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Definition of trek

 (Entry 1 of 2)

intransitive verb

Definition of trek  (Entry 2 of 2)

• peregrinate
• peregrination

Examples of trek in a Sentence

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'trek.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Afrikaans, from Dutch trecken to pull, haul, migrate; akin to Old High German trechan to pull

Afrikaans, from Dutch treck pull, haul, from trecken

1835, in the meaning defined at sense 2

1849, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Dictionary Entries Near trek

Treitz's muscle

Cite this Entry

“Trek.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/trek. Accessed 18 Sep. 2024.

Kids Definition

Kids definition of trek.

Kids Definition of trek  (Entry 2 of 2)

from Afrikaans trek, "to travel by ox wagon," from Dutch trecken "to haul, pull"

More from Merriam-Webster on trek

Nglish: Translation of trek for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of trek for Arabic Speakers

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Meaning of trek in English

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• walk The baby has just learned to walk.
• stride She strode purposefully up to the desk and demanded to speak to the manager.
• march He marched right in to the office and demanded to see the governor.
• stroll We strolled along the beach.
• wander She wandered from room to room, not sure of what she was looking for.
• amble She ambled down the street, looking in shop windows.
• backpacking
• bushwalking
• footslogging
• hoof it idiom
• ultra-distance

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trek | Intermediate English

Examples of trek, translations of trek.

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leave no stone unturned

to do everything you can to achieve a good result, especially when looking for something

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verb (used without object)

He managed to escape from a Siberian labor camp and trekked to Iran, a three-year journey.

He's trekked through the Himalayas and summited Mt. Kilimanjaro.

We trekked back to our hotel in the pouring rain.

• South Africa. to travel by ox wagon.

verb (used with object)

• South Africa. (of a draft animal) to draw (a vehicle or load).
• a slow or difficult journey, hike, or trip.
• a migration or expedition, especially by ox wagon.
• a stage of such a journey, between one stopping place and the next.
• a long and often difficult journey
• a journey or stage of a journey, esp a migration by ox wagon
• intr to make a trek
• tr (of an ox, etc) to draw (a load)

Derived Forms

• ˈtrekker , noun

Other Words From

• un·trekked adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of trek 1

Example Sentences

Writer Leath Tonino devised a 200-mile solo desert trek, following the path of the legendary cartographer who literally put these contentious canyons on the map.

So, we just made the decision to continue on with the trek, but to do it as conscientiously and as low-impact as possible.

He says that the team was able to show microbes would be able to survive the trek from Mars to Earth without shielding from the dangers of space if they clump together.

During their latest trek they checked these survey stakes and determined the speed with which the ice masses creep.

Until now, measuring these effects has required arduous treks through trackless swamps.

During his trek, Brinsley twice passed within a block of a police stationhouse and he almost certainly saw cops along the way.

The audience--tout Hollywood--stands to cheer his slow and painful trek from the wings to the table.

Overall, few travelers have made the trek into the desert of Sudan to see these architectural wonders.

In fact, some feminist critics have pointed to a long history of objectification in Star Trek.

Horst Ulrich, a 72-year-old German on a trek with a group of friends, watched four Nepali guides swept away by an avalanche.

If his partner's impedimentia was not too bulky, the ancient model was ready for another trek to the hills.

The mountaineers, indeed, suffered less than the townsfolk as being more accustomed than they to conditions of trek and battle.

The cool morning air made it bearable for man and beast to trek.

By the third day of their trek southward along the Great River, the soles of Redbird's moccasins had worn through.

Once more was there a cracking of whips, and the oxen, straightening out along the trek-touw (Note 3), moved reluctantly on.

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Definition of trek noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

• They reached the refugee camp after an arduous two-day trek across the mountains.
• on a/​the trek

Questions about grammar and vocabulary?

Find the answers with Practical English Usage online, your indispensable guide to problems in English.

• It's a long trek into town.

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Star Trek, explained for non-Trekkies

Celebrate the legendary sci-fi series’ 50th anniversary with these 25 essential episodes.

by Caroline Siede

There are few pop culture franchises more intimidating to the uninitiated than Star Trek. While “Beam me up, Scotty” and the Vulcan hand salute have worked their way into the mainstream lexicon, it can feel virtually impossible to find a way into the expansive franchise, which spans five live-action TV shows, one lesser-known animated series, and 13 feature films, including the three rebooted films starring Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto .

It’s a lot to wrap your head around in writing, much less onscreen. So just in time for the TV show’s 50th anniversary, we’ve rounded up 25 possible entry points to help Star Trek newbies boldly go where many have gone before.

These aren’t necessarily the 25 best Star Trek episodes (although some definitely qualify), but they demonstrate the depth and breadth of what the iconic franchise has to offer. And, most importantly, they should play well for complete novices.

A quick overview of Star Trek ’s 50-year journey through space

Dreamed up by writer and former Air Force pilot Gene Roddenberry , Star Trek began life as a humanistic science fiction TV show on September 8, 1966. Though The Original Series , as it was later dubbed, was canceled after only three seasons, it would turn out to have unprecedented cultural influence.

Thanks to Star Trek ’s success in syndication during the 1970s, the original cast reunited for six feature films. The success of that film franchise then inspired four spinoff TV shows in the ’80s, ’90s, and early 2000s. The Next Generation , Deep Space Nine , Voyager , and Enterprise each focus on a new captain and his or her loyal crew. Four movies starring The Next Generation cast round out the Star Trek canon.

Except for the recent Pine/Quinto films, which establish an alternate timeline, all of this Star Trek material is set in the same universe. That means the more you watch, the more you’ll come to understand Star Trek . But each of the TV shows and movies are (mostly) designed to function independently as well. So each one can serve as a potential entry point to the larger franchise.

Star Trek: The Original Series

The basics: Ran for three seasons (79 episodes) from 1966 to 1969

Nickname: TOS

The premise: A five-year mission of space exploration in the 23rd century

The first Star Trek series is still the most iconic in the eyes of many fans, and its characters will be familiar to anyone who has seen the rebooted Trek films. With roguish Captain James T. Kirk ( William Shatner ) in command, the crew of the starship Enterprise completes a five-year mission of scientific exploration and intergalactic diplomacy. They operate as part of a pseudo-militaristic organization called Starfleet, which itself is part of a larger diplomatic organization called the United Federation of Planets (or just “the Federation”).

The Original Series establishes the two most crucial elements of the Star Trek ethos: The show is set in a utopian future in which divides based on race, gender, and nationality are a thing of the past (reflected in the unprecedented diversity of the main cast), and it uses the lens of alien cultures to comment on contemporary issues. So while humanity may have ended bigotry, the half-black, half-white aliens of the planet Cheron are still torn apart by prejudice. That allows Star Trek to both imagine a better world and comment on the harsher realities of our real one.

Though the rubber alien suits, foam rocks, and slower pacing can feel dated to modern eyes, there’s still a remarkable relevance to the boundary-pushing Original Series. (The show broadcast one of the first interracial kisses on TV .)

Best for: Those who want to watch the most iconic aspects of Star Trek; fans of older TV shows; those who enjoy the characters from the rebooted films

Recommended viewing order: There’s no serialization, so you can either start from the beginning or hop around to episodes that interest you. The first two seasons are the strongest, while the third — which Roddenberry was less involved in — features a significant drop in quality.

“The Devil in the Dark” (season one, episode 25)

Star Trek could occasionally overreach in its attempts at direct political allegories, and the show was often stronger when it dealt with broader themes of tolerance instead. In this episode, the Enterprise is called to help a mining colony deal with a subterranean monster threatening its operation. But during their investigation, Kirk and his crew begin to realize the creature might not be quite as monstrous as it appears.

“The City on the Edge of Forever” (season one, episode 28)

Widely considered the best episode of The Original Series and one of the best Star Trek episodes of all time, “The City on the Edge of Forever” combines sci-fi concepts, fish-out-of-water comedy, and human drama in a standout hour of television. When Kirk, Spock ( Leonard Nimoy ), and Dr. Leonard McCoy ( DeForest Kelley ‎) pass through a mysterious “doorway to the past,” they wind up stranded in 1930s New York City. Desperate to fix a broken timeline, they must decide what they’re willing to sacrifice in order to return the universe to its proper order.

“Journey to Babel” (season two, episode 10)

Vulcan First Officer Spock remains one of Star Trek ’s most iconic characters thanks in no small part to Nimoy’s pitch-perfect performance as a logical alien devoid of emotion. Spock also established an archetype Star Trek would return to in all of its future franchises: the outsider struggling with identity. “Journey To Babel” puts Spock front and center as he receives a visit from his Vulcan father and human mother. Though the episode perhaps bites off more than it can chew — there’s also a subplot about a Federation peace conference — that makes it a good example of the breadth TOS has to offer.

“The Trouble With Tribbles” (season two, episode 15)

While Star Trek was never intentionally campy in the vein of Adam West’s Batman, it could still be a profoundly silly show. And “The Trouble With Tribbles” stands as one of the most successful comedic entries in Star Trek history. A tense standoff with the Klingons — a warlike enemy of the Federation — gives way to an even bigger crisis when the Enterprise is overrun by adorable fuzzy creatures known as tribbles.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

The general rule of thumb for the six Original Series movies is that the odd-numbered ones are bad while the even-numbered ones are good. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (in which the crew travels back in time to the 1980s to save a couple of whales) is the most purely enjoyable film, while Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country is a fitting sendoff for the original crew.

But The Wrath Of Khan remains the cinematic jewel in Star Trek ’s crown. Returning to a thread from a TOS episode called “Space Seed,“ Kirk reencounters a group of super soldiers from his past. Fans of Star Trek Into Darkness will discover plenty of familiar building blocks assembled in an even more engaging manner.

Star Trek: The Next Generation

The basics: Ran for seven seasons (178 episodes) from 1987 to 1994

Nickname: TNG or “ Next Gen ”

The set up: A continuing mission of space exploration in the 24th century

To open up new storytelling possibilities, the first Star Trek spinoff series takes place a century after Kirk’s original five-year mission. Onboard an updated version of the USS Enterprise , Captain Jean-Luc Picard ( Patrick Stewart ) commands a brand new crew on an ongoing mission of exploration. With a more intellectual captain at its helm, The Next Generation added even more philosophical depth and cerebral storytelling to the original Star Trek model. Together, The Original Series and TNG stand as the two pillars of Star Trek and the series Trek fans are most likely to be familiar with.

Best for: Fans of smart sci-fi with a healthy dose of allegory; those who want to see the most iconic aspects of Star Trek

Recommended viewing order: The first season is virtually unwatchable, while the second is fairly uneven as well. To get the best of what TNG has to offer, watch the odd but intriguing pilot “Encounter at Farpoint,” the great second season episodes “The Measure of a Man” and “Q Who,” and then start with the show’s third season. There’s very little serialization, so it’s easy to jump around to whatever episodes intrigue you.

(Note: Star Trek: First Contact is the TNG feature film most worth seeking out. Generations and Insurrection are uneven but have their moments. And Nemesis is best left unseen.)

“The Measure of a Man” (season two, episode nine)

Building on the outsider archetype established by Spock, Data ( Brent Spiner ) is an android who lives and works among the Enterprise crew. But when a cyberneticist expert requests permission to deconstruct and study his positronic brain, Data’s right to exist is put on trial. “ The Measure of A Man” is a tense courtroom drama that raises questions about the very nature of humanity. Plus, it’s an early example of the Shakespearean gravitas Patrick Stewart regularly brought to TNG.

“The Hunted” (season three, episode 11)

This isn’t necessarily an iconic episode , but it’s a solid example of a TNG allegorical outing. Charged with investigating a planet requesting entry to the Federation, Picard and his crew cross paths with a highly trained escaped prisoner. The episode functions as a broad commentary on PTSD and veteran care while highlighting the thoughtful way in which the crew deals with the political problems of other cultures.

“Clues” (season four, episode 14)

Proof that not every episode of Star Trek strives for philosophical depth, “Clues” is a purely enjoyable sci-fi mystery episode that utilizes the entire TNG ensemble. While investigating a mysterious isolated planet, the crew is knocked unconscious for only a few seconds. But as they start to notice oddities around them, they begin to wonder if something more insidious is at work.

“Darmok” (season five, episode two)

One of the most celebrated episodes of TNG explores the role language and culture play in diplomacy. While struggling to make first contact with a new alien species, Picard is transported to a deserted planet alongside the alien captain. To survive, the two must work together despite barely being able to communicate. “Darmok” is a powerful example of TNG ’s ability to use sci-fi trappings to tell humanistic stories.

“Parallels” (season seven, episode 11)

After returning from a trip, Klingon chief of security Worf ( Michael Dorn ) begins to notice strange inconsistencies around him. It soon becomes clear that he’s leaping through alternate versions of his life, and to return things to normal, he must enlist the help of his crewmates — despite the fact that his relationship with them keeps shifting. Like “Clues,” this is an enjoyable mystery, but it also showcases TNG ’s ability to blend conceptual sci-fi storytelling with thoughtful character drama.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

The basics: Ran for seven seasons (176 episodes) from 1993 to 1999

Nickname: DS9

The set up: A space station on the edge of civilization in the 24th century

Rather than take place on a traveling ship, the next Star Trek spinoff series is set on a space station called Deep Space Nine, a stationary hub located on the edge of Federation space. Pragmatic Commander Benjamin Sisko ( Avery Brooks ) — the first black lead of a Star Trek series — quickly learns to bend Starfleet code in order to keep his ragtag station running, all while raising his son Jake ( Cirroc Lofton ).

With its racially diverse cast, strong female characters, and serialized storytelling, Deep Space Nine pushed Star Trek to greater heights than ever before. For viewers who prefer the feel and pace of contemporary genre TV, it’s by far the best Star Trek series to start with.

Best for: Fans of darker sci-fi, complicated politics, and serialized storytelling; anyone hesitant about getting into Star Trek

Recommended viewing order: Deep Space Nine is the most consistent Star Trek series, and it benefits greatly from being watched in its entirety. While the first two seasons are somewhat uneven, they help establish the show’s characters and conflicts. The show starts to find its feet in the third season, and kicks into high gear with the start of the Dominion War arc at the end of season five, at which point DS9 becomes more heavily serialized.

“Emissary” (season one, episode one)

Star Trek isn’t known for strong pilots, but “Emissary” introduces the world of DS9 with remarkable finesse. As the only Trek series set in a static location, DS9 could tell ongoing stories about war, politics, and religion without feeling the need to wrap things up at the end of each episode. “Emissary” establishes many threads the show would follow for years to come, including the political struggles of the newly liberated planet Bajor, the emergence of an intergalactic wormhole housing godlike aliens, and Sisko’s complicated relationship to Starfleet.

“Duet” (season one, episode 19)

This all-time great DS9 episode centers on Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor), one of the series’ strongest characters. A former Bajoran freedom fighter, Kira spent her life fighting against brutal Cardassian occupiers. This episode explores the horrors of that occupation via a small-scale character drama that puts Kira face to face with a man who may have been responsible for murdering thousands of her people.

“Civil Defense” (season three, episode seven)

“Civil Defense” is an entertaining disaster-movie romp that shows off the entire DS9 ensemble, including its talented supporting cast . When an old Cardassian security program is accidentally activated, Deep Space Nine goes on lockdown. What starts as a minor inconvenience quickly turns into a major threat, as the crew must scramble to stop the station from killing them.

