. Remind you of "The Tholian Web"?

On a rescue mission for their sister ship, the U.S.S. Defiant , the Enterprise enters a sector of unknown space and finds the Defiant adrift, its crew dead, and slowly phasing out of existence, before vanishing entirely and taking Kirk with it. This episode focuses on the more terrifying aspects of space and the unknown, and how the hardest thing to do can be just having to wait for the darkness to pass.

10. Death of the First Born, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

First-born children don't have the best track record for surviving in Star Trek ; we've already covered Sam Kirk's death in "Operation — Annihilate!" and Kodos' daughter Lenore Karidian meets a grim fate in "The Conscience of the King."

Moving on to the movies, we see Spock's older brother, Sybok, die in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier . But for this plague I had to go with Captain Kirk's own son David Marcus, who is killed by Klingons in The Search for Spock . As the Pharoah's own infant son's death broke his resolve to finally allow the Israelites to be free, David's death so soon after they met causes Kirk to become embittered and colors his own attitude towards Klingons as a species.

Yes, the plagues make up a significant part of the Passover story, the main theme of the holiday is triumph over adversity and freedom —a fundamental tenet of Star Trek . For all of the dangers and threats the Enterprise crew face, from physical to emotional, they always overcome them together. And much like the Israelites finally leaving Egypt to wander the desert in search of the Holy Land, it tells us that perseverance is key and the journey and exploration it entails can be as important as the final destination.

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This article was originally published on March 29, 2021.

Emily Zinkin (she/her) is a writer based in London, UK, who also runs Moishe House Clapham. She once cosplayed as Captain Kirk but realised she was the mirror version when she met another one. You can find her on Twitter at @EmilyZinkin

USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)

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The USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) was a 23rd century Federation Constitution -class starship operated by Starfleet , and the first Federation starship to bear the name Enterprise . During its career, the Enterprise served as the Federation flagship and was in service from 2245 to 2285 . During the latter years of its life, the Enterprise was refitted into a Constitution II -class starship and served as a training vessel until its destruction in 2285.

• 2.1 Construction and launch
• 2.2 Robert April's command
• 2.3.1 Early voyages
• 2.3.2 A new science officer
• 2.3.3 Rigel VII
• 2.3.4 Talos IV
• 2.3.5 Federation-Klingon War
• 2.3.6 The red bursts
• 2.3.7 Battling Control
• 2.3.8 Continuing mission
• 2.4.1 Discoveries
• 2.4.2.1 Klingon engagements
• 2.4.2.2 Romulan engagements
• 2.5 Refit of the 2270s
• 2.7 Khan's return
• 2.8 Final mission
• 4 Alternate timelines and realities
• 5.1 Robert April's notable first contacts
• 5.2 Christopher Pike's notable first contacts
• 5.3 James T. Kirk's notable first contacts
• 6.1 Robert April's command crew
• 6.2 Christopher Pike's command crew
• 6.3 James T. Kirk's command crew
• 7.1 Complement
• 7.2 Casualties
• 8.1 Appearances
• 8.2 Background information
• 8.3 External links

Lineage [ ]

Service history [ ], construction and launch [ ].

Specifications of the USS Enterprise

In the early- to mid-23rd century, at least twelve heavy cruiser -type starships , the Constitution -class , were commissioned by the Federation Starfleet . ( TOS : " Tomorrow is Yesterday ") Constructed at the San Francisco Fleet Yards in San Francisco , California , the Federation vessel registered NCC -1701 was christened "the Enterprise " in a long line of ships of the same name . ( DIS : " Brother "; TAS : " The Counter-Clock Incident ")

Captain Robert April oversaw construction of the ship's components as well as its initial trial runs. His wife, Sarah April , designed several tools for the ship's sickbay . ( TAS : " The Counter-Clock Incident ") Larry Marvick was one of the designers of the Enterprise itself, while Doctor Richard Daystrom designed its computer systems. ( TOS : " Is There in Truth No Beauty? ", " The Ultimate Computer ")

During its construction, a piece of the Enterprise NX-01 was used as it was the previous ship to bear the name. ( SNW : " Those Old Scientists ")

Robert April's command [ ]

Robert April commanded the Enterprise from 2245 to 2250

The Enterprise was launched on April 11, 2245 , under the command of Captain April. ( DIS : " Brother ") Sarah April served as the ship's first chief medical officer , with Christopher Pike serving as Captain April's first officer . ( TAS : " The Counter-Clock Incident "; DIS : " Brother "; SNW : " Strange New Worlds ")

In 2246 , April chose to break General Order 1 and warn a pre-warp civilization, the Perricans , about a possible apocalyptic meteor shower that was due to hit their planet. ( SNW : " Ad Astra per Aspera ")

In 2248 , April sent his science officer to the industrial-age planet Na'rel to solve the imminent threat of an extinction-level drought by sharing Federation technology. ( SNW : " Ad Astra per Aspera ")

Una Chin-Riley was assigned to the Enterprise as Captain April's science officer . ( SNW : " Ad Astra per Aspera "; display graphic ) One deep space cruise took it within half a light year of 99 Pegasi . ( ST : " Q&A ")

He also visited Man-us II without his security officer, during which he chose to reveal the Enterprise to the Ohawk , a pre-warp civilization. ( SNW : " Ad Astra per Aspera ")

Christopher Pike's command [ ]

In 2250 , April left the Enterprise and command was turned over to Pike. Pike also chose Chin-Riley to be his first officer. ( DIS : " Brother "; SNW : " Ad Astra per Aspera " display graphic )

Early voyages [ ]

The Enterprise orbiting Pragine 63

At one point, the Enterprise visited Pragine 63 , where science officer Lynne Lucero was transferred to the USS Cabot , to serve as its new captain. ( ST : " The Trouble with Edward ")

A new science officer [ ]

In 2253 , Pike and the Enterprise traveled to Starbase 40 where Pike would obtain a half Human - Vulcan science officer, Spock , who served under him for over eleven years. ( TOS : " The Menagerie, Part I "; ST : " Q&A "; SNW : " Among the Lotus Eaters " display graphic )

Rigel VII [ ]

The Enterprise visited Rigel VII in 2254

In 2254 On stardate 2496.4, the Enterprise visit Rigel VII as a routine exploration of a remote class M planet. Captain Pike, along with a landing party consisting of Spock, Yeoman Zac Nguyen , Ensign C. Plummer and M. Aberth and several others went down to the planet where they were attacked by the Kalar . Yeoman Ngyugen, Ensign Plummer and Aberth were killed, while Spock and six others were injured. The mission lasted all of four hours. The remaining members of the landing party returned to the Enterprise and set course to Vega colony to get medical aid for those injured. Unbeknownst to the crew, Ngyugen had actually survived and been left stranded on the planet. ( TOS : " The Cage "; SNW : " Among the Lotus Eaters ")

Talos IV [ ]

The Enterprise was the first starship to visit the Talos star systems in nearly 20 years.

While traveling to the Vega Colony, the Enterprise learned there were survivors of the SS Columbia that were marooned on Talos IV nearly eighteen years earlier . Following the stop at Vega, the Enterprise traveled to Talos to rescue the Columbia survivors only to find out it was a trap devised by the Talosians . ( TOS : " The Cage ")

Federation-Klingon War [ ]

In late 2256 , Michael Burnham encouraged Cadet Sylvia Tilly to improve her physical conditioning so that she would stand out amongst her peers and be assigned to the Enterprise or one of its "sister ships." ( DIS : " Lethe ")

At that time, the Enterprise was on a five-year mission under Pike. With the Federation-Klingon War underway, Starfleet elected not to recall the starship and leave the vessel as an instrument of last resort, so ordered Pike and his crew to remain out of the fighting. ( DIS : " Brother ")

Pike later accused Starfleet Command of not recalling Enterprise because they knew he would steadfastly remind them of Federation values, but Admiral Katrina Cornwell , the only Starfleet Command representative present to hear the accusation, countered that they "wanted the best of Starfleet to survive," if the war was lost, and they had deemed that to be Enterprise . ( DIS : " Project Daedalus ")

The red bursts [ ]

The Enterprise and Discovery rendezvous in 2257

Following the conclusion of the war in 2257 , the Enterprise was dispatched by Starfleet to investigate one of a series of unidentified signals detected throughout the galaxy . ( DIS : " Brother ") En route, the ship suffered multiple catastrophic systems failures, leading Pike to issue a priority 1 distress call .

