“Everyone agreed that the various Trek television series and films have also made an indelible, direct impact on NASA. In fact, many NASA scientists, engineers and astronauts cite Star Trek as inspiring them to pursue careers in their fields. “ • Star Trek.com

Born In Burbank

“FLASHBACK FRIDAY: Burbank, Birthplace of the Starship Enterprise”*

“I consider it the ultimate TREK TRIVIA. You know its designation  NCC-1701, you have a set of the technical drawings, you have a model hanging from your ceiling, (or in the garage where the wife lets you hang it) and you have the entire Bridge committed to memory, BUT do you know where the very first Enterprise was Built?? Drum Roll!

Why in Burbank of Course! Right next to the Providencia Motel just below San Fernando Rd.” • Burbankia Mike – Myburbank.com

Creating A Future Planetary Phenomena

"Once the series had been picked up by NBC, the production moved to what was then Desilu Productions' Gower Street location. It had previously been the main studio complex used by RKO Pictures, and is now part of the Paramount Pictures lot. The series used what are now stages 31 and 32. The show's production staff included art director Matt Jefferies, who designed the starship Enterprise and most of its interiors. His contributions to the series were honored in the name of the "Jefferies tube", an equipment shaft depicted in various Star Trek series. In addition to working with his brother, John Jefferies, to create the hand-held phaser weapons of Star Trek, Jefferies also developed the set design for the bridge of the Enterprise (which was based on an earlier design by Pato Guzman). Jefferies used his practical experience as an airman during World War II and his knowledge of aircraft design to devise a sleek, functional, and ergonomic bridge layout.” • Wikipedia

Boldly Creating New Designs

“The costume designer for Star Trek, Bill Theiss, created the striking look of the Starfleet uniforms for the Enterprise, the costumes for female guest stars, and for various aliens, including the Klingons, Vulcans, Romulans, Tellarites, Andorians, and Gideonites, among others.

Artist and sculptor Wah Chang, who had worked for Walt Disney Productions, was hired to design and manufacture props: he created the flip-open communicator, often credited as having influenced the configuration of the portable version of the cellular telephone. Chang also designed the portable sensing-recording-computing "tricorder" device, and various fictitious devices for the starship's engineering crew and its sick bay. As the series progressed, he helped to create various memorable aliens, such as the Gorn and the Horta." • Wikipedia

Protesting Students March To Burbank To Save Star Trek

“The enthusiasm of Star Trek's viewers surprised NBC. The network had already received 29,000 fan letters for the show during its first season, more than for any other except The Monkees. When rumors spread in late 1967 that Star Trek was at risk of cancellation, Roddenberry secretly began and funded an effort by Bjo Trimble, her husband John, and other fans to persuade tens of thousands of viewers to write letters of support to save the program. Using the 4,000 names on a mailing list for a science-fiction convention, the Trimbles asked fans to write to NBC and ask 10 others to also do so. NBC received almost 116,000 letters for the show between December 1967 and March 1968, including more than 52,000 in February alone; according to an NBC executive, the network received more than one million pieces of mail but only disclosed the 116,000 figure. Newspaper columnists encouraged readers to write letters to help save what one called "the best science-fiction show on the air".

More than 200 Caltech students marched to NBC's Burbank, California studio to support Star Trek in January 1968, carrying signs such as "Draft Spock" and "Vulcan Power". Berkeley and MIT students organized similar protests in San Francisco and New York City." • Wikipedia

Taking A Warped Ride: Trekking Beyond Light

“Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before.” • Gene Roddenberry

“Fifty-one years ago this month, Star Trek: The Original Series beamed into American TV sets for the first time, igniting the imaginations of millions. Through warp drives and transporters, androids and alien negotiations, the epic sci-fi saga ended up inspiring an entire generation of young scientists and inventors to conceptualize its imagined future — and, in many cases, create and explore the technological possibilities its writers and science advisors suggested.” • Casey Halter – SYFY WIRE – Sep 21, 2017