“The Way of the Warrior”

While the cast of Deep Space Nine never made a feature film, this extra-long season four premiere basically functions as one. Thanks to a growing threat from the Dominion — an intergalactic military superpower controlled by a group of shape shifters — a massive war seems imminent. With the Klingon Empire (a 24th-century ally of the Federation) growing paranoid about Dominion spies, Sisko enlists the help of TNG ’s Klingon security chief, Worf, to calm the tension.

While the full nuances of this episode’s politics will likely be lost on new viewers, it’s nevertheless a great example of the political complexities and military conflicts that would come to dominate DS9 ’s later seasons.

“Take Me Out to the Holosuite” (season seven, episode four)

Deep Space Nine is by far the darkest Star Trek series, featuring the kind of interpersonal conflicts its predecessors shied away from . Some Trek fans accused the show of losing the spirit of Roddenberry’s vision, but DS9 is still recognizably Trek . Take, for instance, this joyously cheesy riff on The Bad News Bears. When an old Vulcan rival challenges Sisko to a baseball game — a defunct 21st-century sport that just happens to be his favorite — Sisko must transform his motley crew into a functioning baseball team in only two weeks.

Star Trek: Voyager

The basics: Ran for seven seasons (172 episodes) from 1995 to 2001

Nickname: VOY

The set up: A lone 24th-century ship stranded 70,000 light-years from Earth

The final two Star Trek series are remembered mostly for the ways they failed to live up to their potential, and both have been blamed for “killing” the franchise . Yet if Voyager and Enterprise never quite reach the heights of their predecessors, there are still pleasures to be had in both.

Voyager kicked off with a “lost in space” concept that seemed to promise more of the complex serialized storytelling that had come to define Deep Space Nine. Instead, the show pulled from the episodic Next Generation model: A mostly amiable group of explorers spend their time meeting new alien cultures and dealing with space phenomena.

Many Trek fans dislike that the show “hits the reset button” at the end of each episode, so that the ship is never too badly damaged nor too low on supplies. But Voyager has its strengths, too, including a lighter tone and an emphasis on conceptual sci-fi storytelling. And with Kate Mulgrew ’s Captain Kathryn Janeway at the helm, Voyager is by far the most explicitly woman-centric Trek series of all time (another possible reason why it’s so reviled by certain Trek fans).

Best for: Parents introducing their kids to Star Trek for the first time; those who enjoy cheesy but cerebral genre shows (think the lighter episodes of Buffy The Vampire Slayer ); fans of woman-centric storytelling

Recommended viewing order: Voyager has little serialization in terms of plot, but some strong character arcs and relationships develop across its run. It’s never unwatchable, but for a streamlined viewing experience, watch a handful of episodes from the first three seasons for flavor, then pick up with the third season finale “Scorpion, Part 1.”

“Eye of the Needle” (season one, episode seven)

On its very first mission, Voyager winds up tossed 70,000 light-years from Earth into the uncharted Delta Quadrant — a distance that requires a 75-year journey home. Forced to team up with a similarly stranded group of Federation freedom fighters called the Maquis, Voyager’s newly mixed crew sets out on their long journey home.

Though the show didn’t always take advantage of its premise, “Eye of the Needle” shines a spotlight on the crew’s difficult situation when they discover a wormhole that may lead back to their Alpha Quadrant home. Meanwhile, the ship’s Emergency Medical Hologram ( Robert Picardo ) begins to grapple with his role on Voyager , establishing him as the show’s resident “outsider” character.

“Deadlock” (season two, episode 21)

There’s a line in “Deadlock” that perfectly sums up Voyager ’s ethos. “We’re Starfleet officers,” Janeway explains. “Weird is part of the job.” More than any other Star Trek series, Voyager enjoyed playing around with bizarre sci-fi concepts. After traveling through a dense nebula, Voyager discovers it’s been “quantum duplicated” into two ships. The two crews — and, most importantly, the two Janeways — must figure out a way to re-merge their vessels, or at least ensure that one survives.

“Someone to Watch Over Me” (season five, episode 22)

Voyager improves dramatically from its fourth season on with the introduction of Seven of Nine ( Jeri Ryan ), a Borg drone turned human who reluctantly joins the crew after her connection to the Borg hive mind is severed. Though clearly styled for her sex appeal, Seven quickly developed into one of the most interesting characters in Star Trek history. Alongside the holographic Doctor, she fulfilled the show’s “outsider” role, and in “Someone to Watch Over Me,” the Doctor gives Seven a crash course in dating, providing a lovely showcase for two of Voyager ’s strongest performers.

“Blink of an Eye” (season six, episode 12)

Captain Janeway is first and foremost a scientist, and a palpable enthusiasm for science runs through Voyager. That’s especially true in “Blink of an Eye,” which unfolds like a short story celebrating human ingenuity. Voyager finds itself trapped above a planet on which time works differently; while minutes pass for the crew, years pass on the surface. As Voyager struggles to break free, the planet’s inhabitants develop a scientific culture inspired by the “sky ship” that has long hovered above them.

“The Void” (season seven, episode 15)

With its lighter tone, chipper banter, and action-adventure focus, the Trek series Voyager most calls to mind is The Original Series . And “The Void” is perhaps Star Trek ’s greatest tribute to Roddenberry’s Federation ideals. After being sucked into an empty “void” in space, Voyager discovers a dog-eat-dog ecosystem in which trapped ships raid one another to survive. When Voyager’s own supplies are stolen, Janeway must decide whether to compromise her principles to keep her crew alive.

Star Trek: Enterprise

The basics: Ran for four seasons (98 episodes) from 2001 to 2005

Nickname: ENT

The set up: A prequel set in the 22nd century

Enterprise is the second Star Trek series to squander its interesting premise. Set roughly 100 years before Kirk’s original five-year mission, this prequel takes place on the original Enterprise, Earth’s first Warp 5–capable ship. Rugged Captain Jonathan Archer ( Scott Bakula ) leads humanity’s first major exploration outside the solar system.

Unfortunately, Enterprise struggled to establish much of a personality for itself, and was hampered by bland characters (not to mention an embarrassing lack of diversity). Yet the show earned praise for its willingness to embrace serialized storytelling and long-term consequences. Like Voyager, it’s best enjoyed with lowered expectations (particularly for its horrifically cheesy soft-rock opening theme song).

Best for: Those who enjoy action-centric sci-fi; Star Trek completists; Scott Bakula fans

Recommended viewing order: Enterprise is never unwatchable, but it starts to find its feet in the third season (which tells one season-long story) and the fourth (which is broken into two- to four-episode “mini arcs”). For those who don’t want to tackle the whole thing, watch a handful of episodes from seasons one and two for flavor, and then jump ahead to the second season finale, “The Expanse.”

“Dear Doctor” (season one, episode 13)

While hardcore Trek fans have some problems with the ethics of its ending, “Dear Doctor” succeeds as an hour of drama and a great showcase for Dr. Phlox ( John Billingsley ), one of Enterprise ’s strongest and most underused players. This episode explores Phlox’s unique position as one of the only aliens serving aboard the ship. It also highlights the difficult diplomatic decisions the Enterprise crew must make long before Starfleet had the Federation to guide it.

“Detained” (season one, episode 21)

Though designed as a Star Trek origin story, Enterprise frequently became distracted by attempts to comment on the war on terror in the way The Original Series commented on Vietnam and the Cold War. That was especially true of the show’s third season, where a 9/11-esque attack on Earth kicked off a season-long arc about retaliation.

“Detained” is an early example of Enterprise ’s interest in political allegory: When Archer finds himself in an internment camp for an alien race called the Suliban, he learns that the violent “Suliban Cabal ” he had previously encountered don’t represent the views of the entire species.

“The Catwalk” (season two, episode 12)

One of the most intriguing things about Enterprise is that the crew doesn’t have access to all the technological advances that are commonplace on the other Star Trek series. Though the show didn’t always take advantage of its prequel status, “The Catwalk” is a fun look at the rough-and-tumble early days of Starfleet. Unable to travel fast enough to outrun a deadly neutronic wavefront, the crew must seal themselves in the heavily shielded catwalks in order to survive.

“Cogenitor” (season two, episode 22)

On the whole, Enterprise favored bland, action-heavy sequences over the kind of thoughtful sci-fi storytelling that had initially defined Star Trek. But Enterprise could be introspective when it wanted to be. In “Cogenitor,” the crew befriends a sociable alien race with a similar mission of exploration. But the way in which they treat their “cogenitors” — a third gender crucial to their reproduction — raises questions about intervening in other cultures.

“Similitude” (season three, episode 10)

Enterprise ’s third and fourth seasons are by far its strongest, but because of their serialized nature, those episodes don’t always work out of context. “Similitude,” however, is a mostly standalone story that illustrates Enterprise ’s growing competency. When chief engineer Charles “Trip” Tucker III ( Connor Trinneer ) falls into a life-threatening coma, Archer okays a controversial plan to create a fast-growing clone and harvest its organs to save Trip.

While the episode can be read as a commentary on stem cell research, cloning, and “savior siblings,” it’s mostly a moving rumination of life, death, and what it means to be human.

Remember: It’s okay to just dabble in Star Trek

There’s no “right” way to get into Star Trek . Fans have fallen in love with the franchise through all sorts of different channels, and where to jump in mostly comes down to personal preference. (The one exception is Enterprise. Although it’s chronologically the “first” Star Trek series, it’s actually best enjoyed by viewers who have a working knowledge of the franchise.)

All five of the TV shows and several of the movies are currently streaming on Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, and CBS All Access. And more so than most contemporary genre TV shows, Star Trek is designed to be watched out of order in syndication. So don’t feel the need to be a Star Trek completest — even plenty of hardcore Trekkies aren’t.

But do be sure to venture beyond just the movies. The best of what Star Trek has to offer has always existed on TV.

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Number One, show me a list of all the Star Trek movies in order — both chronological and release — engage!

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Upcoming Star Trek movies

Raise shields, red alert — we’re going to try and put all the Star Trek movies in order. And we do mean try.

When they were focused on the Original Series era, the Star Trek movies were so easy to watch in order — the movies were numbered, everything was nice and simple. Then Picard comes in with his Next Generation buddies and suddenly numbers are out, subtitles are in. And that’s before we get all the time travel shenanigans that gave birth to the Kelvin timeline , an alternative timeline that splits off from the main canon.

It's been a long while since we've had a new Star Trek movie, with the last release — Star Trek Beyond — coming out back in 2016. Over eight years! Voyager got home from the Delta Quadrant in less time than that! Mercifully the drought is nearly over, with the Discovery spin-off movie Star Trek: Section 31 due to launch in early 2025.

So while we wait for Trek's silver screen return, we’re going to break down the various timelines and help you watch the Star Trek movies in either chronological or release order —- the Temporal Prime Directive be damned. Oh and we’re not making any judgements on the quality of the movies here, so head over to our Star Trek movies ranked list if you want to fight about whether the Kirk or Picard era movies are better.

All of the Star Trek movies are available to watch on Paramount+, along with almost all the shows — check our Star Trek streaming guide to find which nebulas the exceptions are hiding in. 

Star Trek movies: Chronological order

Below is the quick version of our list if you just need to check something to win an argument, but it comes with a lot of in-universe time travel-related caveats that we'll explain below.

• 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
• Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
• Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
• Star Trek: Generations
• Star Trek: First Contact
• Star Trek: Insurrection
• Star Trek: Nemesis
• Star Trek Into Darkness
• Star Trek Beyond

Star Trek: Prime Timeline

The first thing you need to know about the Star Trek films is that while they travel back and forth in time, they also diverge into two (for now) different timelines. The films of the original crew (well, the first iteration of them, anyway – more on that later) are all in what is known as the Prime Timeline. 

Within the Prime Timeline, the movies are then split between The Original Series movies and The Next Generation movies.

1. Star Trek: The Motion Picture

• Release date: December 8, 1979
• Cast: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley

This is the film that brought the voyages of the U.S.S. Enterprise to the big screen. An energy cloud is making its way toward Earth, destroying everything in its path. Kirk and crew intercept it and discover an ancient NASA probe at the heart of the cloud. Voyager – known as V’ger now – encountered a planet of living machines, learned all it could, and returned home to report its findings, only to find no one who knew how to answer. It’s a slow-paced film, and the costumes are about as 70s as they come, but there’s classic Star Trek at the heart of this film.

2. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

• Release date: June 4, 1982
• Cast: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Ricardo Montalban

Ask a Star Trek fan what the best Star Trek movie is and more often than not, you’ll get Khan as your answer. A sequel to the events of the “Space Seed” episode of The Original Series, Khan is a retelling of Moby Dick with Khan throwing reason to the wind as he hunts his nemesis, James T. Kirk. Montalban delivers a pitch-perfect performance, giving us a Khan with charisma and obsession in equal parts.

3. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

• Release date: June 1, 1984

Spock might have died in The Wrath of Khan, but this third entry set up the premise for his return, with the creation of the Genesis planet. Essentially a heist movie in reverse, Search for Spock has the crew defying orders from Starfleet in an attempt to reunite Spock’s consciousness with his newly-rejuvenated body. It’s not a great movie, but it does include two very important events: the rebirth of Spock and the death of Kirk’s son at the hands of the Klingons. That’ll be important a few flicks from now.   

4. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

• Release date: November 26, 1986
• Cast: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Catherine Hicks

If Star Trek fans don’t say Khan is the best Star Trek movie, odds are very high they say Voyage Home is. It’s a funny film where the mission isn’t destruction, but creation – or more accurately, repairing the devastating effects of humankind’s ecological short-sightedness. 

A probe arrives at Earth, knocking out the power of everything in its path as it looks for someone to respond to its message (yeah, it happens a lot). This time, however, the intended recipient is the long-extinct blue whale. To save Earth, Kirk and co. go back in time to 1980s San Francisco to snag some blue whales. The eco-messaging isn’t exactly subtle, but it doesn’t get in the way of a highly enjoyable movie.

5. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

• Release date: June 9, 1989

A writers’ strike and Shatner’s directorial skills (or lack thereof) doomed this film before a single scene was shot. The core plot is actually pretty good: Spock’s half-brother hijacks the Enterprise so that he can meet God, which he believes to be… himself. Some Star Trek fans have an odd fondness for this movie, as it showcases the camaraderie of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy when they’re off-duty.

6. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

• Release date: December 6, 1991
• Cast: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Christopher Plummer

Right, so if that Star Trek fan you’ve been talking to doesn’t choose either Khan or Voyage Home as the best Star Trek movie ever, they almost certainly name Undiscovered Country (and if they don’t, they have highly questionable taste, frankly). The Klingon moon of Praxis explodes, putting the entire Klingon race at risk. The Enterprise hosts a diplomatic entourage of Klingons, much to Kirk’s discomfort. 

Remember how Klingons murdered Kirk’s son? Well, he certainly hasn’t forgotten. Kirk’s lingering rage makes him the perfect patsy for the murder of the Klingon Chancellor, sending him and McCoy to a prison planet and setting the stage for war. Christopher Plummer is perfection as a Shakespeare-quoting Klingon general with no taste for peace.

7. Star Trek: Generations

• Release date: November 18, 1994
• Cast: Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner

And thus the torch is passed from the crew of The Original Series to that of The Next Generation. It’s a bit of a fumble, to be honest, but they all did their best to get Kirk and Picard into the same film and have it make sense. Malcolm McDowell plays Soran, a scientist who will stop at nothing to control the Nexus, a giant space rainbow that exists outside of space-time. 