The call was received by the USS Discovery , en route to Vulcan . ( DIS : " Will You Take My Hand? ", " Brother ") Pike and two senior officers transferred to Discovery to continue their mission, while a team was dispatched to tow the Enterprise back to Spacedock for a diagnostic , where the damage was assessed as severe, with no estimate for repair. ( DIS : " Brother ")

The Enterprise being towed to drydock for repairs

A week later, Pike's first officer, Una Chin-Riley, reported to Pike that the holographic comm system was the source of the failures, which had compromised primary systems. Pike ordered Una to tell Chief Engineer Louvier to strip the system from the ship in favor of viewscreen communication. ( DIS : " An Obol for Charon ")

Battling Control [ ]

The Enterprise taking on Discovery 's crew

After the Discovery acquired data from a Sphere that would ultimately lead to the evolution of Section 31 artificial intelligence Control which would threaten all sentient life in the Milky Way Galaxy , Pike was left with no other option but to set the Discovery 's auto-destruct system and call the Enterprise for immediate evacuation of the ship's crew. ( DIS : " Through the Valley of Shadows ")

On stardate 1051.8, the Enterprise finally rendezvoused with the Discovery and began taking on the ship's crew. When all personnel were fully evacuated, Captain Pike ordered Discovery 's destruction. However, the Sphere intelligence utilized Discovery 's defensive systems to block the Enterprise 's torpedo volley. Unable to eliminate Discovery , the crew determined that sending the Discovery into the future was the only method to secure the Sphere data from Control.

The Enterprise and Discovery engage Section 31 vessels

With the appearance of a fifth red burst, both ships traveled to the planet Xahea , which was ultimately the position Cornwell and Pike decided to fight Leland/Control's armada. ( DIS : " Such Sweet Sorrow ")

After the decision was made to destroy Discovery to prevent its capture by Control, the ship deployed evacuation corridors to transfer its crew to Enterprise . ( DIS : " Such Sweet Sorrow ")

The Enterprise undergoes repairs in 2258

During a decisive battle with Control, the Enterprise lost a significant portion of her saucer section when an undetonated photon torpedo penetrated it and later detonated. Admiral Katrina Cornwell was killed while sacrificing herself to stop the torpedo from destroying the entire ship. As the Discovery traveled into the future, the Enterprise and a fleet of Klingon and Kelpien reinforcements provided covering fire against the attacking Section 31 drone ships and then finished them off when Georgiou neutralizing Control left the enemy ships dead in the water. Following the battle, the Enterprise underwent extensive repairs in orbit of Earth while the crew lied to Starfleet that the Discovery had been destroyed. ( DIS : " Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2 ")

Continuing mission [ ]

Following the repairs to the Enterprise , the ship resumed its mission of exploration, once again under the command of Christopher Pike. Their first stop was a shakedown run to a new moon that was discovered at Edrin II . ( DIS : " Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2 ")

The Enterprise at Kiley 279

Following the mission to Edrin II, the Enterprise returned to Earth where its crew was enjoying some much-needed downtime. In 2259 , the Enterprise was undergoing scheduled maintenance and system upgrades when April, now a fleet admiral, pulled Pike out of exile and the Enterprise out of drydock when Una Chin-Riley and the USS Archer went missing during a first contact mission to Kiley 279 . General Order 1 was violated in this mission, leading to Starfleet command to rename it the " Prime Directive ". ( SNW : " Strange New Worlds ")

On stardate 2259.42, the Enterprise left Starbase 1 to continue its third five-year mission of exploration. ( SNW : " Strange New Worlds ")

The Enterprise in the Persephone system

The Enterprise 's first stop on her mission was observing a planet in the Persephone system , at which she tried to divert a comet away but ended up getting into a fight with a species known as the " Shepherds ". ( SNW : " Children of the Comet ")

The Enterprise visited an abandoned Illyrian colony at Hetemit IX to find out what had happened to the colonists; however, an Illyrian light-based virus broke out aboard the ship, forcing the crew to shut the Enterprise down. After becoming infected, chief engineer Hemmer nearly destroyed the ship after disengaging the ship's warp core containment field. ( SNW : " Ghosts of Illyria ")

The Enterprise engaged the Gorn at Finibus III.

The Enterprise later encountered a small Gorn fleet at Finibus III , and narrowly escaped after taking major damage to her hull, torpedo bay, and structural integrity field. ( SNW : " Memento Mori ")

The ship visited Starbase 1 after the fight with the Gorn and underwent repairs. While the crew enjoyed some shore leave, Captain Pike engaged in negotiations with the R'ongovian Protectorate . ( SNW : " Spock Amok ")

The Enterprise encountered a shuttlecraft under attack by presumed pirates and assisted, delivering the inhabitants back to their planet, and later investigated what the pirates were doing when looking into the wreckage. ( SNW : " Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach ")

The Enterprise was hijacked by a group of rogue pirates after her crew was betrayed by a passenger . After tricking the pirates and taking control of one of their ships, the crew were able to reclaim the Enterprise after disabling her warp and impulse engines. ( SNW : " The Serene Squall ")

The Enterprise visited Earth Outpost Station 4 and helped the Outposts with retrofitting and supplies.

The Enterprise , along with the USS Cayuga , visited the Neutral Zone and helped with retrofitting the Earth Outpost Stations and delivering supplies. However, after witnessing an alternate timeline version of the Neutral Zone Incursion , Captain Pike became aware of James T. Kirk , recognizing that he had the potential to be a good captain for the Enterprise . Commander Chin-Riley was arrested shortly thereafter after being discovered to be an Illyrian . ( SNW : " A Quality of Mercy ")

While Captain Pike was off of the ship securing a lawyer for Chin-Riley and it was undergoing routine maintenance and inspection by Commander Pelia 's inspection team at Starbase 1 , the Enterprise received a distress call from Lieutenant La'an Noonien-Singh on Cajitar IV , a planet on the edge of Klingon space, about an "anti-Federation threat." However, Admiral April refused to allow the ship to investigate, fearing that it could reignite the Klingon War due to the Klingons currently being in control of the planet following a painstakingly-negotiated treaty. ( SNW : " The Broken Circle ")

Under Lieutenant Spock's leadership, the crew faked a potential warp core breach in order to evacuate the inspection team, steal the Enterprise and go to Noonien-Singh's aid. Although Pelia deduced their deception, she aided the crew in stealing the ship rather than stopping them and she acted as Chief Engineer. ( SNW : " The Broken Circle ")

The crew uncovered a false flag operation by the Broken Circle to reignite the Klingon war using the rebuilt NCC-1279 . The Enterprise destroyed the rogue ship and foiled the Broken Circle's plot. Afterwards, Pelia expressed an interest in sticking around as a part of the crew and April let Spock off easy, concerned about a potential upcoming war with the Gorn that Starfleet would need every good officer they had for. ( SNW : " The Broken Circle ")

The Enterprise returned to Earth for Commander Chin-Riley's court martial . After Chin-Riley was acquitted, she was allowed to return to duty aboard the ship as first officer. ( SNW : " Ad Astra per Aspera ")

