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by Glen E. Swanson.
Hardback (6.3×9.3 inches). 288 pages. 2025.
Subtitle: How NASA, the Smithsonian, and the Aerospace Community Helped Launch Star Trek
What an interesting delve into Gene Roddenberry’s efforts to bring the 1960s scientific community into supporting Star Trek. He enlisted the aid of Kellam DeForest’s DeForest Research Service to fact check the scientific basis of each show. Not every fact checked out, but so many did that Star Trek received a reputation for putting the science back into science fiction.
In any case, the tendrils of at least a coating of science followed the series into the aerospace industry, not to mention bringing TV celebrities to otherwise usual events. For example, Leonard Nimoy was invited to tour NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and was a speaker at the annual dinner (p122-123).
The Smithsonian became involved when it launched a Life in the Universe? exhibit in the mid-1970s at the new Air & Space Museum. It requested and received the original 11-foot long starship Enterprise model from Paramount.
The AMT plastic model kit sold over 1 million copies in its first year of release in 1967-1968 (p61). Nowadays, Round 2 LLC sells a version ($50.00) of the original starship as well as other kits.
Also of note is the Starfleet Technical Manual, a series of blueprints of spaceships from the imagination and technical drawing brilliance of Franz Joseph Schnaubelt. Cleverly, he never mentioned Star Trek and his contracts with Ballentine specifically banned the term (p144). Thus, Paramount had no legal claim to the ship blueprints, which helped Stephen V. Cole with the artwork for the wargame Star Fleet Battles (p145). The Starfleet Technical Manual was a best seller for several weeks and Star Fleet Battles remains in play today.
One typo: “Wehrner von Braun” (p131) should be “Wernher.”
Of an odd note, Kellam DeForest was the son of landscape architects Elizabeth Kellam and Lockwood DeForest jr. – Who is this guy named after? Of course, the actor Gary Lockwood is also mentioned.
The book contains 106 black and white photos and 78 color photos.
Star Trek remains a cultural classic, including its many spin-offs and movie reboots. Here’s a fascinating look at the influences of science organizations on Star Trek.
Enjoyed it.
— Reviewed by Russ Lockwood