Soran lost his family when his home world was destroyed and he wants to re-join them (or at least an illusion of them) in the Nexus. He’s not so much a villain as a tragic figure, but the Nexus makes a meeting between Kirk and Picard possible. Not all that sensible, but possible.

8. Star Trek: First Contact

• Release date: November 22, 1996
• Cast: Patrick Stewart, Brent Spiner, Alice Krige

Okay, no, for real, if your Star Trek pal didn’t pick Khan or Voyage Home or… oh, nevermind. Cueing off the iconic two-part episode “Best of Both Worlds,” in which Picard is assimilated by the Borg, First Contact sees the collective traveling back in time in order to disrupt First Contact, the day Earth’s first foray into space attracted the attention of the Vulcans, kicking off the events that would eventually lead to Starfleet’s victory over the Borg. The Borg Queen torments Picard with visions of the past and tempts Data with humanity, going so far as to give him some human skin. 

The fight with the Borg aboard the Enterprise is thrilling, and the work on the surface to get first contact back on track is fun. Plus, there’s just nothing like Patrick Stewart turning it up to 11 as he lashes out at the enemy that haunts his dreams.

9. Star Trek: Insurrection

• Release date: December 11, 1998
• Cast: Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, F. Murray Abraham

Essentially an episode inflated for the big screen, Insurrection is about the Federation conspiring to displace a planet’s population in order to harvest the planet’s unique resource – super healing metaphasic particles. In addition to the rejuvenating natural resource, the Ba’ku also have access to exceptional technology, which they shun in favor of a more simple lifestyle. 

Data malfunctions, the villains are Federation allies (and former Ba’ku!), Picard gets to knock boots with a local – Insurrection is the very definition of “fine.” Chronologically, Insurrection is relevant for rekindling the romance between Riker and Troi, but not much else.

10. Star Trek: Nemesis

• Release date: December 13, 2002
• Cast: Patrick Stewart, Brent Spiner, Tom Hardy

Before he mumbled his way into our hearts as Bane, Tom Hardy was Shinzon, a clone of Picard the Romulans created in an eventually abandoned attempt to infiltrate Starfleet. Shinzon is dying, and all that will save him is a transfusion of Picard’s blood. Unfortunately, Shinzon also happens to be a megalomaniac who happens to want to destroy all life on Earth and maybe a few other planets, too, if he’s feeling saucy. 

Nemesis is notable mostly for killing Data with a noble sacrifice, only to resurrect him moments later in a duplicate body found earlier by the Enterprise crew.

Star Trek: Kelvin Timeline

The last of the Prime Timeline movies failed to impress at the box office, so it was a few years before anyone tried to bring the Enterprise back to the big screen. Rather than lean on any of the TV crews, this new slate of movies would serve as a reboot, welcoming new audiences while honoring long-time fans. Welcome to the Kelvin Timeline. (For all the ins and outs, check out our Star Trek: Kelvin Timeline explained article).

11. Star Trek

• Release date: May 8, 2009
• Cast: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban

Back to the beginning! Star Trek introduces us to James T. Kirk, Spock, and “Bones” McCoy as they meet and join the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise. Though the plot is a relatively straightforward affair of a Romulan named Nero trying to destroy the Earth. His anger borne out of grief, what matters most is how it all came to be. In the future, Spock – the Prime Timeline version – tries to save Romulus from being destroyed by a supernova, but fails. Both his ship and Nero’s are kicked back in time, setting off a chain of events that diverge from the original, “true” timeline. 

The name “Kelvin” refers to the U.S.S. Kelvin, the ship heroically captained by Kirk’s father, which is destroyed in the opening moments of the movie.

12. Star Trek Into Darkness

• Release date: May 16, 2013
• Cast: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Benedict Cumberbatch

The benefit of the Kelvin Timeline is that it not only allows Star Trek to explore canon material – such as Khan (he of the Wrath) – but to do something completely new with it. Khan features heavily in Into Darkness, but he has no beef with Kirk. Instead, a Starfleet Admiral is threatening the lives of Khan’s crew, forcing them to craft weapons of mass destruction. 

Khan inevitably eludes captivity and strikes out against Starfleet, killing Captain Pike (and a bunch of others) in the process. Kirk and company eventually take Khan down, but not before Kirk sacrifices himself to save his crew. Don’t worry, these things don’t last in either Star Trek timeline, as Kirk gets better moments later thanks to *checks notes* Khan's super blood.

13. Star Trek Beyond

• Release date: July 22, 2016
• Cast: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Idris Elba

Beyond leans into the camaraderie of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy now that they’ve had some time together, much to the movie’s benefit. The Enterprise is lured to Altamid under false pretenses, leading to much of the crew being marooned on the planet. The architect of the deception was Krall, who wants an opportunity to return to a galaxy where war is the order of the day. 

Beyond is a significant point in the timeline for two reasons. First, it sadly marked the death of Spock Prime due to the passing of Leonard Nimoy. Second, it culminates in the Enterprise embarking on the five-year-mission that started everything back in 1966.

Star Trek movies: Release order

If you can't be bothered remembering two different orders for the Star Trek movies then we've got good news for you — the release order is identical to the chronological order that we've shown above (accounting for the Kelvin timeline as it's own entity anyway).

Star Trek 4

The full run of Star Trek films currently tops out at 13 entries; the fate of the 14th was hidden within a nebula of conflicting information. “Star Trek 4” was slated for December 22, 2023, but given that filming had yet to begin as of July 2022, it seems inevitable that date will change. Back in February 2022, Paramount that the principal cast would be returning for the fourth installment of the Kelvin timeline, a claim quickly disputed by the agents of those selfsame actors. Awkward.

Soon after, however, Chris Pine eventually signed on the dotted line, and his shipmates reached their own agreements. As of right now, Kirk (Pine), Spock (Zachary Quinto), McCoy (Karl Urban, assuming he can make it work around filming of The Boys), Scotty (Simon Pegg), Uhura (Zoe Saldaña), and Sulu (John Cho) are all ready to beam up and get filming. Sadly, this will be the first of the Kelvin films to not feature Anton Yelchin as Pavel Chekov. Yelchin died in an accident at his home in 2016. It’s currently unclear if Chekov will be recast or if a different character will take his place on the bridge of the Enterprise.

Though the Kelvin timeline is often referred to as “J.J. Abrams Trek,” he won’t be directing Star Trek 4; Matt Shakman will take on that responsibility, leaving Abrams to produce. As for what it will be about, that’s anyone’s guess, but Chris Pine told Deadline he hopes this one tells a smaller story that appeals to the core Trek audience. “Let’s make the movie for the people that love this group of people, that love this story, that love Star Trek,” he said. “Let’s make it for them and then, if people want to come to the party, great.” It’s a strategy that makes sense; the disappointment with recent Trek films hasn’t been their content so much as their box office. A Trek film with a smaller scope (and budget) would almost certainly have a very healthy profit margin while also resonating with the fanbase.   

With no new announcements coming from San Diego Comic-Con 2022, it seems that we’ll have to wait for any more insight into the next Star Trek film. Sill, recent comments from Paramount CEO Brian Robbins have us cautiously optimistic: “We’re deep into [Star Trek 4] with J.J. Abrams, and it feels like we’re getting close to the starting line and excited about where we’re going creatively,” he told Variety . 

Still, recent comments from Paramount CEO Brian Robbins have us cautiously optimistic: “We’re deep into [Star Trek 4] with J.J. Abrams, and it feels like we’re getting close to the starting line and excited about where we’re going creatively,” he told Variety.

Since then, there hasn’t been much in the way of updates, which leaves us with the worrying prospect of Star Trek 4 being stuck in development hell. During a 2023 appearance at the 57-Year Mission convention in Las Vegas (reported by TrekMovie ), Zachary Quinto explained that creative differences were the cause of the numerous delays. 

“I think there’s a lot of other stuff, creative things. It’s complicated. The fact that anything good gets made is kind of a miracle. I think it’s about different people having different agendas and ideas about what it will be.“

Star Trek: Section 31

In the meantime, we are getting the Star Trek: Section 31 movie staring Academy Award-winning actress MichelIe Yeoh. She is reprising her role as Emperor Philip Georgiou, her character from Star Trek Discovery (well one of them anyway, mirror universes and all that). This spin-off from the TV series is coming out of warp in early 2025.

Check out our guide to Everything we know about Star trek Section 31 for more info on the upcoming movie.

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Susan Arendt is a freelance writer, editor, and consultant living in Burleson, TX. She's a huge sci-fi TV and movie buff, and will talk your Vulcan ears off about Star Trek. You can find more of her work at Wired, IGN, Polygon, or look for her on Twitter: @SusanArendt. Be prepared to see too many pictures of her dogs.

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Planetary data [ ]

"The Blue Marble"

Earth was a spheroid terrestrial planet with a circumference of 24,874 miles (40,075 kilometers ), a mass of 5.98 e24 ×10 24 kilograms and a mean density of 5.517. Its atmosphere had an average temperature of 75 °F (24 °C) and consisted of 78% nitrogen , 21% oxygen , and smaller percentages of krypton , neon , and argon . ( TOS : " Miri ", " Metamorphosis ", " Bread and Circuses ")

The Earth system consisted of a large natural satellite named Luna . ( TOS : " The Changeling ")

Location [ ]

Earth as seen from Luna

Earth's orbit around its sun , Sol , measured more than two hundred million kilometers in diameter. ( TNG : " Relics ") Earth was located in the Alpha Quadrant , less than ninety light years from the boundary to the Beta Quadrant . ( ENT : " Broken Bow ", " Two Days and Two Nights "; Star Trek Into Darkness production art ) It was a little over sixteen light years away from the planet Vulcan, less than ninety light years away from the Klingon homeworld , and approximately ninety light years away from Risa . ( ENT : " Two Days and Two Nights ", " Home ")

In "Two Days and Two Nights", the NX-class Enterprise is depicted as setting a milestone several months after a mission to the Klingon homeworld, Qo'noS (visited by the ship in ENT pilot episode " Broken Bow "), by becoming the first Earth ship to travel ninety light years away from the Sol system . In Star Trek Into Darkness , the location of Sector 001 was labeled on a map displayed on a powerwall in the offices of Admirals Alexander Marcus and Christopher Pike . Lastly, Qo'noS was identified as a Beta Quadrant planet.

According to the Star Trek Encyclopedia , Earth marked the border between the Alpha and Beta Quadrants. A specific display graphic on a PADD in Star Trek: Insurrection seems to confirm this. [1] (X) [2] Canonical lines of dialogue in Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , however, firmly establish that Earth was located on the Alpha Quadrant side of the border. In his reference book Star Trek: Star Charts (p. 19), Star Trek production artist and designer Geoffrey Mandel wrote, " While the Sol system is divided equally between the Alpha and Beta Quadrants, it is considered to be a part of the Alpha Quadrant. " The star chart seen in the Star Trek: Discovery episode " The War Without, The War Within " sets Earth at some distance from the border, while the star chart seen in the Star Trek: Picard episode " Maps and Legends " sets Earth on the border.

In the late 19th century , the orbit of Earth was depicted on a German map of the inner system. ( Star Trek: Enterprise opening credits )

In 2024 , the position and orbital path of Earth were depicted on a map of the Solar System, which was seen at the gala held for the Europa Mission astronauts . ( PIC : " Two of One ")

In 2254 , the orbit of Earth was depicted on a map of the inner system, which was stored in the USS Enterprise library computer . This was one of multiple records that were scanned by the Talosians in 2254. ( TOS : " The Cage " production art )

In 2259 , the location of this planet was labeled on a stellar cartography chart that was seen on the USS Enterprise 's ready room viewscreen . As the capital planet of the Federation, it was represented by the Starfleet Command seal colored blue . ( SNW : " Strange New Worlds ", " A Quality of Mercy ")

In 2267 , the orbit of Earth was depicted on "Chart 14A: The Sol System", which was stored in the Enterprise library computer. This chart was scanned by the probe Nomad in auxiliary control . ( TOS : " The Changeling " production art )

The planet's location was labeled in a Federation star chart that was in Fleet Admiral Kirsten Clancy 's office at Starfleet Headquarters in 2399 and on the bridge of the USS Titan -A in 2401 . Earth was in or near to Federation space . ( PIC : " Maps and Legends ", " The Next Generation ", " Disengage ")

In 2401, this planet's position was labeled on a star chart used by Captain William T. Riker during his attempt at finding the last known location of the SS Eleos XII . ( PIC : " The Next Generation ")

In 3189 , the location of Earth was denoted on a holographic star chart of the galaxy at Federation Headquarters . ( DIS : " Die Trying ")

In 3190 , the location of Earth was labeled on a star chart used by Commander Paul Stamets for tracking the movement of the Dark Matter Anomaly through the galaxy . ( DIS : " The Examples ")

A star chart seen in TNG : " The Naked Now ", " The Last Outpost ", " Datalore ", and " Conspiracy " – naming stars within twenty light years of Sol – was drawn by Rick Sternbach for the Star Trek Spaceflight Chronology in the late 1970s. Found on page 77, this chart showed Earth commercial and exploration routes after the use of warp drive began. ( For more information, see Federation star charts#LCARS star charts ) "The Explored Galaxy" star chart was first seen, chronologically, in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country , set in 2293 . It was also seen in several Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes set in the 24th century , from the year 2364 to 2370 . ( For more information, see Federation star charts#"The Explored Galaxy" )

History [ ]

Around 4.5 billion years ago , ancient humanoids seeded many worlds in the Milky Way Galaxy , including Earth, with a DNA code to guide evolution to a form resembling their own . Approximately 3.5 billion years ago , the first life on Earth was formed from a group of amino acids that combined to form the first proteins . ( TNG : " The Chase ", " All Good Things... ") Nonetheless, according to James T. Kirk , three hundred million years ago life had not yet emerged on Earth. ( TAS : " Beyond the Farthest Star ")

According to current real-world science, there is evidence that suggests life took hold on Earth already at least between 3.8 and 4.1 billion years ago [3] and flourished in the oceans by at least 3.7  billion years ago. [4] In light of the seeding it is also worth noting that the first appearance of DNA might have postdated the appearance of life.

In the early 21st century, a small group of Human scientists had formed a school of thought that believed Earth's lifeforms originated from Mars . They believed that life was carried from one world to another on rocks blasted off into space by comet or asteroid impacts. This idea was known as lithopanspermia . ( PIC : " Two of One ")

Over four hundred million years ago, in the Devonian period, the genus Eryops was the last common ancestor of both warm-blooded and cold-blooded lifeforms . ( VOY : " Distant Origin ")

According to real-word science, Eryops lived some one hundred million years later during the Permian period.