The Enterprise and the Cayuga were assigned to a joint mission charting a new binary star system when the Enterprise was reassigned to investigate and correct cultural contamination on Rigel VII after depiction of a Starfleet delta was discovered in a garden . Five years after the Enterprise's disastrous mission to the planet, the ship returned to discover that " High Lord Zacarias" was actually Yeoman Zac Nguyen who was believed to have been killed in the mission five years before but had actually been left behind instead. Due to exotic radiation from the debris field around the planet, the crew lost their memories, but eventually managed to pilot the Enterprise out of it to a safe distance. Spock was subsequently able to develop a shield harmonic that protected the crew against the radiation and Pike had the ship lift an asteroid from the planet that was emitting the same radiation and keeping the Kalar from forming explicit memories and was thus stunting the growth of life on Rigel VII. Pike arrested Nguyen who was then transferred to the Cayuga to face punishment for his actions from Starfleet. ( SNW : " Among the Lotus Eaters ")

The Enterprise joined the USS Farragut in repairing a deuterium refinery that would serve as a " gas station " for Federation starships for further exploration of that region. Ensign Uhura and Lieutenant Saul Ramon of the Farragut began to experience hallucinations, and the intense brain damage this caused to Ramon caused him to sabotage the Enterprise and die in an explosion. Uhura eventually realized that the deuterium contained a living species that was trying to communicate with them. Uhura then convinced Captain Pike to destroy the refinery to save them. ( SNW : " Lost in Translation ")

Ensigns Brad Boimler and Beckett Mariner in the Enterprise 's engine room

On stardate 2291.6, the Enterprise crew encountered Ensigns Brad Boimler and Beckett Mariner from the late 24th century while they were investigating a time portal on Krulmuth-B . To return the officers to their own time, the crew discovered a hidden component from the Enterprise NX-01 built into the ship that contained horonium , the very material needed to power the time portal. ( SNW : " Those Old Scientists ")

Ambassador Dak'Rah , son of Ra'Ul , was picked up by the Enterprise from the USS Kelcie Mae on stardate 1875.4 to transport the ambassador to Starbase 12 . However, his divisive presence on the vessel resulted in his death. ( SNW : " Under the Cloak of War ")

The bridge crew dancing and singing

On stardate 2398.3, while the Enterprise was traveling in the far edges of the Alpha Quadrant , they encountered a naturally-occurring subspace fold . While conducting experiments, Ensign Uhura sent a message containing music through the fold. This caused the fold to release a quantum uncertainty field that created a musical reality aboard the ship. Crewmembers started to express themselves through uncontrollable singing, which was deemed a security threat by Lieutenant Noonien-Singh. The entire crew, singing in unison, were able to shatter the uncertainty field before an approaching Klingon force could fire upon it, with disastrous consequences. ( SNW : " Subspace Rhapsody ")

James T. Kirk's command [ ]

The Enterprise in orbit, 2267

In 2265, after nearly twenty years of service aboard the Enterprise , Captain Pike would be promoted to fleet captain and command of the Enterprise would be transferred to James Kirk. The Enterprise would also be assigned to another five-year mission of deep space exploration . The ship's primary goal during this mission was to seek out and contact alien life. Captain Kirk's standing orders also included the investigation of all quasars and quasar-like phenomena.

Beyond its primary mission, the Enterprise defended Federation territories from aggression, aided member worlds in crisis, and provided scientific expeditions and colonies in its patrol area with annual examinations and support. ( TOS : " Balance of Terror ", " The Man Trap ", " The Cloud Minders ", " Journey to Babel "); ( TOS : " The Galileo Seven ", " The Deadly Years ")

Discoveries [ ]

From 2265 to 2270, the Enterprise visited over seventy different worlds and encountered representatives of over sixty different species . More than twenty of those were first contacts with beings previously unknown to the Federation, including stellar neighbors like the First Federation and Gorn, voyagers from the Kelvan Empire in distant Andromeda , and powerful non-corporeal entities like the Thasians , Trelane , and the Organians . ( TOS : , " The Corbomite Maneuver ", " Arena ", " By Any Other Name ") Two discovered species were the first known examples of silicon-based lifeforms : the Horta and the Excalbians . ( TOS : " The Devil in the Dark ", " The Savage Curtain ", " That Which Survives ")

In the barrier void in 2265

The Enterprise was the first Federation vessel to survive an encounter with the galactic barrier . The ship's warp drive and other systems, however, were critically damaged (which later prompted the ship to be refit and repaired, changing its appearance slightly for the rest of Kirk's mission) and casualties totaled twelve crewmembers and officers . By stardate 4657.5, the Enterprise was traveling through space in a region hundreds of light years further than any Earth starship had explored. ( TOS : " Where No Man Has Gone Before ", " Return to Tomorrow ")

The reality of time travel , externally influenced, had been known for over a century , but following two accidental temporal displacements , the Enterprise became the Federation's first deliberately-controlled timeship . Observing the death-throes of Psi 2000 , the crew suffered from polywater intoxication and the Enterprise nearly lost orbit after an engine shutdown. A previously untested " cold start ", via controlled matter-antimatter implosion , saved the ship, but the high-speed escape from the planet's gravity well caused the ship to travel three days into the past. ( TOS : " The Naked Time ")

Orbiting 1960s Earth

In 2267 , while escaping the gravitational pull of a black star , the Enterprise was hurled through space and time to Earth of 1969 . The crew developed and executed a method to return to their own time, by warping around the sun 's gravity well in a slingshot maneuver . A year later, the Enterprise was ordered to repeat the recently proven slingshot effect, and returned to Earth's past on a mission of historical observation. ( TOS : " Tomorrow is Yesterday ", " Assignment: Earth ")

The space amoeba in 2268

Some missions of discovery confronted Enterprise with entities and mechanisms that threatened great swaths of Federation and neighboring space.

An ancient " planet killer ", fueled by the consumption of planets it destroyed with its antiproton weapon , approached Federation population centers in 2267. It required the combined efforts of the Enterprise and its "sister ship", USS Constellation , to destroy the invader. ( TOS : " The Doomsday Machine ")

One year later, in 2268 , a single-cell organism of colossal scale emitted negative energy , toxic to humanoid life, killing the entire Vulcan crew of the USS Intrepid . The Enterprise penetrated the cell interior and destroyed the organism before its imminent cell division threatened to overwhelm the rest of the galaxy. ( TOS : " The Immunity Syndrome ")

In around 2268, the Enterprise visited Planet 0042692 where they detected an approaching catastrophe, but couldn't intervene directly due to the Prime Directive . Ensign David Garrovick volunteered to embark upon a solo mission in the shuttle Galileo , but the Galileo ended up crashing. The Enterprise departed the planet without Garrovick after which no other Starfleet ship would visit that sector for over a hundred years and there was no record of first contact . Having survived the crash, Garrovick predicted that Starfleet would return one day and sent out a distress call . Learning about Starfleet from Garrovick, the planet's natives began calling themselves Enderprizians , named their settlement New Enda-Prize , and adopted versions of the Enterprise crew's names. ( PRO : " All the World's a Stage ")

Battles [ ]

The Enterprise fires a phaser proximity blast .

The nature of its mission of exploration meant the Enterprise was frequently the only Federation military asset in a little-known, otherwise undefended frontier. When called into harm's way, the ship regularly did so with little chance of immediate support against previously unknown enemies and threats.

