Showbits

Today is the day Star Trek turns fifty years old. On September 8, 1966 — more than a decade before I was born — Gene Roddenberry launched his "Wagon Train to the stars", forever changing the landscape of television, film, science fiction, and the human imagination.

I'm not doing anything in particular to celebrate this specific day, nor have I gathered with other Trekkies to do so: I didn't attend last month's Las Vegas convention or even last week's New York convention. But it has nonetheless been a Trekful year, with multiple viewings of Star Trek Beyond, rediscovering The Next Generation with my mom, and news of the imminent launch of Star Trek Discovery.

But perhaps the most poignant Star Trek experience I had this year was my July visit to Star Trek: Exploring New Worlds at Seattle's EMP Museum. Founded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, the Experience Music Project Museum temporarily exhibited more than a hundred artifacts from throughout the Star Trek universe: costumes, uniforms, weapons, sets, ships, and more. It was powerful to see touchstones and artifacts from so many memorable episodes and stories made real, removed from their 2D narratives and brought to 3D life. Although I couldn't touch any of them, it nonetheless made me feel closer to both the show and my dad, who introduced me to Star Trek in 1987.

The EMP website doesn't specify how long the exhibit will be running, but I encourage any and all Trekkies to enjoy it while they can — it's the next best thing to the Star Trek Experience that ran at the Las Vegas Hilton 1998–2008. In the meantime, please enjoy my photos from the exhibit.

Note that the mannequins—usually a bland, uniform color—here are made to resemble the characters and actors they represent.

Three of the TNG bridge crew.

The view from the captain's chair.

The actual props and apparel used on TOS.

USS Enterprise, Uhura here. Whom may I ask is calling?

A Klingon and his bat'leth.

A jaunty Borg.

"Sleep, Data."

The Born armaments worn by Locutus.

I'm quite grumpy without at least eight hours of regeneration.

This is the section of the saucer that the Borg excised from the Enterprise in "Q Who?"

The Phoenix, designed and flown by Zephram Cochrane.

The Phoenix, Earth's first warp-capable spaceship.

This is the section of the saucer that the Borg excised from the Enterprise in "Q Who?"

A Borg cube.

Gorn!

The actual outfits worn in "Journey to Babel" (TOS).

Sisko and a Cardassian ship.

Even from behind, I recognized that stature!

A replica of Data's head.

Felis catus is your taxonomic nomenclature, An endothermic quadruped, carnivorous by nature; Your visual, olfactory, and auditory senses Contribute to your hunting skills and natural defenses

The trouble with tribbles.

To boldly go…

The ship my Dad and I first flew together.

My favorite Trek.

Deep Space Nine and the USS Excelsior.

The Enterprise NCC-1701E.

I found the secret Tribble!

The view from above.

An actual Jeffries tube! I crawled through it.

Star Trek TOS unboxing