Approximately sixty-five million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous period, a comet collided with the planet Earth. This mass extinction event resulted in the death of many reptilian lifeforms. One of the surviving lifeforms belonged to the genus Hadrosaur , which evolved into the Voth. The Voth eventually left Earth, leaving no apparent trace of their civilization , and colonized a world in the Delta Quadrant . Around the same time, mammals rose to prominence on the land and in the sea, eventually leading species like Humans and Humpback whales , respectively. Humans and their immediate ancestors shared the basic humanoid appearance, which may be the result of genetic seeding that occurred long ago, by the first sentient species to inhabit the galaxy. ( Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home ; TNG : " The Chase "; VOY : " Distant Origin "; ENT : " Azati Prime ")

To portray a primordial Earth in "All Good Things…", Dan Curry drew a concept sketch of the landscape. ( Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Continuing Mission , p. 213) The depiction of the prehistoric Earth ultimately consisted of multiple elements. One of these was a small set, on which live-action footage of the actors was filmed. The set contained a pool of water and some miniature cliffs. ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 25/26, No. 6/1, p. 63) The set was on Paramount Stage 18 . ( Information from call sheets ) The establishing shot of the planet in its primordial stages was created mainly through a foreground miniature constructed by Tony Doublin , working from photographs of the set that the actors were filmed on. Another element was ocean waves, filmed at Laguna Beach by Dan Curry along with fellow visual effects artists Joe Bauer and David Stipes . Apart from the live-action set, everything in the shot of the primordial Earth was created by Curry, who digitally combined, manipulated and blended the many separate elements, yet another of which was lava . ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 25/26, No. 6/1, p. 63) Twenty years later, Roger Lay, Jr. found the "All Good Things…" storyboards Curry had created and discovered that the storyboard of the establishing shot of Earth was virtually identical to the same view of the planet in the televised version. Brannon Braga once commented that, of all the scenes in "All Good Things…", he likely remembered the primordial Earth scene most vividly. Both he and Ronald D. Moore commented the establishing shot of the planet is "not bad." Moore went on to remark, " That's a classic Star Trek look, too. The composition of that, from the cave to the sky piece and the foreground element, that is sort of Trek and the way Trek 's ascetic was. " ( All Good Things (Blu-ray) audio commentary )

Earth produced several major religions , including Christianity , Judaism , Islam , Hinduism , Buddhism , Shinto , and Wicca . Some of these religions, in one form or the other, survived into the 23rd and 24th centuries . ( TOS : " Balance of Terror "; DS9 : " Penumbra "; VOY : " The Killing Game ")

In the 17th century , scientist Galileo Galilei taught the masses that Earth moved around the sun and not the opposite way. For these teachings, he was tried and convicted of heresy by an inquisition of the Roman Catholic Church , and his books were burned. ( DS9 : " In the Hands of the Prophets ")

Earth was also visited, observed, and occasionally manipulated during its history, prior to official First Contact by Vulcans . One of the earliest extraterrestrial visits was by a race known as the Sky Spirits , originally native to the Delta Quadrant. These visits also included those by an ancient humanoid species, the Preservers , descendants of Humans abducted around 4000 BC , and Vulcans themselves, although this was disputed, as there was no proof or evidence offered by the Vulcan High Command . The Humpback whales were being observed by an unknown entity who, upon loss of contact with the species, sent a probe to investigate the absence of whale song . In the 19th century , a race called the Skagarans abducted several thousand Humans from the American West and then used them as slave labor. The El-Aurian Guinan also stayed discreetly on Earth. In the 1930s , the Briori visited Earth and abducted several individuals , including famous pilot Amelia Earhart . In 1947 , three Ferengi inadvertantly crash landed near Roswell , New Mexico . In the 1950s , a team of Vulcan explorers were temporarily stranded on Earth. ( TOS : " Assignment: Earth ", " The Paradise Syndrome "; Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home ; TNG : " The Chase "; TNG : " Time's Arrow "; ENT : " Carbon Creek "; VOY : " The 37's "; VOY : " Tattoo ")

Earth in 1969

From the mid- 20th century onward, manned and unmanned spacecraft were launched from either the surface or the orbit of Earth. Several prominent craft that were launched from Earth include Apollo 11 , Nomad , Phoenix , Friendship 1 , Enterprise , and the USS Enterprise . ( TOS : " The Cage ", " Where No Man Has Gone Before ", " The Changeling "; Star Trek: First Contact ; VOY : " Friendship One ")

In 2026, World War 3 fully broke out which caused the eradication of 600,000 animal and plant species and 30% of Earth's Human population. The war decimated Earth causing nuclear winters, the destruction of most of Earth's major cities and natural climate. Radio Isotopes from nuclear weapons were ejected into the atmosphere exposing all life remaining after the war to dangerous radiation. ( SNW : " Strange New Worlds ")

After the war ended in 2053, Humanity slowly began to rebuild civilization and the planet, eliminating sickness, hunger, poverty, and despair within two generations. Earth was mostly restored by the 22nd century as the United Earth Government formed, however there were still some lingering effects from the post atomic horror. ( Star Trek: Enterprise )

By the 23rd century, Earth had been completely restored and even had climate control systems that maintained the weather in certain places, preventing tornados and destructive weather. Some area on Earth such as deserts were also terraformed, allowing people to live there. One notable person to grow up in this kind of environment was Christopher Pike. ( TOS : " The Cage ")

Starting in the 22nd century and continuing on into the 24th, there were major construction projects on the surface and in orbit of Earth that supported the burgeoning expansion of Humans into space. Some of these projects were the Warp Five Complex , the San Francisco Fleet Yards , Spacedock One , and Earth Station McKinley . ( ENT : " Broken Bow "; TOS : " Where No Man Has Gone Before "; Star Trek III: The Search for Spock ; TNG : " Family ")

In 2063 , with the successful flight of the Phoenix , Earth became warp-capable . ( Star Trek: First Contact ; ENT : " Broken Bow "; VOY : " Year of Hell ", " Relativity ", " Homestead ")

Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual stipulated that at least two other species of marine mammals ( Pacific bottlenose dolphins and Takaya's whales ) served on board Galaxy -class class starships as either crew or civilian navigation consultants. This was supported in canon by a hatchway label, seen in " We'll Always Have Paris ", that read "Tursiops Crew Facility".

According to Daniels , while Earth still existed in the 31st century , it did not exist in the same way as it was defined nine hundred years before. ( ENT : " Cold Front ")

Following the Burn in the 31st century , Starfleet became concerned about security on Earth and ultimately moved Starfleet Headquarters off the planet. Earth subsequently seceded from the Federation, and remained independent – even from other worlds in the Sol system such as Titan – as of 3189 . ( DIS : " People of Earth ")

The following year when the Federation kept Earth from being destroyed by a Dark Matter Anomaly , Earth decided to rejoin the Federation, marking the return of another founding world of the Federation. ( DIS : " Coming Home ")

Attacks on Earth [ ]

During its long history, the existence of the planet has been threatened by both natural disasters and actions of alien intelligence.

Ronald D. Moore noticed a trend in Star Trek films in general, which was that many of the films portrayed Earth as being endangered. [5] Chris Black expressed that it's typically difficult to tell such huge story arcs – where the fate of the Earth (or even the universe) was at stake – as they challenged the writers to personalize the plot for the characters involved. (" The Forgotten " audio commentary , ENT Season 3 Blu-ray special features)

• In 2153 , Earth was preemptively attacked by the Xindi , who were unwittingly helping a faction fighting the Temporal Cold War . Using a smaller, prototype version of the planned Xindi weapon , the weapon destroyed a section of the planet stretching from Florida to Venezuela , killing seven million people. This event began what was later known as the Xindi crisis . ( ENT : " The Expanse ")

The Xindi's preemptive strike against Earth was inspired by the September 11 attacks . The idea of endangering Earth with the Xindi weapon came about after Executive Producers Rick Berman and Brannon Braga noticed that two of the most popular Star Trek films , only ten of which had been created by that time, involved efforts to save Earth. The two films were Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and Star Trek: First Contact . ( Star Trek Monthly  issue 107 , p. 6) Having Earth be threatened was one of the first parts of the season-long Xindi story arc which, at the start of Star Trek: Enterprise 's third season , Braga and Berman envisaged for the rest of that season. (" The Forgotten " audio commentary , ENT Season 3 Blu-ray )

• On February 14th of 2154 , a working version of the Xindi weapon entered Earth orbit to destroy the planet. The weapon was destroyed by Captain Jonathan Archer before it could complete its task. This marked the end of the Xindi crisis. ( ENT : " Zero Hour ")
• In 2155 , Terra Prime – under the command of John Frederick Paxton – used the verteron array on Mars to attack Starfleet Headquarters . Thanks to the efforts of Commander Charles Tucker III , the array fired harmlessly into the San Francisco Bay . ( ENT : " Terra Prime ")
• In 2257 , Earth was the intended target of a Klingon fleet during the Federation-Klingon War , shortly after the fall of Starbase 1 . This attack was aborted shortly before it could begin after L'Rell , the new leader of the Klingon High Council , ordered a cease fire . ( DIS : " Will You Take My Hand? ")
• In the 2270s , a massive machine lifeform called V'ger threatened to destroy all biological life on Earth, if its demands were not met. The attack was narrowly averted by the crew of the USS Enterprise . ( Star Trek: The Motion Picture )
• In 2286 , an alien probe of unknown origin wreaked ecological havoc while trying to contact an extinct species of Humpback whale by transmitting massive amounts of energy into Earth's oceans and unintentionally caused them to begin evaporating. The threat was ended when the former crew of the USS Enterprise , having used a stolen Klingon Bird-of-Prey to travel back in time to before the species' extinction , returned to the present with two Humpbacks; after the two whales gave a response to the probe, it departed the Solar System with little, if any, real harm done to the planet. ( Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home )
• In 2367 , a Borg cube entered Earth orbit following the Battle of Wolf 359 with the intention of assimilating the planet and its population . It was destroyed by the USS Enterprise -D before it could attack the planet. ( TNG : " The Best of Both Worlds, Part II ")
• In 2373 , a second Borg cube attacked Earth and, after a devastating battle , was destroyed in orbit by a Starfleet armada . As the cube exploded, a Borg sphere escaped from within the craft and subsequently traveled into the past, where its complement of Borg drones attempted to prevent Humanity's First Contact with Vulcans in 2063 . ( Star Trek: First Contact )
• In 2375 , the Borg decided to create another strategy, since all direct assaults on Earth had failed, thus far. They planned to detonate a biogenic charge in Earth's atmosphere , infecting all lifeforms with a nanoprobe virus , triggering a gradual assimilation . According to the Borg Queen , half the population would be drones before the effects were discovered. ( VOY : " Dark Frontier ")

It is uncertain whether this plan was ever attempted. According to the non- canon novelization of " Endgame ", the nanoprobe virus was brought to Earth and rapidly infected the population.

Starfleet Headquarters on Earth, damaged after a Breen attack

• Also in 2375 , the Breen Confederacy attacked Earth in a surprise attack on Starfleet Headquarters in San Francisco during the Dominion War . ( DS9 : " The Changing Face of Evil ")
• In 2379 , Praetor Shinzon attempted to destroy all life on Earth using a thalaron weapon built into the Reman warbird Scimitar . The Scimitar was destroyed by the USS Enterprise -E , Valdore , and an unidentified Valdore -type warbird in the Battle in the Bassen Rift . ( Star Trek Nemesis )
• On Frontier Day in 2401 , the Borg Queen – aided by a band of rogue Changelings led by Vadic – remotely assimilated much of Starfleet and, after disabling Sol Station in orbit, attempted to destroy Earth's population centres via orbital bombardment . The bombardment was narrowly averted by the crew of the rebuilt Enterprise -D, who destroyed the Borg Queen's cube and returned the fleet to Federation control. ( PIC : " Vox ", " The Last Generation ")
• By 3189 , Earth had left the United Federation of Planets and was under the protection of the United Earth Defense Force . Raiders like Wen made several attacks on the planet for supplies like dilithium . The tensions were settled by Captain Saru and Commander Michael Burnham of the USS Discovery . ( DIS : " People of Earth ")
• In 3190 , Earth and Ni’Var found itself under attack by the Dark Matter Anomaly , showered by debris caused by its actions. The Federation, lead by Admiral Charles Vance , initiated an evacuation of the planet to save those they could. The Discovery and the team of diplomats were able to convince the DMA’s creators, Unknown Species 10-C , to shut down the anomaly, sparing the planets. As thanks, Earth moved to rejoin the Federation in gratitude. ( DIS : " Coming Home ")

Climate and geography [ ]

A map of Earth in the 24th century

Earth was a class M world by planetary classification standards. ( TOS : " Return to Tomorrow "; TNG : " Justice ") It had just about every ecosystem one could think of. ( VOY : " Hope and Fear ") These included ice caps and deserts . There were a number of continents .

By the 24th century , Humans had installed a Weather Modification Net to alter the natural weather patterns , including dissipating destructive weather phenomena such as tornadoes . ( TNG : " True Q ")

Once Humans began leaving Earth in the 20th century, they photographed and drew pictures of the planet for various reasons. These pictures were then displayed in homes, offices, and recreation facilities. The earliest images of Earth were from the space agencies which sent Humans into space. These included official mission photos and insignia. Many of these images were preserved into the 22nd century and beyond. ( TOS : " The Cage "; ENT : " First Flight ")

Alternate timelines and universes [ ]

Earth in an alternate timeline where an anti-time eruption fills the sky

In 2370 , an alternate past was created for Earth by the anti-time eruption , where 3.5 billion years ago , amino acids never combined with the first proteins , and life never formed on the planet. This was how the Q Continuum fulfilled its judgment to deny Humans existence. ( TNG : " All Good Things... ")

Accidental time travel from 2371 led to the premature death of Gabriel Bell in 2024 . An altered future was created where the more inhumane wars of the 21st century left Earth a pre-warp civilization that never even expanded to the solar system. Consequently, the Romulan Star Empire had expanded to include Alpha Centauri . ( DS9 : " Past Tense, Part I ", " Past Tense, Part II ")

Dystopian Earths [ ]

In two alternate timelines, the history of Earth was significantly altered when Nazi Germany was not defeated in World War II . In one, Doctor McCoy saved the life of Edith Keeler in 1930 . Keeler went on to form a massive pacifist movement in America, delaying the country's entry into World War II, allowing Nazi Germany time to develop the A-bomb first and take over the world. ( TOS : " The City on the Edge of Forever ")

Nazi Territory in North America

In another alternate timeline, Lenin was assassinated in 1916 , preventing Russia from turning to communism . This allowed Adolf Hitler to concentrate his war effort on the West. With assistance from the Na'kuhl , France and England were conquered before the American East Coast by 1944 . ( ENT : " Storm Front ", " Storm Front, Part II ")

Borg-assimilated Earth

In an alternate timeline, the Borg were successful at preventing First Contact in 2063 and assimilated the Earth. In 2373 , the assimilated Earth had an atmosphere containing high concentrations of methane , carbon monoxide , and fluorine . It had a population of approximately nine billion Borg drones . ( Star Trek: First Contact )

See below for background information .

Earth under the Confederation

In an alternate timeline created by Q preventing Renée Picard from joining the Europa Mission in 2024 , Earth became united under a totalitarian government called the Confederation of Earth . With Picard having never made a discovery on Io that allowed Humanity to repair the damage they had caused to Earth's environment, the Confederation resorted to using solar shields to stave off ecological collapse on the planet. By the dawn of the 25th century , the Confederation had enslaved the Romulans and waged brutal wars against alien species throughout the galaxy. ( PIC : " Penance ", " Mercy ")

Devastated Earths [ ]

In 2257 , Spock was shown a possible future where Earth, as well as all other life-bearing worlds, were devastated by Control . Gabrielle Burnham 's mission logs also mention this destruction which Gabrielle had witnessed for herself. ( DIS : " If Memory Serves ", " Perpetual Infinity ")

Earth devastated in the 31st century

When the temporal agent Daniels was instructed to remove Jonathan Archer from the timeline in 2152 and bring him to the 31st century , an alternate future was created where the United Federation of Planets was never formed and the planet where Daniels had come from was almost completely destroyed. ( ENT : " Shockwave ", " Shockwave, Part II ")

In the review reference book Beyond the Final Frontier (p. 370), Mark Jones and Lance Parkin stated that the ruined planet was "deliberately evocative of Ground Zero at the World Trade Centre."