Happily, the Enterprise 's earliest engagement of its five-year mission, against a deceptively powerful starship called the Fesarius , ended with an amicable first contact with the First Federation in 2266 . ( TOS : " The Corbomite Maneuver ") Following the destruction of a colony on Cestus III , a surprise attack – from a previously unknown species – led the Enterprise to battle and pursue an evenly matched Gorn starship in 2267. ( TOS : " Arena ")

The Enterprise played the fox for four of its " sister ships " in a war games problem on stardate 4729.4, as part of a series of M-5 drills . Equipped with the new M-5 multitronic unit computer and stripped of most of its crew, the Enterprise became a killing machine – crippling the USS Excalibur and killing its entire crew – before Kirk could re-assert control. ( TOS : " The Ultimate Computer ")

Klingon engagements [ ]

The Battle of Organia in 2267

Warships of the Imperial Klingon Fleet were frequent opponents of the Enterprise . Commander Kor held the Enterprise and Kirk in high professional regard, and relished the prospect of battle. Lower ranks chose to mock the starship; on one such occasion, Korax compared the vessel to a " garbage scow " before he corrected himself, adding, " It should be hauled away as garbage. " ( TOS : " Errand of Mercy ", " The Trouble with Tribbles ")

While Starfleet rallied its forces at the outbreak of a Federation-Klingon War in 2267, the Enterprise was sent forward to secure a border region anchored by the planet Organia . The vessel destroyed a Klingon ship and prepared to engage an approaching Klingon fleet , before the Organian Peace Treaty precluded a full-scale war . ( TOS : " Errand of Mercy ")

The Enterprise sporadically engaged Klingons throughout its voyage. A warship failed in an attempt to blockade the Enterprise from Capella IV in 2267. Sabotaged during a diplomatic mission to the Tellun system in 2268, the ship successfully fought off the assault of a harassing D7 . The same year, the Enterprise was forced to destroy a battle cruiser that Kang had commanded but had recently abandoned, and the rescued Klingons (influenced by the Beta XII-A entity ) subsequently made an unsuccessful attempt to wrest control of the Enterprise from Kirk. ( TOS : " Friday's Child ", " Elaan of Troyius ", " Day of the Dove ")

Romulan engagements [ ]

Ventral view of a Romulan Bird-of-Prey during the Neutral Zone Incursion of 2266

The Romulan Star Empire re-emerged from a century of isolation to antagonize the Federation with the Neutral Zone Incursion of 2266. The Enterprise responded and was victorious against a new Romulan Bird-of-Prey , which was equipped with a cloaking device and a plasma torpedo system. ( TOS : " Balance of Terror ")

In later encounters, the Romulan fleet used strength of numbers in their efforts to overwhelm the Enterprise . When Commodore Stocker took temporary command and violated the Neutral Zone in 2267, up to ten Birds-of-Prey swarmed and pummeled the starship until Kirk's " corbomite " bluff inspired their withdrawal. ( TOS : " The Deadly Years ")

In 2268, the Enterprise again violated the Neutral Zone – for the purpose of espionage – and was quickly surrounded by three Romulan D7-class battle cruisers. The Enterprise escaped by becoming the first Federation vessel to install and successfully utilize a (stolen) Romulan cloaking device. ( TOS : " The Enterprise Incident ")

Near Tau Ceti in the following year, Kirk employed the Cochrane deceleration maneuver , allowing the Enterprise to defeat a Romulan vessel . ( TOS : " Whom Gods Destroy ")

In the final year of Kirk's original mission, the ship was ambushed by a trio of Romulan battle cruisers while on a routine survey. The Enterprise managed to escape through an energy field that adversely affected the ship's main computer. The malfunctioning systems were corrected by another pass through the field, this time with the Romulan ships in pursuit. The attackers then became incapacitated by the same computer malfunctions, and the Enterprise managed to escape. ( TAS : " The Practical Joker ")

Refit of the 2270s [ ]

The Enterprise underwent another major refit into what would later be known as the Constitution II -class . The refitting took eighteen months of work, and essentially a new vessel was built onto the bones of the old, replacing virtually every major system. This ensured Enterprise's continued service for the next several years, enabling the ship to continue to serve in its prominent role.

The Enterprise in drydock, 2270s

Refits and overhauls with new technologies after long deployments were far from unusual in the ship's history. However, the Enterprise 's overhaul of the early 2270s became a nearly keel-up redesign and reconstruction project.

The very heart of the ship was replaced with a radically different vertical warp core assembly, linked to new and heavier warp engine nacelles, atop swept-back pylons and integrated with the impulse engines. The new drive system allowed for an expanded cargo hold in the secondary hull , linked to the shuttlebay . The deflector dish at the front of the main housing was replaced with an entirely new design, one where it was recessed into the housing.

Weapons system upgrades included the phaser banks having power channeled directly from the warp engines. A double photon torpedo /probe launcher was installed atop the secondary hull.

Extra egress points were added for better access/exit from the ship and now included a port -side spacedock hatch, dual ventral space walk bays, four dorsal service hatches, and a standardized docking ring port, which was aft of the bridge on the primary hull . Also included were four more docking ring ports, paired on the port and starboard sides of the launcher and secondary hulls respectively, and service hatch airlocks on the port and starboard sides of the hangar bay's main clam-shell doors. Unlike from before the refit, these new egress points were not covered by retractable hull plating.

A new bridge module reflected the modern computer systems, operating interfaces, and ergonomics that ran throughout the ship.

Following Kirk's promotion to rear admiral and posting as Chief of Starfleet Operations , his successor, Captain Will Decker (whom Kirk himself picked to succeed him), oversaw the refit, assisted by chief engineer Commander Montgomery Scott . ( Star Trek: The Motion Picture )

Following its refit, the Enterprise , in the early 2270s, went on to be critical in defending the Federation from several external threats, including V'ger and Khan Noonien Singh . ( Star Trek: The Motion Picture , Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan )

After eighteen months in drydock for refit, the Enterprise was pressed into service, weeks ahead of schedule, in response to the V'ger crisis, once again under Kirk's command.

Making contact with V'ger

Decker was temporarily demoted to commander and posted as an executive officer because of his familiarity with the new design. Incomplete systems had to be serviced during the vessel's shakedown en route to V'ger , including the first test of the new warp engines.

Shortly after launch, a matter/ antimatter intermix malfunction ruptured the warp field and led to the Enterprise entering into an unstable wormhole . Commander Decker belayed an order from Admiral Kirk to destroy an asteroid in their path, which had been dragged into the ruptured warp field along with them, with phasers. The refitted phasers now channeled power directly from the main engines at a point beyond the dilithium/magnatomic-initiator stage.

Because of this refitted function, both the intermix malfunction and the resultant antimatter imbalance within the warp nacelles caused automatic cutoff of the phasers, a design change of which Kirk had not been aware. Decker ordered the use of photon torpedoes , instead; as a backup, they had been designed to draw power from a separate system in case of a major phaser loss. Commander Spock arrived at a timely point and brought correction to the intermix problem. ( Star Trek: The Motion Picture )

Once the V'ger threat was averted, Captain Decker was listed as "missing in action", and the Enterprise remained under Admiral Kirk's command for an interim period. ( Star Trek: The Motion Picture ) At some point, Kirk passed command on to the newly promoted Captain Spock. ( Star Trek: The Motion Picture , Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan )

Khan's return [ ]

In 2285 , the Enterprise had been pulled from the front lines of Starfleet and the Federation and, near the end of its life, was relegated to a training vessel. The ship participated in a low-tempo training cycle , based in the Sol system . Admiral Kirk boarded his old command to observe a cadet training cruise.

The Enterprise , engaged with the hijacked Reliant

Meanwhile, Khan Noonien Singh had escaped from exile on Ceti Alpha V and hijacked the USS Reliant , after which he stole the Genesis Device from the Regula I space station .

The Enterprise was tasked to investigate, and Spock deferred his command to Admiral Kirk. Subsequent engagements with Reliant left the ship badly damaged, with cadet and crew deaths, including Captain Spock. ( Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan )

Final mission [ ]

The Enterprise , heavily damaged, leaving the Spacedock orbiting Earth

Upon the Enterprise returning to Earth, Starfleet Commander Fleet Admiral Morrow announced that the starship, at that point forty years old and heavily damaged, would be decommissioned. When Morrow denied Kirk requesting permission to return to the Mutara sector , Kirk conspired with his senior officers and stole the Enterprise from Spacedock One , in order to recover Spock's body from the Genesis Planet – to bring it and Spock's katra , the latter possessed by Leonard McCoy , to Mount Seleya on Vulcan . As part of the plan, Kirk had Scott rig up an automation system to run the Enterprise so easily that "a chimpanzee and two trainees " could have handled the craft.