To portray the devastated planet, ruined city vistas and a vast library were created in CGI by Eden FX . The methods they employed for this assignment included the creation and use of digital set extensions. ( Star Trek Monthly  issue 106 , p. 45)

Earth, moments before exploding

The Earth was completely destroyed in two alternate timelines. In one of the timelines, Jonathan Archer's brain was infected by interspatial parasites and Earth was destroyed by the Xindi weapon in 2154 . This timeline was erased in 2165 when the parasites were destroyed by a subspace implosion aboard Enterprise – because the organisms existed outside normal space-time, their elimination prevented Archer from ever being infected in the first place. ( ENT : " Twilight ")

Although "Twilight" was initially conceived for Star Trek: Voyager , the annihilation of Earth was included in the plot only once the story was intended to be developed for Star Trek: Enterprise . Michael Sussman , who wrote the installment, stated obliquely about how the episode's final version portrays Earth, " It's always fun when you can toast Earth before the opening titles . " [6] With similar gusto, Brannon Braga rhetorically asked, " What could be better than starting the show off with blowing Earth up? " ( Star Trek: Communicator  issue 151 , p. 30) The script for "Twilight" described the destruction of Earth thus; " The planet starts to literally split at the seams… magma and debris ERUPTING along fault lines! Then, in a blinding flash… the Earth EXPLODES … mountain-sized chunks of debris flying everywhere! "

In an alternate timeline created by the Romulan operative Sera destroying Toronto in 2022 , Humanity became embroiled in a war with the Romulan Star Empire that lasted over two centuries. Earth was first devastated by the war, then occupied by the enemy, and ultimately rendered uninhabitable. ( SNW : " Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow ")

In another alternate timeline, Earth and the entire solar system was destroyed by a massive temporal explosion in the 29th century . The explosion was caused by Henry Starling , when he used the stolen timeship Aeon to travel from the 20th century into the 29th century through an unstable temporal rift . ( VOY : " Future's End ", " Future's End, Part II ")

Mirror universe [ ]

The USS Defiant in orbit of Terra

In the mirror universe , Earth's counterpart, locally named Terra by 2256 , was the throne world of a totalitarian expansionist state known as the Terran Empire . Unlike the Earth of the prime timeline, Terra was still a wasteland from the post-atomic horror and parts of the population still suffered from despair, poverty, famine and disease. Though still damaged, most of the major cities on Terra had been rebuilt. The world was ruled by the Terran Emperor or Empress. ( ENT : " In a Mirror, Darkly ", " In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II ")

In 2256, the Terran Emperor Philippa Georgiou temporarily moved her ruling location onto a giant starship powered by Mycelial spores. This ship was later destroyed, forcing the return of the throne to Terra by the 2260s. ( DIS : " Vaulting Ambition ", " What's Past Is Prologue ", " Terra Firma, Part 1 ", " Terra Firma, Part 2 "; TOS : " Mirror, Mirror ")

History followed a similar yet skewed course on Terra, by comparison to the history of Earth in the United Federation of Planets, with a more violent, war-ridden past. According to Jonathan Archer , the Empire existed "for centuries" prior to 2155 . The main divergence in the timeline was the official First Contact with the Vulcans in 2063; Zefram Cochrane shot the Vulcan who greeted him , and, with the other Terrans present, stormed the Vulcan ship, taking its technology, which allowed the Empire to expand. ( ENT : " In a Mirror, Darkly "; DIS : " Terra Firma, Part 1 ", " Terra Firma, Part 2 "; DIS : " Die Trying ")

The Klingon-Cardassian Alliance conquered the Terran Empire sometime before 2370. ( DS9 : " Crossover ")

Professor Jennifer Sisko had an image of Terra on a uniform she wore while working for the Alliance in 2371. ( DS9 : " Through the Looking Glass ")

Although the script of "Crossover" was co-written by Peter Allan Fields and Michael Piller , it was Robert Hewitt Wolfe who devised Earth's history for that installment. He recalled, " I just thought that if the parallel [mirror] Earth [we saw in Kirk 's time] was that brutal, there had to be a reason. And the reason was that the barbarians [the Klingons and the Cardassians] were at the gate. " ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion , p. 143)

According to William Shatner 's novel Spectre , which deals with the mirror universe, Alliance ships destroyed the Imperial fleet in their version of the Battle of Wolf 359 , and proceeded to reduce mirror-Earth to a barren wasteland. Humans were enslaved by the Alliance.

In Decipher 's Mirror Universe , Earth is subjected to a Klingon planetary bombardment during the fall of the Terran Empire. The western half of North America is reduced to wasteland, Ireland and New Zealand are smashed into tiny islets, and the new continent of East Africa is created when a fault line is cracked open. In the aftermath, Earth's cities are rebuilt by the Alliance as giant labor camps and factory complexes. Kolara (the former site of Paris) houses Alliance officials.

Alternate reality [ ]

Narada firing on Earth

In the year 2258 of the alternate reality , the Romulan mining vessel Narada fired on Earth using a drill platform . Nero was attempting to dig a hole to Earth's core and create a black hole using red matter to destroy the planet. Luckily, Spock was able to destroy the drill well before it could reach the planet's core. ( Star Trek )

A year later , Starfleet traitor John Harrison masterminded a bombing on the Kelvin Memorial Archive in London and then attacked Starfleet Headquarters . He later returned to Earth, having commandeered the USS Vengeance , crashing it into San Francisco. ( Star Trek Into Darkness )

Reverse universe [ ]

Karl Four on the planet Arret

In the reverse negative antimatter universe , where the flow of time was reversed, Arret was Earth's counterpart. In 2270 , Karla Five and her son Karl Four helped the crew of the USS Enterprise to return to the prime universe. ( TAS : " The Counter-Clock Incident ")

Appendices [ ]

Appearances [ ].

A list of all actual appearances of planet Earth (excluding holodecks, simulations, visions, opening credits, etc.)

• " Tomorrow is Yesterday " (Season 1)
• " The City on the Edge of Forever "
• " Assignment: Earth " (Season 2)
• " The Magicks of Megas-Tu " (Season 1)
• 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
• Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
• Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
• " Conspiracy " (Season 1)
• " The Best of Both Worlds, Part II " (Season 4)
• " The First Duty " (Season 5)
• " Time's Arrow "
• " Time's Arrow, Part II " (Season 6)
• " All Good Things... " (Season 7)
• Star Trek Generations
• Star Trek: First Contact
• Star Trek Nemesis
• " Past Tense, Part I " (Season 3)
• " Past Tense, Part II "
• " The Visitor " (Season 4)
• " Little Green Men "
• " Homefront "
• " Paradise Lost "
• " Tears of the Prophets " (Season 6)
• " Image in the Sand " (Season 7)
• " Shadows and Symbols "
• " The Changing Face of Evil "
• " Caretaker " (Season 1)
• " Non Sequitur " (Season 2)
• " Death Wish "
• " Future's End " (Season 3)
• " Future's End, Part II "
• " In the Flesh " (Season 5)
• " Pathfinder " (Season 6)
• " Inside Man " (Season 7)
• " Author, Author " (Season 7)
• " Endgame "
• " Broken Bow " (Season 1)
• " Fortunate Son "
• " Shadows of P'Jem "
• " Shockwave "
• " Shockwave, Part II " (Season 2)
• " Carbon Creek "
• " Regeneration "
• " First Flight "
• " The Expanse "
• " Twilight " (Season 3)
• " Carpenter Street "
• " Zero Hour "
• " Storm Front " (Season 4)
• " Storm Front, Part II "
• " Borderland "
• " Affliction "
• " In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II "
• " Terra Prime "
• " These Are the Voyages... "
• Star Trek Into Darkness
• " Will You Take My Hand? " (Season 1)
• " New Eden " (Season 2) (recording)
• " Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2 "
• " People of Earth " (Season 3)
• " Coming Home " (Season 4)
• " Strange New Worlds " (Season 1)
• " Ad Astra per Aspera " (Season 2)
• " Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow "
• " The Trouble with Edward " (Season 2)
• " Children of Mars "
• " Remembrance " (Season 1)
• " Maps and Legends "
• " The End is the Beginning "
• " Nepenthe "
• " The Star Gazer " (Season 2)
• " Penance "
• " Assimilation "
• " Watcher "
• " Fly Me to the Moon "
• " Two of One "
• " Monsters "
• " Hide and Seek "
• " Farewell "
• " The Next Generation " (Season 3)
• " Seventeen Seconds "
• " No Win Scenario "
• " The Last Generation "
• " Where Pleasant Fountains Lie " (Season 2)
• " Grounded " (Season 3)
• " A Mathematically Perfect Redemption "
• " The Stars At Night "
• " Twovix " (Season 4)
• " A Few Badgeys More "
• " Old Friends, New Planets "
• " Supernova, Part 2 " (Season 1)

Related topics [ ]

• Earth animals
• Earth cities and towns
• Earth insects
• Earth geography
• Earth plants
• Earth regions
• Duplicate Earth
• Objects in Earth orbit

Background information [ ]

Origins [ ].

In such episodes as TOS : " The Cage " and TAS : " How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth ", the name "Earth" is used interchangeably with "Sol" when referring to the whole Sol system . Gene Roddenberry preferred that Star Trek writers used the name "Earth" for the planet instead of "Terra". ( Star Trek: Communicator  issue 113 , p. 13)

That Star Trek was obviously to be filmed on Earth led Gene Roddenberry to suggest, in his original 1964 pitch Star Trek is... , the notion of making Star Trek affordable by setting episodes on planets similar to Earth (for instance, those with class M environments as well as those fitting Hodgkin's Law of Parallel Planetary Development ). He wrote, " It means simply that our stories deal with plant and animal life, plus people, quite similar to that on earth [....] The 'Parallel Worlds' concept makes production practical by permitting action-adventure science fiction at a practical budget figure via the use of available 'earth' casting, sets, locations, costuming and so on. " Among several story ideas Roddenberry proposed in Star Trek is… were "Mr. Socrates" (which hypothesized that Earth of Star Trek 's era may have been secretly under telepathic observation by an alien society over centuries), "Reason" (which seemed to suggest that the decimation of intelligent life on Earth, leaving merely a robot society, had been a "long speculative" issue on Earth) and "Torx" (which pertained to "the first major menace to Earth," a non-corporeal alien being that "devours" intelligence such as that which "the Earth could supply in quantity").

In a fantasy scene included in the script for first Star Trek pilot episode " The Cage " (dated 20 November 1964 ) but not included in that installment, an Earth trader referred to Captain Pike as having sent Earth "blistering" reports about Orion traders. [7] Similarly, in an ultimately unused Kirk voice-over which originally introduced the second pilot " Where No Man Has Gone Before " (for example, in that episode's final revised draft script, dated 9 July 1965 ), Kirk was scripted to say, " Our Earth is but a pinpoint [in our galaxy], one speck of dust. " [8] A filmed but deleted version of this voice-over featured Kirk instead citing the planet as one of multiple "specks of dust" while the Enterprise was on a heading out of the Milky Way Galaxy . ("Where No Man Has Gone Before" (Rare and Unaired Alternate Version), TOS Season 3 Blu-ray special features)

When it came to depicting a digital matte painting of Mojave in the remastered version of "The Cage" and " The Menagerie, Part II ", the ethos behind Star Trek 's presentations of the planet proved inspirational. Dave Rossi , VFX Line Producer for Remastered TOS, clarified, " The whole idea about Earth in the 23rd century is that it's a paradise and [....] that also the environment has changed. So, it was very important for us to make sure that everything looked beautiful and lush and green and living, because that's the planet of the future. " (" The Menagerie, Part II " Starfleet Access , TOS Season 1 Blu-ray )

During the making of Star Trek: The Original Series , representing Earth of the 23rd century was virtually impossible. ( text commentary , Star Trek: The Motion Picture (The Director's Edition) DVD ) Ronald D. Moore noted, " Kirk and company never went to present day 23rd century Earth, their contemporaneous Earth, ever. Gene wouldn’t do it. " [9] This was due to budgetary limitations. ( text commentary , Star Trek: The Motion Picture (The Director's Edition) DVD ) Specifically, portraying future Earth believably would necessitate elaborate sets and matte paintings , all of which would be extremely expensive. Visiting Earth might also involve the use of costly spacedocks and other ships, though these were all in very short supply on TOS. The financial impracticability of depicting Earth resulted in few visits to the planet, with one of the foundations of Gene Roddenberry's concept for Star Trek consequently being that the show almost never voyaged to Earth. Another motive for this was that Roddenberry believed portraying future Earth might also require showing how the planet's political and economic systems had developed. Politically liberal, Roddenberry was anxious that such revelations might bring about arguments with sponsors and others who might not share his views. (" The Menagerie, Part II " text commentary , TOS Season 1 DVD ) Earth of the future was nonetheless imagined as a unified if not peaceful planet, as was implied by the fact that the Enterprise 's "U.S.S." designation were initials that stood for "United Space Ship". [10] Roddenberry also intended for Earth to be metaphorically alluded to aboard the Enterprise , with the planet's many nationalities being represented by the ship's multinational crew. The idea of reflecting the unified diversity of Earth on board the starship was central to Roddenberry's vision of Star Trek . ("The Birth of a Timeless Legacy", TOS Season 1 DVD and TOS Season 1 Blu-ray special features)

In the document The Star Trek Guide , Gene Roddenberry wrote, " For one thing, we'll never take a story back [to Earth] […] and therefore don't expect to get into subjects which would create great problems, technical and otherwise [....] References by our characters to Earth will be simply a logical projection of current scientific and social advances in food production, transportation, communications, and so on. If you want to assume that Earth cities of that future are so splendidly planned with fifty-mile parkland strips around them, fine. But for obvious reasons, let's not get into any detail of Earth's politics of Star Trek 's century; for example, which socioeconomic systems ultimately worked out best. " Despite the instructions that writers not write specifically about the future political state of Earth, the same article did indicate the planet was now a unified if not peaceful place, politically. After making it clear that any stories representing "an autocratic, regimented, inhuman Earth of the future" would be rejected, the article continued by stating, " We must have an optimistic projection from Earth of today if we are to approve of and identify with Captain Kirk, the crew of the Enterprise , and their mission. " [11] Roddenberry later often postulated that the Earth of both Kirk's and Picard 's time periods was a paradise, with no poverty, crime or war. ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion , p. 138)

First serialized depictions [ ]

In a story document dated 21 March 1966 , an undeveloped TOS episode entitled " Kafka's Trial " was described as involving a potential threat to Earth; the Enterprise crew was told by a "universe alien patrol" which invaded the ship that a trial was being held, aboard the vessel, to decide whether Earth would be destroyed.

Amid the making of the first season (i.e., on 5 April 1966 ), writer Barry Trivers pitched a story concept (the genesis of the episode " The Conscience of the King ") in which Earth was established as having been horrifically invaded by "an army of marauders," in James T. Kirk 's childhood. Gene Roddenberry was completely opposed to portraying such a bleak future for Earth, so a similar incident was established as having instead occurred on Tarsus IV . ( These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One )

On 12 April 1966 , Robert Justman sent a memo to Gene Roddenberry which outlined a potential story for the series that centered on Earth as the main setting. The memo read, " The Enterprise is returning to Earth [....] The Enterprise does arrive back at Earth, but this is Earth of 1966 and not of their time [....] Kirk begins to see, by breaking through time, he is starting off a whole sequence of events which will affect the history and civilization of our planet in future years. " The way Earth was featured in this story springboard pre-empted but didn't directly inspire the contemporary Earth setting of the episode " Tomorrow is Yesterday ", which was written by D.C. Fontana and whose first story outline was submitted roughly half a year later (on 3 October 1966 ). ( These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One )

In the final draft script of TOS : " The Naked Time ", Kirk specified that he wanted the Enterprise to head "toward Earth", upon setting the ship on a reverse course during the episode's climax, though he also admitted that the heading was of no consequence. In the final version of the episode, the reference to Earth is omitted, though the rest of that line of dialogue remains exactly as it was in the final draft script.

When the first draft teleplay of "Tomorrow is Yesterday" was delivered on 1 November 1966 (though the script itself was dated 31 October 1966), Robert Justman issued some advice about the upper parts of Earth's atmosphere. Since Fontana and Gene Coon intended the outing to incorporate stock footage of airplanes, Justman suggested to the pair that a limit of up to about 60,000 or 70,000 feet would be possible for the planes and stated, " This is still within the atmosphere limits of the Earth, and there is still daylight up there – we are not in inky blackness at that altitude. " Justman concluded that the sky would also have to serve as the background for several shots of the Enterprise , necessitating the creation of new effects footage. Because the script referred to the Enterprise as being detectable but not discernible from a ground installation using radar, Justman proposed "a large body of water, such as the Atlantic or Pacific" might be under the starship. ( These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One )

Blue screen was used as a replaceable background for the filming of scenes showing the cockpit of Captain John Christopher's jet. Some footage involving Earth's atmosphere, with the Enterprise flying through it, was shot by the Howard A. Anderson Company (though the Westheimer Company was also used for the episode). One such shot, of the ship climbing through the atmosphere, was filmed by the Howard Anderson Company but never used. Also, footage of Earth was reused from the earlier season 1 outing " Miri ", in which the globe had been used to represent Miri . Despite the planet having been depicted without clouds in that installment, clouds were added for the shots of Earth in "Tomorrow is Yesterday". ( These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One )

Even though Gene Roddenberry publicly blamed Harlan Ellison for apparently not being able to write " The City on the Edge of Forever " without making it go hugely over budget, Allan Brennert – a writer and former producer – subsequently assured Ellison that the episode's 1930s Earth scenes clearly necessitated over-expenditure. This was largely because, as Brennert informed Ellison, " The planet's surface […] [and] all the Old Earth interiors had to be constructed. " Brennert went on to say, " Roddenberry had to've known this from the very first [story] treatment, as did the people responsible for budgeting the segment, it didn't take them by surprise, and both they and NBC gave you the green light to go to teleplay first draft. " ( The City on the Edge of Forever , 1996 ed., "Perils of the 'City'")

After receiving the story outline for " Space Seed " (written by Carey Wilber ), NBC executive Stan Robertson enthusiastically wrote to Gene Coon , " There is an exciting blend of past Earth history – the similarity of the plot with the colonization of Australia; [plus] a current problem of our contemporary society – over-population. " How "Space Seed" actually portrayed Earth at first, though, initially frustrated Gene Roddenberry. Following delivery of the episode's second-draft script, Roddenberry commented in a memo to Coon, " It is hard to believe the world of the 1990s sending men off to a penal colony in the stars. Romantic, but impractical. No 'advanced' world of the 1990s would do this; no barbaric or dark ages world of the 1990s would spend the hundreds of millions required to do it, when a simpler expedient for a barbaric world would be simply to put the men to death. So the entire concept is rather shaky to start with. " Instead, a reference in the script to what Wilber termed "The Dark Ages of the 1990s" influenced Roddenberry to devise the era of Earth's Eugenics Wars and suggest that, in the 1990s, the planet had gradually come under the control of Augments . ( These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One )

For stories set on Earth in contemporary times, maintaining the audience's suspension of disbelief could be quite challenging. " It's always a dangerous idea to take the Star Trek characters into the present, " stated Director Marc Daniels , who helmed the TOS installment " Assignment: Earth ". " Suddenly you're in a very tangible situation. The show's reality becomes that much harder to maintain. " ( Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages , p. 63) Such episodes were often extremely successful, though. In a 1968 letter which Gene Roddenberry wrote in an unsuccessful attempt to pitch a new television series based on "Assignment: Earth", he commented, " It is a matter of record that Star Trek 's most exciting and successful audience shows were those three in which Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock returned to 20th-century Earth and played out their story there. " ( Star Trek Creator: The Authorized Biography of Gene Roddenberry , p. 334)

First film appearance [ ]

Shortly before Star Trek: The Motion Picture was written, a story idea which Harlan Ellison verbally pitched to Paramount as one of many ultimately nixed stories , each of which were separately conceived as a potential narrative foundation for the first Star Trek film, was set primarily on Earth. " The story did not begin with any of the Enterprise crew, but started on Earth where strange phenomena were inexplicably occurring, " recorded writer James Van Hise . Both a building in India, wherein a family had been having dinner, and one of the Great Lakes in the United States suddenly vanished. In a public square, a woman suddenly screamed and collapsed to the pavement, where she turned into a form of reptilian creature. Though the truth was suppressed, the Federation realized these sudden changes on Earth were due to alterations in the planet's distant past, caused by an alien race of intelligent humanoid reptiles from a planet in a far away galaxy where snakes had become the dominant lifeform. Earth had been likewise populated by the snake-aliens eons ago, in the Pleistocene period, but the snake-creatures there had been destroyed by early Humans. After submitting the story, Ellison explained, " A snake-creature who had come to Earth in the Star Trek feature, had seen its ancestors wiped out, and […] had gone back into the far past of Earth to set up distortions in the time-flow so the reptiles could beat the Humans. " The mission of saving Earth, journeying into the planet's far past, was made the responsibility of the Enterprise and its crew. ( The City on the Edge of Forever , 1996 ed., "Perils of the 'City'")

Earth was also a setting in another of the multiple stories that were suggested as the first Star Trek film, this one titled Star Trek: Planet of the Titans . In a story treatment which Philip Kaufman wrote for that movie, the planet was described thus; " We have never seen the Earth of the 23rd century before on Star Trek . Seeing it for the first time, we are struck by the progress mankind can make. It's a thoughtful, optimistic world. The industrial revolution has long ago given way to the organic revolution. Much of the surface of the Earth has been restored to nature; man has returned to living comfortably in the earth. The great cities of centuries past are now public parks, their ruins preserved for pleasure and for education. "

Despite Gene Roddenberry's fears about the dangers of portraying future Earth's political and economic systems, later incarnations of Star Trek featured futuristic depictions of the planet more than TOS had. (" The Menagerie, Part II " text commentary , TOS Season 1 DVD ) Though an illusory version of 23rd-century Earth appeared in "The Cage", the first real glimpse of the planet in that century was in Star Trek: The Motion Picture , which includes only a single scene set on Earth's surface. The concept that the first Star Trek film would feature Earth being jeopardized with destruction by a massive object (which eventually became V'ger ) approaching the planet was conceived as early as the writing of the Gene Roddenberry script The God Thing . ( The Longest Trek: Writing The Motion Picture , Star Trek: The Motion Picture (Blu-ray) special features) The opportunity to visit the planet was extremely attractive to Robert Goodwin . " I suggested to Gene that since it had never been done in the series before, that we should come up with a story in which Earth was threatened, " he recalled. " In all the Star Trek episodes before, they never even came close to Earth. " Subsequently, the agenda of depicting Earth fit well with the story for " In Thy Image ", written by Alan Dean Foster . ("The Next Phase", The Fifty-Year Mission: The First 25 Years ) Depicting the planet in Star Trek 's future time period was ultimately made doable in The Motion Picture only because the makers of that film were able to take advantage of the higher budget associated with a feature film project. ( text commentary , Star Trek: The Motion Picture (The Director's Edition) DVD )

At first, Director Robert Wise was attracted to the prospect of directing The Motion Picture specifically because it entailed him doing a science fiction movie imbued with a greater scope than if it had been set entirely on Earth, as The Day the Earth Stood Still had been. ( Star Trek: The Magazine  Volume 2, Issue 8 , p. 14) On the other hand, Wise was insistent that part of The Motion Picture be set on Earth's surface, saying, " It is very important that we show the Earth in this film. " ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 173 , p. 63)

In the script for The Motion Picture , a view of Earth as the Enterprise leaves the planet was described as a "lovely bluish, cloud-laced image of Earth." [12]

Various techniques were used to represent Earth in The Motion Picture . ( audio commentary , Star Trek: The Motion Picture (Blu-ray) special features) The planet was depicted from orbit in the film via matte paintings illustrated by Matthew Yuricich . ( The Making of Star Trek: The Motion Picture , pp. 211 & 212) These illustrations were incorporated into shots via use of a matte. Daren Dochterman – who served as a visual effects supervisor for a director's edition DVD release of the movie – reckoned, " I don't think they built [a model of the planet]. " However, Michael Okuda claimed that the different methods of depicting Earth in the movie included a dome onto which powder was sprinkled to create cloud shadows. ( audio commentary , Star Trek: The Motion Picture (Blu-ray) special features)

Upon creating new views of the San Francisco Bay area for the Director's Edition of the film, the associated visual effects artists took inspiration from how Gene Roddenberry had imagined Earth. " Part of Star Trek 's future is that it's not just more technologically advanced, it's more ecologically advanced, " commented Adam Lebowitz , another visual effects supervisor on the project. " Humans have taken great pains to clean up the planet, to remove the pollution from the atmosphere, and to beautify the landscape. " ( Star Trek Monthly  issue 86 , pp. 52–53) Some new CGI shots featuring the planet as seen from orbit, being encountered by V'ger , were also created for the Director's Edition, generated by Foundation Imaging . ( audio commentary , Star Trek: The Motion Picture (The Director's Edition) DVD )

The movie's only scene set on Earth's surface was met with varying reactions. Michael Okuda described it as " such a simple scene, but it says so much about Gene Roddenberry's vision of the future. " ( audio commentary , Star Trek: The Motion Picture (Blu-ray) special features) Roddenberry himself was unhappy with an establishing shot that, in the film's theatrical cut, begins the scene and is the only establishing shot used to represent the planet's surface. " It didn't really present the look of 23rd-century Earth that Gene was hoping to show, " explained Robert Wise. ( audio commentary , Star Trek: The Motion Picture (The Director's Edition) DVD )

Later portrayals [ ]

Other films and spin-off series showed future Earth even more than it had been depicted in both TOS and The Motion Picture . The growth in visitations to the planet was made possible thanks to advances in visual effects technology and increases in Star Trek 's budgets. (" The Menagerie, Part II " text commentary , TOS Season 1 DVD )

Frank Ordaz paints a studio model of the Earth for Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

The script for Star Trek III: The Search for Spock poetically referred to "the grandeur of the horizon arc of the great blue marble." [13] In that film, Earth was portrayed using matte painting in some cases and a model in others. Painted by Frank Ordaz , the model had two halves. Clouds and part of the planet's surface were on one half, whereas the other side showed only clouds atop a dark under-layer. The clouds on the latter half were later to be double-exposed over the planet surface at a slightly different rotation speed. ( Cinefex , No. 18, p. 47)

Like the script for Star Trek III , the revised shooting script for Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and the revised final draft script for Star Trek V: The Final Frontier also referred to Earth as the "blue marble." Elsewhere in these descriptions, both scripts specified the planet's name and the screenplay for Star Trek V referred to the marble as "big." [14] [15] Also, a visually spectacular journey through the cosmos which was originally to serve as the credits sequence for Star Trek V was intended to culminate in what was scripted as "a breathtaking shot of Earth." [16]

Earth orbiting the sun , as seen in the TNG opening sequence

Earth appears as the first planet in the opening sequence of Star Trek: The Next Generation 's first and second seasons . It is shown orbiting the sun and is followed by the moon , Jupiter , and Saturn before the USS Enterprise -D starts its exploration of unknown space.

The idea of featuring Earth as the central setting of TNG : " Family " was thought up by Michael Piller . Though many people were extremely hesitant about focusing on the planet in such a way, the concept was accepted by Rick Berman . Piller later recalled, " Rick said, 'I'll let you take Picard to Earth.' " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 22, No. 2, p. 36) To create views of Earth in "Family", satellite photos of the planet were used. ( To Boldly Go ) Piller ultimately suspected that using Earth as a central setting of the story resulted in the episode having some of the lowest viewing figures in Star Trek history. ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 22, No. 2, p. 36)

When Michael Piller and other members of Star Trek: The Next Generation 's resident writing staff pitched the story for TNG : " The First Duty " to Rick Berman, the fact that Earth was the most used setting in the episode almost led Berman to disallow any subsequent progress on the installment. He furthermore declared that Star Trek was "not about going back to Earth," in Piller's words. Berman was eventually persuaded by Piller into approving the episode, on condition that only three sets were to be used to represent interiors on the planet. ( Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages , p. 242)

Earth is directly referred to in a scene which was deleted from TNG : " Sub Rosa ". ( TNG Season 7 Blu-ray special features)

In a scene which was scripted for DS9 : " Emissary " but not included in that episode's final edit, Commander Benjamin Sisko was to have received a recorded follow-up message from Earth, where a university chancellor told him that an old house he had inquired about, on Moravian Lane, was available if he wanted it. David Carson explained, " There were clear indications that he was being offered a job back at a university on earth. " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 24, Nos. 3/4, p. 101)

Director Paul Lynch once commented that Earth could easily have been the main setting in DS9: " Battle Lines ", instead of an unnamed moon . Lynch remarked, " It could have happened on Earth, and that's what made it compelling to me. " [17]

In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , Ira Steven Behr took care not to contradict Gene Roddenberry's view of Earth as a paradise but started having the main characters examine the subject further. Likewise, whereas Roddenberry had been fond of describing the future Earth as a paradise, the DS9 writing staffers were more interested in demonstrating exactly how difficult it was to maintain that paradise. ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion , pp. 138 & 303) " The whole Roddenberry thing was believable when you're living back on Earth, " Behr observed. " We thought it was a fundamental thing to state. " ( Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages , p. 59) He further explained, " The one thing that ST:DS9 has done to its credit – it's probably backfired on us to an extent – is we keep questioning this whole thing that Gene Roddenberry came up with supposedly about the 24th century and Earth being a paradise and 'what is paradise?' We like to test it [....] We're not saying that it's not real or it's not a worthy goal, but paradise is a delicate commodity. " ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Official Poster Magazine , No. 10)

In DS9 Season 3 installment " Past Tense, Part II ", Special Effects Supervisor David Takemura was tasked with rendering a shot of Earth, with the USS Defiant orbiting the planet. " I used an eight-by-ten NASA transparency of the real Earth to create the footage, " he explained. To make it seem as if the shot wasn't still, Takemura devised a motion-control move in which the transparency panned in one direction while the motion control camera panned in the opposite direction. " I thought it was a nice shot, " Takemura concluded. ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion , p. 202)