" My God, Bones… what have I done? " – Admiral James T. Kirk

At the Enterprise 's destination, the ship was attacked by a Klingon Bird-of-Prey operated by Klingon Commander Kruge , an assault that left the Enterprise disabled; Scotty's automation system was not designed for combat and overloaded when the ship was attacked. After setting the auto-destruct sequence, Kirk and his crew abandoned the ship for the surface of the Genesis Planet. Demolition charges in place on the bridge, and elsewhere throughout the ship, exploded, killing a Klingon boarding party . The battered secondary hull (with what was left of the saucer) fell from orbit and blazingly streaked across the planet's atmosphere . ( Star Trek III: The Search for Spock )

The Enterprise burning in Genesis' atmosphere

Being forty years old at the time of its destruction, the Enterprise had surpassed its designer's original projected eighteen-year endurance by twenty-two years, when the ship was launched back in 2245. ( DIS : " Brother " graphic display ) The next USS Enterprise , a Constitution II -class heavy cruiser USS Enterprise -A , was launched a year later . ( Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home )

A hologram of the USS Enterprise in 2258 was displayed in Starfleet Headquarters in 2399

The Enterprise 's long history would be remembered for the next century. ( TNG : " The Naked Now "; DS9 : " Trials and Tribble-ations "; VOY : " Flashback ", " Q2 "; PIC : " Penance ", " Fly Me to the Moon ") Captain John Harriman of the USS Enterprise -B would learn of Kirk's missions when he was in grade school . ( Star Trek Generations )

In 2369 , when Montgomery Scott was rescued from the crash landed USS Jenolen , and his surprise that he was found by the USS Enterprise -D , Scott's immediate response was "Enterprise ? I should have known. I bet Jim Kirk himself hauled the old girl out of mothballs to come looking for me, " even though he, along with Pavel Chekov and Kirk were on the USS Enterprise -B during its maiden voyage when Kirk was presumed killed. ( TNG : " Relics "; Star Trek Generations )

In 2383 , Hologram Janeway showed the young crew of the USS Protostar an image of the Enterprise while explaining the history of the Federation and Starfleet to them. ( PRO : " Starstruck ")

In 2384 , the Protostar responded to Ensign David Garrovick 's distress call that had been sent from Planet 0042692 over a hundred years before, discovering that Starfleet had no record of the Enterprise 's mission to the planet, but learning of it from the natives, the Enderprizians . The Protostar crew made second contact and fulfilled Garrovick's promise that Starfleet would some day return to save the Enderprizians from the curse of " the Gallows ," in reality toxic runoff caused by the crashed shuttle Galileo . ( PRO : " All the World's a Stage ")

In 2399 , retired Starfleet Admiral Jean-Luc Picard observed holographic images of the original Enterprise from 2258 and the Enterprise -D in the central lobby of Starfleet Headquarters . ( PIC : " Maps and Legends ")

Kirk's use of the slingshot maneuver using the Enterprise in order to travel through time was mentioned as an example by Picard as one of the methods for travelling back through time in order to repair changes made in 2024 by Q . ( PIC : " Penance ")

Alternate timelines and realities [ ]

• In an alternate timeline shown to Commander Michael Burnham by the time crystal , Enterprise failed to destroy the USS Discovery with photon torpedoes after Discovery 's auto-destruct didn't go off. As in the current timeline, Enterprise was hit in the saucer section with an undetonated photon torpedo which presumably destroyed the ship as Control won in that timeline. Having been shown this vision moments before Enterprise 's failure to destroy Discovery , Burnham stopped the crew from even attempting to do so. Later, Admiral Katrina Cornwell sacrificed herself to save Enterprise from destruction by the torpedo which she predicted would kill at least the bridge crew if it went off and maybe everyone else on the ship. Burnham and Spock came to the conclusion that the time crystal had showed her this possible future so that she could change it. ( DIS : " Such Sweet Sorrow ", " Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2 ")

The Enterprise at Earth Outpost Station 4 in an alternate timeline

• In an alternate timeline in which Captain Christopher Pike managed to avoid his crippling fate, he was still in command of the Enterprise in 2266 during the Neutral Zone Incursion while James T. Kirk was the captain of the USS Farragut instead. In this timeline, the ship suffered heavy damage from the Romulan warbird and took on the Farragut 's survivors before Pike negotiated a cease fire between the two sides. When the Romulans showed up with a full armada in response to the perceived weakness of the Federation, the Enterprise barely escaped, taking severe damage to several more decks. The incident resulted in an endless war between the Federation and the Romulans before the Pike of this future traveled back in time and showed his past self the consequences of avoiding his fate. ( SNW : " A Quality of Mercy ")
• In an alternate timeline created by the death of Spock at the age of seven, Thelin served as the first officer and science officer of the Enterprise . Upon learning of the damaged timeline that Kirk and Spock decided to correct, Thelin was supportive. Upon hearing that, Spock wished Thelin a long and prosperous life in whatever circumstances the corrected timeline placed him in. ( TAS : " Yesteryear ")

List of first contacts [ ]

Over its forty-years of service, the Enterprise made first contact with numerous species.

Robert April's notable first contacts [ ]

• Perricans ( SNW : " Ad Astra per Aspera ")

Christopher Pike's notable first contacts [ ]

• Kalar ( TOS : " The Cage "; SNW : " Among the Lotus Eaters ")
• Talosians ( TOS : " The Cage "; DIS : " If Memory Serves ")
• Gorn ( SNW : " Memento Mori ")
• Kerkhovian ( SNW : " Charades ")
• Kiley ( SNW : " Strange New Worlds ")
• Shepherd ( SNW : " Children of the Comet ")

James T. Kirk's notable first contacts [ ]

In most cases, the date indicated is the first time open communication was initiated with at least one member of the species. Otherwise, it is the first known contact with the species.

• Balok's species ( TOS : " The Corbomite Maneuver ")
• Miri natives ( TOS : " Miri ")
• Thasians ( TOS : " Charlie X ")
• Greek gods ( TOS : " Who Mourns for Adonais? ")
• Guardian of Forever ( TOS : " The City on the Edge of Forever ") Note: While the Guardian is not necessarily a species, the Enterprise did make first contact with the Guardian of Forever
• Horta ( TOS : " The Devil in the Dark ")
• Keeper's species ( TOS : " Shore Leave ")
• Metrons ( TOS : " Arena ")
• Organians ( TOS : " Errand of Mercy ")
• Ornithoids ( TOS : " Catspaw ")
• Trelane's species ( TOS : " The Squire of Gothos ")
• Vaalians ( TOS : " The Apple ")
• 892-IV natives ( TOS : " Bread and Circuses ")
• Beta XII-A entity ( TOS : " Day of the Dove ")
• Cheron natives ( TOS : " Let That Be Your Last Battlefield ")
• Fabrini ( TOS : " For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky ")
• Gem's species ( TOS : " The Empath ")
• Gorgan ( TOS : " And the Children Shall Lead ")
• Kelvans ( TOS : " By Any Other Name ")
• Melkots ( TOS : " Spectre of the Gun ")
• Platonians ( TOS : " Plato's Stepchildren ")
• Providers ( TOS : " The Gamesters of Triskelion ")
• Arretan ( TOS : " Return to Tomorrow ")
• Scalosians ( TOS : " Wink of an Eye ")
• Sigma Draconis VI natives ( TOS : " Spock's Brain ")
• Vians ( TOS : " The Empath ")
• Aquans ( TAS : " The Ambergris Element ")
• Excalbians ( TOS : " The Savage Curtain ")
• Lactrans ( TAS : " The Eye of the Beholder ")
• Matter-energy cloud ( TAS : " One of Our Planets Is Missing ")
• Megans ( TOS : " The Magicks of Megas-Tu ")
• Phylosians ( TAS : " The Infinite Vulcan ")
• Planet 0042692 natives ( PRO : " All the World's a Stage ") Note: date approximate
• Sarpeidon natives ( TOS : " All Our Yesterdays ")
• Theela's species ( TAS : " The Lorelei Signal ")
• Zetarians ( TOS : " The Lights of Zetar ")
• Delta Theta III aborigines ( TAS : " Bem ")
• Kukulkan's species ( TAS : " How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth ")

Command crew [ ]

Robert april's command crew [ ].