Earth was originally set to feature at the end of DS9's third season. " We were planning a big two-part episode where we go back to Earth – maybe the Academy – and realize that there has been changeling infiltration, " René Echevarria recalled. ( Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages , p. 99) Explaining why Earth was chosen as the plot's setting, he admitted, " We'd decided that the scariest thing would be to set the story at home, with people we care about. " The two-part narrative focusing on Earth and events there was at first intended to provide a cliffhanger ending to season three and be concluded at the start of the fourth season . The Earth-based two-parter was thereafter planned, by the DS9 producers, to launch the show's fourth season, but was then delayed again, finally airing as " Homefront " and " Paradise Lost ", midway through season four. ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion , pp. 250 & 253)

In " Little Green Men ", Earth of the past was once again visited, specifically the Roswell Incident of 1947. " It's one of those things that Star Trek can do, " commented Quark actor Armin Shimerman . " It can combine fantasy and history, and do a take on it. That started in the original series when the Enterprise would visit Earth back in the past. " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 28, No. 4/5, p. 61) Shimerman particularly liked how the planet was used as a setting for "Little Green Men". " In my wildest dreams, I never saw Quark going to earth ever, " he revealed. " So it was nice, not only to be on Earth, but to be on Earth in the Forties. " ("Period Piece", Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Official Poster Magazine , No. 6) Shimerman also remarked that, for DS9 recurring character Nog , being on Earth full-time (in order to attend Starfleet Academy) implied that Nog actor Aron Eisenberg would have less to do on the series. ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 28, No. 4/5, p. 47)

During the development of "Homefront" and "Paradise Lost", the DS9 writing staff chose to create a story "focusing on Earth and Humanity, and being on Earth." ( Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages , p. 112) Indeed, the two-parter gave the writers a welcome opportunity to test how paradisical the planet actually was, in the 24th century. " We've tested it on other occasions too in the series, so this was a test to see what it was like, " said Ira Steven Behr. ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Official Poster Magazine , No. 10) The notion of Earth being infiltrated by Changelings turned out to be popular, but viewers repeatedly pointed out to Behr that the setting wasn't really in the purview of the series. Even Behr himself conceded, " Earth isn't our franchise. " ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion , p. 422)

When it came time to shoot the Earth scenes of "Homefront" and "Paradise Lost", the planet had to be shown on a tight budget. " We had to paint that world a little better and we were really feeling the budget crunch, " Ira Steven Behr related. ( Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages , p. 112) He elaborated, " I wish we could have had a little more location stuff, a little more outside stuff. " ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Official Poster Magazine , No. 10)

In the first draft script of DS9 : " Body Parts ", Earth was mentioned, Worf advising Miles O'Brien to send his wife and daughter, Keiko and Molly O'Brien , to the planet as that had worked, in Worf's opinion, between himself and Alexander Rozhenko and because Miles was stressed by his wife's activities, since she was pregnant. The planet is not referenced in the final version of that episode, though.

If the DS9 Season 6 episode " Waltz " had ended as it was originally scripted to – with Dukat threatening to kill Jake Sisko – sending Jake to Earth was one of two optional precautions which Ronald D. Moore suspected Jake's father, Benjamin Sisko, would have had to take, the other being the deployment of "a twenty-six-hour guard" to carefully watch Jake. ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion , p. 522)

Earth was on Ira Steven Behr's mind as he invented Section 31 , during DS9's sixth season. " Why is Earth a paradise in the twenty-fourth century? " he pondered. " Well, maybe it's because there's someone watching over it. " ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion , p. 551)

Sending Captain Sisko to Earth was part of the story for DS9 Season 6 finale " Tears of the Prophets " at least as far back as when Ira Steven Behr gathered the writing staff and announced, for the first time, details of the plot to them. A real Native American chant about the planet, entitled "Only the Earth Endures", provided the genesis for a Klingon death chant (referencing Qo'noS instead) in "Tears of the Prophets". ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion , pp. 586 & 588)

Molly O'Brien actress Hana Hatae thought it made sense for the O'Brien family to relocate to Earth in DS9 series finalé " What You Leave Behind ". " Earth seemed like a safe move for a Human family with two young kids, " reckoned Hatae. [18]

Owing to the premise of Star Trek: Voyager , Earth could not be shown as a regular setting in that series. ( Star Trek: Voyager - A Vision of the Future , p. 164) Earth nonetheless did appear on the show. Ronald D. Moore observed, " There have been more episodes [in VOY] that have taken place on Earth, or alternate Earth, or past Earth than I think the original series did in its whole run, and the original series was set over in the Alpha Quadrant. " Brannon Braga even considered permanently returning the starship Voyager to the planet. Moore, who imagined an initial two-parter focusing on the vessel's arrival at Earth, argued against this option, believing it would waste Star Trek: Voyager 's "golden opportunity" to be different from all the other Star Trek series. [19]

Earth was additionally to have been featured in an ultimately undeveloped episode of Voyager . One idea which Brannon Braga concocted for the story was starting it with Voyager apparently above Earth, returning home to the planet, though the craft was actually a biomimetic duplicate of the actual starship Voyager . For the same story, Braga also suggested the planet be a point of convergence for about a thousand similar duplicates of the ship. ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 31, No. 11, p. 49) One reason this story concept was abandoned was that the writing staff thought it would undermine the moment when the real Voyager returned to Earth, which the creative team, even then, intended to eventually have happen. ( Star Trek: Action! , p. 6)

Prior to learning the events of Star Trek: Voyager series finalé " Endgame ", many of the main cast members from that series were hopeful, at the beginning of the show's seventh season , that the crew of the USS Voyager would have time back on Earth to explore the implications of their return home. Tuvok actor Tim Russ perceived both positives and negatives in featuring Earth so prominently towards the end of the series. He said, " It will be very dramatic and exciting to return to Earth, and it has been the focus of our journey. But by the same token, the show will no longer be the Voyager of the series, as we will no longer be on our own in the far side of the Galaxy, making new discoveries. " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 33, No. 5, pp. 38 & 39)

Actor Ethan Phillips was glad Earth was not the final destination of his character of Neelix , Phillips not being able to imagine Neelix on the planet nor what he would have done there. Phillips also believed that, even if Neelix had ended up on Earth, the planet's population would have included no other Talaxians . [20]

Harry Kim actor Garrett Wang was highly frustrated by the fact Earth is shown from orbit in the last shot of "Endgame", with Voyager approaching the planet. " We don't even step foot on Earth, " Wang pointed out. " Hello! After seven years, I think the fans wanted to see us actually step foot on terra firma. " [21] B'Elanna Torres actress Roxann Dawson felt similarly about the depiction of Earth in Star Trek: Voyager , as one thing she thought would have been interesting for the series to have explored was what Torres and husband Tom Paris were like, once they were back on Earth. [22]

The series that became Star Trek: Enterprise was originally imagined as having an Earth-bound setting. In fact, when series co-creator Rick Berman first approached fellow series co-creator Brannon Braga about the initial concept of the show, Berman referred to it as a prequel series set "in the mud," featuring the construction of Earth's first warp 5 ship. ("To Boldly Go: Launching Enterprise , Part I: Countdown", ENT Season 1 Blu-ray special features) The pair wanted at least the series' first season to be set on Earth, proceeded by the launch of the craft. ( Star Trek: The Official Starships Collection , issue 82, p. 12; "To Boldly Go: Launching Enterprise , Part I: Countdown", ENT Season 1 Blu-ray special features) Braga once explained that this was their first idea for the show. ( Star Trek: The Official Starships Collection , issue 89, p. 12) The concept was vetoed, however, by executives at Paramount Pictures , who favored a more conventional Star Trek setting. ("To Boldly Go: Launching Enterprise , Part I: Countdown", ENT Season 1 Blu-ray special features) Nonetheless, much of the series' pilot episode, " Broken Bow ", was ultimately set on Earth. Braga remarked, " It's really a fun place to be, strangely enough, because it's kind of a fresh setting for us. " The series turned out to be conceived in such a way that more stories than usual were to have ramifications on Earth and references to the planet. " In terms of how close this Earth is to Roddenberry's vision, I think it falls somewhere between now and Kirk 's time. Not everything is perfect, " Braga pointed out. ( Broken Bow , paperback ed., pp. 256 & 250) He and Berman even established that Earth had an antagonistic relationship with Vulcan. ( Star Trek: The Official Starships Collection , issue 55, p. 15) Before it was decided whether the NX-class starship Enterprise would ever fly back to Earth, though, Braga announced that such visits to the planet would not be frequent. ( Broken Bow , paperback ed., p. 256)

Enterprise 's opening titles sequence begins with two shots of Earth. These were initially intended to be two particular IMAX shots taken from a space shuttle. However, Paramount failed to secure the rights to use them, so they asked Eden FX to intricately reproduce the shots exactly in CGI, allowing the visual effects house only two days in which to do so. Eden's Robert Bonchune recollected, " That was kind of tough, to put together Planet Earth and have it look like those IMAX shots [....] Fortunately, we have CG models of the Earth, fully mapped with clouds and everything. We had to up-res some detail on them [....] It had to look exactly like the IMAX shots in terms of cloud patterns and where the glint of the ocean is. That was pretty specific, so it took some work. But I don't think anyone would know, watching those opening shots, that they were pure CG shots of the Earth. " ( Star Trek Monthly  issue 106 , p. 46)

In the first draft script of ENT : " Fortunate Son ", this planet was mentioned when Matthew Ryan asked Captain Archer whether, if Ryan handed over a Nausicaan prisoner he was secretly holding prisoner aboard his ship , Enterprise would "fly all the way back to Earth" to put the Nausicaan on trial.

In the final draft script of ENT : " Detained ", Earth was referenced a few times in dialogue that didn't make it into the episode. For example, Travis Mayweather told a Suliban girl named Narra that he lived on Earth, whereas his backstory actually established him as meanwhile living aboard Enterprise . In a later scene, T'Pol imagined Earth someday establishing "formal relations" with Tandar Prime .

Earth was further discussed between Archer and Zobral in ultimately unused dialogue from the final draft script of ENT : " Desert Crossing ". At one point in the conversation, Archer stated about the planet's ecology, " There's plenty of sea life, but most people live on land. " Archer later referenced the planet again in the script, as part of another excised comment, this time to Charles "Trip" Tucker .

If things had gone according to what the ENT producers had planned, Earth in Star Trek: Enterprise would have been literally left behind. Although that essentially is what happens in the first two seasons of the series, the threat to the planet posed by the Xindi was written to be a significant feature in second season installment " The Expanse " as well as the show's third season. " The irony of season 3 was that even though there was a threat to Earth, we only really spend one episode on Earth [i.e., 'The Expanse'] and then we're out exploring the Xindi, " observed writer/producer Michael Sussman . ( Star Trek: The Official Starships Collection , issue 82, p. 13)

In a deleted scene from ENT : " E² ", Earth was mentioned by Phlox ; he pointed out to Archer that, following the Xindi incident , the crew of a particular version of Enterprise from a specific alternate timeline would probably be happy to return to Earth. ( ENT Season 3 DVD and Blu-ray special features)

It wasn't until the Xindi arc came to an end that the choice to focus on Earth was made. Commented Mike Sussman, " It certainly seemed natural after spending an entire season in deep space saving the Earth from a threat, that we now had to deal with the repercussions of what had happened [....] How is the Earth recovering? " ( Star Trek: The Official Starships Collection , issue 82, p. 14)

When Manny Coto took charge of the Star Trek: Enterprise writing staff for the series' fourth season , he decided to develop stories that showed the links between Earth of "Broken Bow" and the 23rd century of the first Star Trek series. The planet's antagonistic relationship with Vulcan was of great interest to married writing couple Garfield and Judith Reeves-Stevens when they joined the series in season four. ( Star Trek: The Official Starships Collection , issue 55, p. 15) During the course of that season, Earth was impacted on by Coto intending to establish the specifics of how the Federation had come to be and how Humanity had evolved past xenophobia (resulting from the Xindi threat), both of which resulted in the planet becoming a major setting for stories about those issues. ( Star Trek: The Official Starships Collection , issue 82, p. 17)

When Mike Sussman was given the task of writing ENT : " Home ", setting the episode on Earth was pitched to him as the key component, as it was felt that an installment which took place on the planet needed to be done. This notion took its cue from TNG : " Family ", which is likewise set primarily on Earth. While penning "Home", Sussman considered some aspects of the planet which had never really been answered before, ultimately deciding that Earth's government would be United Earth (which had been canonically referenced beforehand, though hadn't been set up as the planet's government). ( Star Trek: The Official Starships Collection , issue 82, p. 14)

Earth was briefly mentioned in an extended scene from "Home" (included in the ENT Season 4 Blu-ray ). In the deleted portion of the scene, Charles Tucker suggested to Koss , who had never before met a Human, that he visit the planet at some point, to "broaden [his] horizons."

As described in the final draft script of ENT : " Demons ", Earth was to be shown in the episode's first establishing shot of the Orpheus Mining Complex on Luna. However, the planet doesn't appear in the final version of that shot.

If Star Trek: Enterprise had been renewed for a fifth season, how Earth was evolving would have been dealt with in many more stories. Because Manny Coto wanted to show the Earth-Romulan War in ENT, the planet's continual developments would have been portrayed, visibly leading to Earth becoming the center of the Federation and the utopia Gene Roddenberry had promised. ( Star Trek: The Official Starships Collection , issue 82, p. 17)

In Star Trek Nemesis , views of Earth from orbit were derived from 20K NASA images. Though these high-resolution pictures were completely accurate illustrations of the planet surface and visually appealed to Digital Domain Supervisor Mark Forker , the producers and director of the film were initially not entirely happy with them. Recollected Forker, " They requested some changes – England was too small, Italy was too close to Africa, and the boot [shape of Italy] was too big. " Manipulating the images, Digital Domain made the appropriate changes and added digital clouds. " Of course, by the time we added clouds and atmosphere, " said Forker, " the changes weren't that noticeable. " ( Cinefex , No. 111, p. 93)

Earth of the alternate reality [ ]

Earth and the planet's atmosphere backdrop an apparently doomed Enterprise in a poster for Star Trek Into Darkness

While the J.J. Abrams movies Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness were being conceived, Earth was considered important to establish as a major setting in the alternate reality . " The Earth needed to play more of a role in these movies, especially in the sense of giving the audience a degree of relatability, " commented writer/producer Damon Lindelof . " I think that in the same way that New York City becomes this anchor point for people in the Marvel movies ; that’s Spidey ’s stomping ground, that was the stomping ground for Tony Stark , that was the stomping ground for The Avengers , it’s New York. We wanted to do the same thing with Earth in the Star Trek movies. " [23]

In the script for the film Star Trek , Earth was metaphorically likened to a gazelle, with a parallel drawn between Nero observing the planet and a lion hunting the gazelle. [24]

For visually depicting Earth in the movies Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness , it was felt important that futuristic cities be kept realistic as much as possible, incorporating practical elements. By way of an example, Visual Effects Supervisor Roger Guyett stated, " It's not a concept art version of […] a city, it's a working version. " [25] To represent Earth in Star Trek Into Darkness , location filming was used, most of which was done in Los Angeles . The locations were picked by Production Designer Scott Chambliss . ( Cinefex , No. 134, p. 72)

Star Trek Into Darkness ' visual effects team created the look of multiple cities on Earth, including London and San Francisco. " Our philosophy about doing cities, and respecting the canon of how the [world] is described by Gene Roddenberry, " explained Roger Guyett, " is that you're only a few [hundred] years into the future. You're not that far away [....] We go through this process of, 'What would have happened? What buildings would they have hung on to? How would it have changed the nature of some of the design choices they made?' We like to take things that are real and try to make the architecture scalable. In other words, a scale that is not just totally ridiculous and massive. At the same time, you want a few landmarks in those shots to get the sense of what city you are in [....] But, at the same time, we want to elaborate on that and use our imagination on how that might have changed. " ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 172 , pp. 48–49)

The futuristic cities in Star Trek Into Darkness took a design cue from the previous film. J.J. Abrams recalled, " We wanted terrestrial cities to be consistent with what we had established, but at a much higher resolution. We got to live, breathe and chase within the city streets this time, but we also wanted to maintain a level of potential truth and realism [....] We didn't want to get so fanciful that it felt unrelatable. " Abrams selected recognizable urban landmarks for both San Francisco and London, before Industrial Light & Magic created a model showing each of the two cities, both of which were added to with high-resolution CGI buildings. Abrams also described the challenge of imagining how cities might be changed in the future, based on their present conditions, as "fun." ( Cinefex , No. 134, pp. 72 & 74)

Responding to viewer criticism after the release of Star Trek Into Darkness , J.J. Abrams acknowledged, " I can understand that this movie might not have gone as far away from Earth for as long as some people would have liked. " [26]

Regardless of this, Nyota Uhura actress Zoë Saldana hoped that, in Star Trek Beyond , the crew of the Enterprise would " go back to Earth " and, for the first seven or eight minutes of the film, be shown there in the middle of having a day off. [27] However, Star Trek Beyond actually became the second Star Trek film, the first having been Star Trek: Insurrection , not to feature any scenes on or near Earth. A substitute was invented instead. " One of the notes that J.J. always directed towards us was that the threat in the movie have a very far-reaching effect and that it always come back to Earth, " explained Star Trek Beyond co-writer Simon Pegg . " So how can we make Earth a potential victim of whatever's going wrong here with it being so, so, so far away? Because what we're trying to get across in this movie is that they're not anywhere near Earth any more, and so we created a sort of proxy Earth, which is Yorktown . " ("Beyond the Darkness", Star Trek Beyond (Blu-ray) special features)

According to Star Trek: Star Charts (pp. 32, 36-37, 56-57, & "United Federation of Planets I") and Stellar Cartography: The Starfleet Reference Library ("Federation Historical Highlights, [ [28] ]"), fifty years after Earth became warp capable, the United Earth government was founded on Earth in 2113 . The government of Earth was divided into six major regional powers that were governed from their respective capitals. These capitals were San Francisco (North America), Paris (Europe), Kyoto (Asia), Lima (South America), Cape Town (Africa), and Christchurch (Oceania). In 2161 , Earth was a founding member of the United Federation of Planets . The dominant species were Humans and Cetaceans. In the census of 2370 , there were counted 4.2 billion Humans and 8.1 million Cetaceans living on Earth.

According to Star Trek: Star Charts (pp. 36–37 & 56-57), Earth was a hub world on the mid-22nd century Earth trade routes. It traded with Alpha Centauri , Altair , Andoria , Denobula Triaxa , Draylax , Ophicus Colony, Tellar Prime , Trill , Vega Colony , and Vulcan . In 2378 , Earth was a hub world on the major space lanes. Points of interest on Earth included the UFP Council Chambers , Starfleet Headquarters , Starfleet Academy , Cochrane Memorial , Yosemite Valley , and Angel Falls .

According to Stellar Cartography: The Starfleet Reference Library ("The Dominion War: Strategy and Battles, 2373-75"), Earth was raided by the Dominion in August 2375.

David Gerrold verbally drew a parallel between the typical circumstances found on Earth of one particular time period and those of the Federation in TOS. Regarding conditions on Earth of the 18th century, Gerrold explained, " Then too, communications over vast distances were slow and uncertain. The arrival of a courier was always an event. Even if the news he was carrying was several weeks, months, or years old, it was still the most recent news available. When one government had to deal with another, they used diplomatic notes and couriers – and in matters of highest policy, they depended upon their ambassadors. " Also, while criticizing the scientific accuracy of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (or lack thereof), Gerrold commented that "the flat-Earth theory" was slightly more advanced than the film's view of the workings of the universe. ( The World of Star Trek )

Borg-Earth info [ ]

The Borgified Earth being created by Alex Jaeger

At a very early stage of Star Trek: First Contact 's development, the film's writers – including Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore (as well as possibly Rick Berman ) – discussed the possibility of beginning the film in a Borg-assimilated city on Earth. ( audio commentary , Star Trek: First Contact  (Special Edition) DVD / Blu-ray )

In its assimilated state as shown in the movie, Earth was represented with CGI done by Alex Jaeger . ( Star Trek: The Next Generation Sketchbook: The Movies , p. 335) He depicted the heavily polluted version of the planet by creating a series of digital matte paintings . ( Cinefex , No. 69, pp. 113 & 117) As Jaeger had only ever worked in the model shop at Industrial Light & Magic before serving as the company's visual effects art director on First Contact , he found the challenge of creating the altered Earth slightly daunting. " They kind of tossed me into this and said, 'Oh, yeah, we're going to need a Borg Earth,' and I go, 'Oh, OK,' so I did a few early Photoshop pieces that just showed a section of the Earth. Then they said, 'Yeah, that's good, but can you just make a texture for the whole planet that we'll just use in the movie,' and I'm like, 'Uhhh, OK – I've never done that before, but sure!' So, basically what I did was, I took a texture map of the Earth – it was this gigantic Photoshop file – and started changing it around. " ( Star Trek: The Magazine  Volume 1, Issue 23 , p. 88)

Included in the assimilated Earth are details hardly visible in the actual film, such as industrial pipes spanning the oceans. ( Cinefex , No. 69, p. 113) " I saturated all the ground so it was gray and I added all these sort of factory-looking sections so it looked like the ground was completely covered by cities, " remembered Alex Jaeger. " Then, I painted little bridgeways across the oceans and turned the oceans brown. [ First Contact Director] Jonathan Frakes kept saying, 'No, the oceans have got to be brown, like they're full of crap! Just, you know, nasty; you don't want to be there.' " ( Star Trek: The Magazine  Volume 1, Issue 23 , p. 88) Jaeger also noted that, in addition to turning the oceans brown and making the land masses "desaturated and gray, as though they have become overrun with Borg power plants and machinery," he also turned the clouds and atmosphere yellowish-green. ( Cinefex , No. 69, p. 113)

Alex Jaeger was ultimately pleased with how he created the assimilated Earth, essentially destroying the planet visibly by doing so. He remarked, " It turned out fairly well [....] And to have something that I actually painted end up on screen, was kind of cool. " ( Star Trek: The Magazine  Volume 1, Issue 23 , p. 88) Brannon Braga agreed that the optical of the assimilated Earth was "very cool." ( audio commentary , Star Trek: First Contact  (Special Edition) DVD / Blu-ray )

Apocrypha [ ]

According to Gene Roddenberry 's novelization of Star Trek: The Motion Picture , there is a dam across the Straits of Gibraltar. This allowed the level of the Mediterranean Sea to be lowered, creating new farm and park land along the coast, and the world's largest hydro-electric project.

In an alternate future in the Deep Space Nine book series Millennium , Earth was destroyed in 2388 by the violent Grigari. Among the casualties were William T. Riker , Deanna Troi , Geordi La Forge , Beverly Crusher , Tom Paris , B'Elanna Torres , and the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-F .

In the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Dominion Wars video game, if the player plays as the Dominion, the Founders destroy the Federation, bombard Earth, and then declare it to be a secondary homeworld from which to rule.

External links [ ]

• Earth at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• Earth at Wikipedia
• Re-Used Planets in TOS at Ex Astris Scientia
• Re-Used Planets in TNG at Ex Astris Scientia
• Re-Used Planets in DS9 at Ex Astris Scientia
• 2 Daniels (Crewman)
• 3 USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-G)

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Elusive whale’s Star Trek-like call could be their version of ‘Marco Polo’

Whales are known for their noises, from humpback whale songs to the clicks and whistles of orcas and other toothed cetaceans. The elusive and understudied Bryde’s whale makes an even more mysterious noise called “Biotwang.” This whizzing tone using both low and high frequency pings sounds somewhat electronic or mechanical, unlike more melodic songs made by some baleen whales .

Now, this strange vocalization has been recorded and is part of a new repository that can help other scientists study whale vocalizations from eight different species. The findings are described in a study published September 18 in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science .

[Related: We finally know how baleen whales make noise .]

What is Biotwang?

Bryde’s whales– pronounced broodus –are found in the central and western North Pacific. They are less well-known than other baleen whales like humpbacks or right whales.

“Bryde’s whales are different from other baleen whales in that we think they may feed year round, migrating between low latitudes and mid latitudes, and following their food all over the ocean,” study co-author and NOAA research oceanographer Ann Allen tells Popular Science .

Their more complex patterns of movement around the ocean make them difficult for scientists to find. The team recorded several of these sounds in 2014 using autonomous acoustic recordings taken in the Mariana Archipelago near Guam.

Biotwang is produced by Bryde’s whales in the Pacific Ocean. This image of a Byrde’s whale was spotted during a NOAA cetacean survey in the Mariana Archipelago in 2015. CREDIT: NOAA Fisheries/ Andrea R. Bendlin (NMFS MMPA-ESA Permit #15240)

“We only consistently found it in the Western North Pacific, which means that this call may be distinct to a population only found in this area,” says Allen. “That’s important because whale calls travel really far underwater, and allow us to monitor whales year round without needing a person there observing, but we can only do that if we know what species is making the sound.”

What has proven more elusive than the whales themselves is narrowing in on what biotwang is used for. The team heard Biotwangs from individual whales, small mixed groups, and mothers with calves during migration.

“It’s possible that they use the Biotwang as a contact call, a sort of ‘Marco Polo’ of the ocean,” says Allen. “But we need more information before we can say for sure.”

Twang, boings, and a lot of data

The team at NOAA had long term audio recordings of parts of the Pacific Ocean going back to 2005 and was able to pinpoint that Bryde’s whales are the source of this unusual sound. They then worked with a team of researchers from Google to analyze it. The data scientists used the Biotwang recordings to fine-tune their multi-species cetacean AI model to analyze such a large set of underwater sounds from the Pacific Ocean. With so much noise from vessels, plants, animals, and the moving of the ocean itself , undersea sounds can be difficult to decipher.

“Biotwang has this low frequency component that is followed by this higher frequency component,” study co-author and Google data scientist Lauren Harrell tells Popular Science . “I think it actually sounds like the original ‘ping’ on the Starship Enterprise from Star Trek .”

In addition to telling Bryde’s whales apart from other noises based on their Biotwang, the model also can be used to better predict humpback whale migrations and identify some of the sounds that minke whales make, commonly called the “minke boing.” These noises were first detected by submarines off the coast of California and Hawai’i in the 1950s and described as a “metallic-like ring.”

[Related: We can protect whales from ship strikes by translating their songs .]

“The minke boing also has a similar history as Biotwang, as this mysterious sound that scientists later uncovered was coming from a particular whale species,” says Harrell. “We were able to create minke labels in the model and find that minke boing all because we went back though all of these samplings.”

The model that Harrel and the team worked on now allows researchers to decipher the vocalizations of up to eight separate whale species in a single recording. They can then use it to track the sounds to where and when they appear in different parts of the world to inform better conservation practices.

“Having a model that can at least go through these long term data sets efficiently and identify and classify where some of these species are likely present, that can then also break that down by time and frequency can really unlock our ability to study these species,” says Harrell.

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March for Bolivia's ex-President Morales turns violent, as political crisis escalates

Bolivia morales march.

CARACOLLO, Bolivia (AP) — Thousands of anti-government demonstrators marching in support of Bolivia’s former President Evo Morales clashed on Tuesday with counterprotesters blocking their way, a stark sign of an escalating power struggle in the volatile Andean nation.

In his most brazen show of force yet against current President Luis Arce , Morales sent word to his followers to mobilize what he called a “March to Save Bolivia,” a 190-kilometer (118 mile)-trek from the small village of Caracollo to the capital, La Paz, denouncing the government of his protege-turned-bitter rival .

Morales, a former coca grower, has retained significant support among poor and Indigenous Bolivians despite his resignation in 2019 amid mass protests over his disrupted re-election.

The march in solidarity with him began peacefully Tuesday morning, but turned violent hours later when hundreds of counterprotesters, armed with tear gas bombs, stones and firecrackers, spread across the highway waiting to confront the nearly 10,000 marchers. Some of them set a giant effigy of Morales on fire.

The Morales supporters, raising multi-colored Indigenous flags and chanting against Bolivia's economic crisis, surged toward them, using slingshots to pelt their adversaries with rocks as police in pickup trucks and on motorbikes looked on. Morales' followers soon forced the counterprotesters to retreat, their shouts — “Evo, Bolivia wants you back!” — drowning out the pro-Arce activists who chanted, “Evo, you traitor, your time has passed.”

A top official in Arce's government, Eduardo Del Castillo, told reporters that 13 people were injured in the scuffles, including three police officers. Associated Press reporters saw some pro-Morales marchers chasing the counterdemonstrators into the rolling Andean highlands on either side of the highway, beating them with sticks, pushing them to the ground and kicking them.

Arce and his ministers accused Morales of trying to orchestrate a coup. Using exaggerated, apocalyptic rhetoric, Del Castillo denounced Morales’ protest as a “death march” and said that the former president seeks “to destroy democracy in Bolivia and end the lives of Bolivians.” He denied that police used force against peaceful protesters, insisting that officers were attacked first.

Morales, for his part, claimed that the government sent plainclothes police officers to stir up trouble and vandalize protesters' vehicles, saying that Arce's government “has lost respect for human rights and laws in the country.”

The mood was largely defiant late Tuesday at a protest encampment in Panduro, in the mining state of Oruro, where the road weary marchers spent the night.

“The government is the one that sent police officers to try to stop us, but we were united and defeated them,” said Yamile Cruz, leader of Frutcas, a group of Indigenous farmers on the edge of the world’s largest salt flat. “This march will not retreat despite the government's intentions.”

Tuesday's mayhem deepened the rift at the top of Bolivia’s governing party, threatening to take the political feud between Morales and Arce into a dramatic new phase. Morales, Bolivia's first Indigenous President who oversaw the country's commodities boom from 2006 to 2019 , seeks to run against Arce, his former economy minister, in next year's presidential election.

Protesters at the march Tuesday demanded that Morales be allowed on the 2025 electoral ballot despite a ruling by Bolivia’s constitutional court last year that Arce insists disqualifies him. Morales has dismissed the court resolution as politically motivated.

“They not only want to disqualify me, they want to restrict political rights,” Morales told reporters at the march. “Above all, we want the president and his government to heed our demands.”

Cracks in the governing Movement Toward Socialism, or MAS, first opened in 2019 , when Morales ran for an unconstitutional third term . He won a contested vote plagued by allegations of fraud, setting off mass protests that caused 36 deaths and prompted Morales to resign and flee the country. He returned and launched his political comeback after Arce, his choice candidate at the time, won the 2020 election.

The political rivalry has divided Congress and exacerbated an economic crisis stemming from the depletion of Bolivia’s foreign-exchange reserves. Protesters on Tuesday decried Arce's failure to halt the spiral and recalled Morales' tenure as one of economic growth and social uplift.

“We are suffering from hunger," said Felix Torres, a peasant protester from the highlands. “This is not how you govern.”

Associated Press writer Isabel DeBre in Buenos Aires, Argentina, contributed to this report.

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