• Robert April ( 2245 – 2250 )
• Christopher Pike ( 2240s –2250)
• Sarah April (2245– 2250s )
• Una Chin-Riley (2240s–2250)

Christopher Pike's command crew [ ]

The crew of the Enterprise under the command of Christopher Pike in 2258

The crew of the Enterprise under the command Christopher Pike in 2259

• Christopher Pike (2250–early 2260s )
• Katrina Cornwell ( 2258 )
• Una Chin-Riley (2250–)
• Louvier ( 2257 )
• Hemmer ( 2259 )
• Pelia (2259)
• Phil Boyce ( 2254 )
• Joseph M'Benga (2259)
• Una Chin-Riley (2250s–2259)
• Erica Ortegas (2259)
• Garison (2254)
• Nicola (2258)
• Nyota Uhura (2259)
• Christina (2259)
• Shankar (2259)
• José Tyler (2254)
• Amin (2258)
• Jenna Mitchell (2259)
• Una Chin-Riley (2259)
• Mann (2258)
• Zuniga (2259)
• Lynne Lucero (sometime after 2250)
• Evan Connolly (2257)
• Kroad (2258)
• Spock ( 2253 –2260s)
• George Samuel Kirk (2259)
• La'an Noonien-Singh (2259)

James T. Kirk's command crew [ ]

The crew of the USS Enterprise enjoy a jovial moment with Captain Kirk

The crew of the USS Enterprise in the early 2270s

The crew of the USS Enterprise in 2285

• James T. Kirk ( 2265 – 2270 , 2270s , 2285 )
• Robert April (2270)
• Will Decker (2270s)
• Spock (2285)
• Spock (2265–2270, 2270s, 2285)
• Willard Decker (2270s)
• Montgomery Scott (2265–2270s, 2285)
• Mark Piper (2265)
• Leonard McCoy ( 2266 –2270, 2270s, 2285)
• Christine Chapel (2270s)
• Gary Mitchell (2265)
• Hikaru Sulu (2266–2270s, 2285)
• Leslie (2266– 2267 )
• Hansen (2267)
• Hadley (2267– 2268 )
• DePaul (2267)
• Spinelli (2267)
• Kyle (2268)
• Rahda (2268)
• Walking Bear (2270)
• Alden (2265)
• Nyota Uhura (2266–2270s, 2285)
• John Farrell (2266)
• Palmer (2267– 2269 )
• Angela Martine (2267)
• Lisa (2269)
• M'Ress (2269–2270)
• Lee Kelso (2265)
• Dave Bailey (2266)
• Kevin Riley (2266)
• Stiles (2266)
• Hadley (2267–2269)
• DeSalle (2267)
• Osborne (2267)
• Leslie (2267)
• Painter (2267)
• Pavel Chekov (2267–2269)
• Jana Haines (2268)
• Arex (2269–2270)
• Ilia (2270s)
• DiFalco (2270s)
• Saavik (2285)
• Pitcairn (2267)
• Giotto (2267)
• Freeman (2268)
• Pavel Chekov (2270s, 2285)
• Hikaru Sulu (2266–2270)
• Pavel Chekov (2267–2270s, 2285)
• Hikaru Sulu (2265)
• Spock (2265–2270, 2270s)
• Sonak (2270s)

Complement [ ]

The number of the Enterprise 's crew complement more than doubled over the duration of its service.

In 2254 , the Enterprise had a complement of 203, this stated following the loss of three crewmembers at Rigel VII. ( TOS : " The Cage ", " The Menagerie, Part I ")

Enterprise 's file

In 2257 , scans showed the entire crew complement was also stated to be 203, yet in a display graphic specifically stated that the crew compliment was 430; 43 officers and 387 enlisted .

In 2265 , the Enterprise 's complement consisted of "almost a hundred women." ( TOS : " Where No Man Has Gone Before ")

In 2266 , Captain Ramart commented to Charlie Evans that the Enterprise was "like a whole city in space ," compared to his ship, the USS Antares , which had a relatively meager complement of twenty. Ramart further explained that there were "over 400 in the crew of a starship ," which was clarified by Kirk as actually "428, to be exact." ( TOS : " Charlie X ")

Jadzia Dax observed to Benjamin Sisko , after they transported aboard the Enterprise , that " they really packed them in on these old ships. " ( DS9 : " Trials and Tribble-ations ")

Casualties [ ]

Service aboard the Enterprise proved to be hazardous duty. Between 2265 and 2269, individuals who were killed while assigned to the ship included at least fifty-eight officers and crew. Nine crew members were killed when the Enterprise encountered the galactic barrier in 2265. Gary Mitchell , Lee Kelso , and Elizabeth Dehner later died on Delta Vega . ( TOS : " Where No Man Has Gone Before ")

Two of seven crewmembers assigned to study Murasaki 312 on the shuttlecraft Galileo – Latimer and Gaetano – both met an unfortunate end, by the hand of a large creature on the planet Taurus II . ( TOS : " The Galileo Seven ")

In 2267, Enterprise security officers Hendorff , Kaplan , Mallory , and Marple were killed on planet Gamma Trianguli VI . ( TOS : " The Apple ") Further incidents with multiple fatalities included four security guards killed by Nomad in 2267, as well as five security guards killed by a dikironium cloud creature on Argus X in 2268. ( TOS : " The Changeling ", " Obsession ") An outbreak of Rigelian fever , in 2269, killed three crewmen and imperiled the rest until a source of ryetalyn could be obtained. ( TOS : " Requiem for Methuselah ")

As well, two Enterprise security officers were beamed out into open space while the ship was under the control of Gorgan . ( TOS : " And the Children Shall Lead ") Lieutenant Galloway was vaporized by Captain Tracey on Omega IV , ( TOS : " The Omega Glory ") but later was somehow resurrected. ( TOS : " Turnabout Intruder ") Yeoman Thompson was reduced to a dry cuboctahedron solid. She was killed when the Kelvan Rojan crushed the object in his hand. ( TOS : " By Any Other Name ")

At some point after stardate 3619.2 in 2268, but before 2270 , security officer Ensign David Garrovick vanished along with the shuttlecraft Galileo from the ship. His ultimate fate on Planet 0042692 was not discovered until 2384 . ( PRO : " All the World's a Stage ")

In the mid- 2270s , Commander Sonak and an Enterprise officer were killed in a transporter accident while beaming to the ship. ( Star Trek: The Motion Picture )

Appendices [ ]

Appearances [ ].

• " The Cage "
• " Where No Man Has Gone Before "
• " The Corbomite Maneuver "
• " Mudd's Women "
• " The Enemy Within "
• " The Man Trap "
• " The Naked Time "
• " Charlie X "
• " Balance of Terror "
• " What Are Little Girls Made Of? "
• " Dagger of the Mind "
• " The Conscience of the King "
• " The Galileo Seven "
• " Court Martial "
• " The Menagerie, Part I "
• " The Menagerie, Part II "
• " Shore Leave "
• " The Squire of Gothos "
• " The Alternative Factor "
• " Tomorrow is Yesterday "
• " The Return of the Archons "
• " A Taste of Armageddon "
• " Space Seed "
• " This Side of Paradise "
• " The Devil in the Dark "
• " Errand of Mercy "
• " The City on the Edge of Forever "
• " Operation -- Annihilate! "
• " Catspaw "
• " Metamorphosis "
• " Friday's Child "
• " Who Mourns for Adonais? "
• " Amok Time "
• " The Doomsday Machine "
• " Wolf in the Fold "
• " The Changeling "
• " The Apple "
• " Mirror, Mirror "
• " The Deadly Years "
• " I, Mudd "
• " The Trouble with Tribbles "
• " Bread and Circuses "
• " Journey to Babel "
• " A Private Little War "
• " The Gamesters of Triskelion "
• " Obsession "
• " The Immunity Syndrome "
• " A Piece of the Action "
• " By Any Other Name "
• " Return to Tomorrow "
• " Patterns of Force "
• " The Ultimate Computer "
• " The Omega Glory "
• " Assignment: Earth "
• " Spectre of the Gun "
• " Elaan of Troyius "
• " The Paradise Syndrome "
• " The Enterprise Incident "
• " And the Children Shall Lead "
• " Spock's Brain "
• " Is There in Truth No Beauty? "
• " The Empath "
• " The Tholian Web "
• " For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky "
• " Day of the Dove "
• " Plato's Stepchildren "
• " Wink of an Eye "
• " That Which Survives "
• " Let That Be Your Last Battlefield "
• " Whom Gods Destroy "
• " The Mark of Gideon "
• " The Lights of Zetar "
• " The Cloud Minders "
• " The Way to Eden "
• " Requiem for Methuselah "
• " The Savage Curtain "
• " All Our Yesterdays "
• " Turnabout Intruder "
• " Beyond the Farthest Star "
• " Yesteryear "
• " One of Our Planets Is Missing "
• " The Lorelei Signal "
• " More Tribbles, More Troubles "
• " The Survivor "
• " The Infinite Vulcan "
• " The Magicks of Megas-Tu "
• " Once Upon a Planet "
• " Mudd's Passion "
• " The Terratin Incident "
• " The Time Trap "
• " The Ambergris Element "
• " The Eye of the Beholder "
• " The Jihad "
• " The Pirates of Orion "
• " The Practical Joker "
• " Albatross "
• " How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth "
• " The Counter-Clock Incident "
• Star Trek: The Motion Picture
• Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
• Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
• Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (recording only)
• " The Naked Now " (exterior shown on bridge readout –Blu-ray version)
• " Datalore " (exterior shown on readout in Data's quarters – Blu-ray version)
• " Relics " (bridge shown on holodeck)
• " Trials and Tribble-ations "
• " What You Leave Behind " (corridor shown in montage)
• ENT : " These Are the Voyages... " (closing montage)
• " Will You Take My Hand? "
• " Brother "
• " If Memory Serves " (archive footage)
• " Such Sweet Sorrow "
• " Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2 "
• " Q&A "
• " Ask Not "
• " Ephraim and Dot "
• PIC : " Maps and Legends " (hologram)
• PRO : " Starstruck " (digital image)
• " Strange New Worlds "
• " Children of the Comet "
• " Ghosts of Illyria "
• " Memento Mori "
• " Spock Amok "
• " Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach "
• " The Serene Squall "
• " The Elysian Kingdom "
• " All Those Who Wander "
• " A Quality of Mercy "
• " The Broken Circle "
• " Ad Astra per Aspera "
• " Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow "
• " Among the Lotus Eaters "
• " Charades "
• " Lost in Translation "
• " Those Old Scientists "
• " Under the Cloak of War "
• " Subspace Rhapsody "
• " Hegemony "
• " Skin a Cat "
• " Holiday Party "
• " Walk, Don't Run "

Background information [ ]

The CG Enterprise from the "remastered" opening credits

The Enterprise on a painting aboard the Enterprise -D

The Enterprise and its interiors in The Original Series were designed primarily by Matt Jefferies . A three-foot demonstration model was completed in November 1964 by the Howard Anderson Company to show to Gene Roddenberry . After getting his approval, an eleven-foot model was then constructed by Richard C. Datin, Jr. , Mel Keys , and Vern Sion at Volmer Jensen 's model shop, and was finished in December 1964 . The eleven-foot model was modified for " Where No Man Has Gone Before " and again for the regular series effect shots. Re-used footage of all three stages of the eleven-foot model's appearance are shown mixed together in TOS.

In the final draft script of " The Naked Time ", the Enterprise was somewhat poetically described thus; " Sleek… efficient… the look of man in space… tooled… equipped… "

For Star Trek: The Animated Series , the color of the Enterprise was limited. D.C. Fontana commented, " For the purposes of animation you can't do the light white, silver kinds of colors. So they made the Enterprise gray and it came off all right. " ( Star Trek: The Magazine  Volume 1, Issue 16 , p. 68)

Some distinctive effects shots of the Enterprise from TOS were recreated in animation for Star Trek: The Animated Series . Depicting the ship performing any new, impressive maneuvers would have been too costly for TAS and would have taken the animators too long to show, despite frequent TAS Director Hal Sutherland later implying that a desire to portray the ship doing " barrel rolls and that kind of thing" was quite common. ( Star Trek: The Magazine  Volume 1, Issue 16 , pp. 63 & 64)

The 2270s configuration of the Enterprise depicted in the films Star Trek: The Motion Picture , Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan , and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock was designed by Richard Taylor and Andrew Probert , based on designs for the vessel made by Matt Jefferies for the undeveloped television series Star Trek: Phase II . The design for the movie version was the basis of a design patent issued by the US Patent and Trademark Office.

The Enterprise was to have appeared in Star Trek: The First Adventure , which would have revealed that the design of the ship in TOS was actually a refit; the original design resembled Enterprise NX-01 , though that vessel was created years earlier. When Star Trek: Discovery season 1's finale aired, this idea was continued, as when the Enterprise showed up at the end, it had elements of the NX-01 incorporated into the new model.

The Enterprise was recreated as a new physical model for the DS9 Season 5 episode " Trials and Tribble-ations ". The ship's interior was represented with sets built on Paramount Stage 11 . ( Information from Larry Nemecek ) The CG model of Constitution -class USS Defiant , created for " In a Mirror, Darkly ", was relabeled as the Enterprise for the final scene of " These Are the Voyages... ", the last episode of Star Trek: Enterprise .

A new CG model, built from caliper measurements of the original eleven-foot physical model, was created for use in the remastered and recreated version of The Original Series (for more detailed treatises on the studio models used, see Constitution -class model (original) .

Visual effects artist Gabriel Koerner created a re-imagined version of the pre-refit Enterprise from the movies. The design is more contemporary, while keeping the design of The Original Series version of the ship. A video showing the ship from various angles can be seen on YouTube. The model was also featured as the August image for the 2007 Ships of the Line calendar , as well as in the Ships of the Line coffee-table book, placed between TOS and TMP images, which included text from Michael Okuda suggesting it as one of the ideas on how to refit the ship.

The Enterprise was pictured on three paintings during the Star Trek franchise: on a painting in the recreation deck of the 2270s configuration of the vessel, in Star Trek: The Motion Picture ; on a painting in the waiting area of the sickbay aboard the USS Enterprise -D , in the Star Trek: The Next Generation fifth season episode " Ethics "; and on a painting on the wall of Kirk's kitchen in the Nexus , in Star Trek Generations .

Upon preparing to view the bridge of the Enterprise in the first draft script of TNG : " Relics ", Montgomery Scott specified, " Show her the way she was before stardate 5928, " referencing the stardate on which TOS series finale " Turnabout Intruder " takes place. Consequently, this line of dialogue would have established that the holographic simulation of the Enterprise 's bridge in "Relics" was definitely contemporaneous with the exact setting of TOS. Scott did not specify that in the final draft of the script, however. [4] The line is also not spoken on screen.

The Enterprise was to have been referenced in the first draft script of VOY : " Flashback ", in connection with its near-destruction at Eminiar VII . However, all mention of the vessel was eliminated from the episode by the time the final draft of the script was written.

A new CGI model was created for the appearance of the USS Enterprise in the Season 1 finale of Star Trek: Discovery , " Will You Take My Hand? ". This model updated the appearance of the USS Enterprise to better match the style of other Starfleet ships depicted in the show, most noticeably changing the Enterprise 's nacelles to have visible, glowing blue cutouts on the inner surface. The impulse engine was also different, and the nacelle pylons were swept back with openings in their centers similar to the 2270s configuration . The new model also had a longer "runway" before the shuttlebay doors.

External links [ ]

• USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) at StarTrek.com
• USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) at Wikipedia
• USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) at the Star Trek Online Wiki
• 3 ISS Enterprise (NCC-1701)

Screen Rant

5 ways star trek: discovery’s mirror enterprise is different from uss enterprise.

The ISS Enterprise made a surprising return in Star Trek: Discovery, but what makes the Mirror Universe's starship different from the USS Enterprise?

WARNING: Contains SPOILERS for Star Trek: Discovery, season 5, episode 5, "Mirrors"

• ISS Enterprise from Mirror Universe makes a surprising return in Star Trek: Discovery, revealing its history and role as a refugee ship.
• Star Trek: Discovery used sets from Star Trek: Strange New Worlds to recreate the ISS Enterprise, showcasing its damaged state.
• The ISS Enterprise survived until the 32nd century, becoming a beacon of hope like the USS Enterprise in both the Prime and Mirror Universes.

The Mirror Universe ISS Enterprise made a surprising return in Star Trek: Discovery , and the starship differs from the USS Enterprise of Star Trek 's Prime Timeline in several ways. Previously, the ISS Enterprise made its first and only appearance in the classic Star Trek: The Original Series episode, "Mirror, Mirror," which saw Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and some of his crew members travel to the Mirror Universe. The ISS Enterprise was the Mirror Universe's doppelganger of the Constitution Class USS Enterprise, and Star Trek: The Original Series simply redressed the Enterprise's sets to evoke the darker alternate reality.

In Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 5 , "Mirrors," Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and the USS Discovery continue their search for the powerful technology of the Progenitors. Their next clue leads them into a strange wormhole, where they encounter the ISS Enterprise in a pocket of interdimensional space. As Burnham and Cleveland Booker (David Ajala) face off against determined couriers Moll (Eve Harlow) and L'ak (Elias Toufexis), they uncover more about the history of the ISS Enterprise. Directed by Jen McGowan and written by Johanna Lee and Carlos Cisco, "Mirrors" reveals several differences between the USS Enterprise and her Mirror Universe counterpart.

Kirk’s Starship Enterprise Returns In Star Trek: Discovery - With A Big Twist

5 the iss enterprise used star trek: strange new worlds' sets, captain pike's enterprise sets were redressed to be its mirror universe counterpart..

To bring the ISS Enterprise to life, Star Trek: Discovery made use of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' USS Enterprise sets. With different lighting, significant damage, and some logos for the Terran Empire, Captain Christopher Pike's (Anson Mount) Enterprise became the ISS Enterprise first seen in Star Trek: The Original Series' "Mirror, Mirror." Discovery season 5 was filmed in late 2022 during the gap between filming for Strange New Worlds seasons 2 and 3, and they made great use of the bridge, sickbay, transporter room, and hallway sets.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has also filmed on Star Trek: Discovery sets, such as turning Federatiion headquarters into the chambers for Number One's (Rebecca Romijn) trial in Strange New Worlds season 2, episode 2, "Ad Astra Per Aspera."

Throughout Star Trek's long history , the franchise has found different ways to depict old ships and other settings. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's "Trials and Tribble-ations," for example, used footage from the classic TOS episode "The Trouble With Tribbles" combined with new footage of DS9's cast. While parts of the original Enterprise bridge set were recreated for "Trials and Tribble-ations," a full bridge set of a Constitution Class starship was not recreated until the two-part Mirror Universe episode of Star Trek: Enterprise , "In a Mirror, Darkly."

Star Trek: Picard season 3 also completely rebuilt a starship bridge set, this time the bridge of the USS Enterprise-D from Star Trek: The Next Generation.

4 The Plaque On The ISS Enterprise Differs From The USS Enterprise

The passengers on the iss enterprise left a plaque telling their story..

As Captain Burnham and Booker explore the ISS Enterprise, they find a plaque on the wall that details some of the derelict starship's history. While almost every version of the Enterprise has had a plaque of some kind, they have never given a description of the ship's history in this way. Star Trek 's starship plaques are often in the background and thus hard to decipher. They typically give the name of the ship, the date and location where the ship was built, and sometimes a list of names of real-life production people who built the sets.

The plaque on the ISS Enterprise reveals that Mirror Universe Spock made significant reforms in the Terran Empire, but was killed by those who disagreed with him. However, those who believed in his ideals stole the ISS Enterprise and found a way to the Prime Universe, with help from Mirror Universe Saru (Doug Jones) - turns out he's "Action Saru in any universe." The crew and refugees aboard this ship likely left the plaque as a way to share the ship's story with whoever happened to find her.

3 Refugees Used The ISS Enterprise To Flee The Mirror Universe

The iss enterprise became a lifeboat for refugees seeking a better life..

After Spock's reforms changed the way the Terran Empire was run, the Empire was not as well equipped to defend itself from the Klingon/Cardassian Alliance. This Alliance eventually conquered the Empire, forcing the Terrans and Vulcans into slavery, and violently quashing any attempts at rebellion. Some rebels, however, managed to successfully stand against the Empire, at least long enough to gather a ship full of refugees and escape to the Prime Universe.

The Mirror Universe's Spock (Leonard Nimoy) became the High Chancellor who reformed the Terran Empire but was later assasinated.

While the crew of the original USS Enterprise often helped refugees and others in need, this was not the ship's main purpose. The ISS Enterprise was originally a warship used by the Terran Empire, before its crew mutinied and fled the brutal Mirror Universe. For this undoubtedly dangerous journey, the ISS Enterprise became a refugee ship, giving those who had believed in Spock's reforms the chance for a new life in a brighter universe.

What Happened To Mirror Universe Captain Kirk In Star Trek?

2 the iss enterprise survived until the 32nd century, no other enterprise has survived as long as the iss enterprise..

After the ISS Enterprise traveled to the Prime Universe, it ended up inside interdimensional space, where it remained undetected for centuries. Although the ship had sustained significant damage, it was salvageable and able to be sent back to Starfleet after Captain Burnham and Book used it to escape through the wormhole. While the technology on the ISS Enterprise is very outdated, the Federation will likely be interested in a 23rd-century starship from the Mirror Universe, particularly one as important as the Enterprise.

By the 32nd century, travel between the Mirror Universe and the Prime Universe had already "been impossible for centuries," according to Captain Burnham.

As Star Trek has a habit of destroying the Starship Enterprise , the ISS Enterprise is likely the longest-surviving ship of that name . The original USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), as commanded by Captain Pike and Captain Kirk, was destroyed in 2285 when Kirk was forced to initiate self-destruct to thwart a Klingon boarding party in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock . Several different ships have taken the name Enterprise over the years, but none have survived for as long as the ISS Enterprise.

1 One Surprising Thing The Mirror Universe Ship & USS Enterprise Have In Common

The starship enterprise is a beacon of hope in every universe..

The Mirror Universe's ISS Enterprise may have several noticeable differences from its Prime Universe counterpart, but both ships became a beacon of hope for the people aboard. Throughout the journeys of Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds , the USS Enterprise has come to represent hope for numerous peoples and civilizations all over the galaxy. Countless lives would have been lost (and the galaxy destroyed multiple times over) if not for ships named Enterprise . While the ISS Enterprise caused a lot of harm during its time as a Terran warship, in the end, it became a lifeboat for the people who wanted to leave the Mirror Universe.

Star Trek: Discovery has proven that, no matter the universe, the Starship Enterprise remains a beacon of hope and a spark of light in the darkness.

Wanting to escape the violence and darkness of their own universe, the refugees risked their lives for a chance at peace and freedom. When Captain Kirk and his crew first visited the ISS Enterprise, most of its crew members were just as ruthless as every other Terran. But Kirk took a chance on Mirror Universe Spock, and while Spock's reforms ultimately failed, he inspired some Terrans to seek out a better life. If nothing else, Star Trek: Discovery has proven that, no matter the universe, the Starship Enterprise remains a beacon of hope and a spark of light in the darkness.

New episodes of Star Trek: Discovery stream Thursdays on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Discovery