developedtostorelargeramountsof
data,leadingtoDVDandBlu-ray
formatsoverthenextfourdecades.
Whilediscsperse wereneverused
inStarTrek, theconceptofoptical
datarecordingandretrievalforms
thebackboneofeveryStarfleet
computingsystemfromGalaxy-class
shipson.
The secondlandmark
Treknologyof 1979 wasmoreofan
eventconnectedwithStarfleet’saims
andobjectivesthana newscientific
breakthrough.OnSeptember 1
ofthatyear,NASA’sPioneer 11
probebecamethefirstspacecraft
totravelpastSaturnas partofits
missiontoexploretheouterreaches
oftheSolarSystem.Launchedsix
yearspreviously,itsencounterwith
Saturn(particularlytheplanet’s
rings)alsoactedas a “testrun”
forVoyagers 1 and 2 , comingup
closebehindPioneer 11 , whose
trajectoriescouldhavebeenaltered
hadPioneer’s encounterproved
toodangerous.Inadditiontothe
spectacularphotographsofboth
JupiterandSaturnit sentback,the
probecontinuedtotransmitvital
astronomicaldatatoEarthuntil
losingcontactin1995.STARSTAR TREKTREK III:III:
THETHE SEARCHSEARCH
FORFOR SPOCKSPOCK
(1984)(1984)
Followingthedesignrevampseen
inStarTrekII:The Wrathof Khan,
thethirdfilmdidn’tbringa great
dealofnewTreknology(transwarp
excepted),mostlyduetothesorry
stateinwhichtheEnterprisehad
beenleftafterthebattlewithKhan.
However,it didintroducea new
kindoftricorder– theTypeB – and
a Type1/Type2 hybridphaserfor
usgadgetloverstoenjoy.
LosingtheEnterpriseduring
thefilmwas,ofcourse,a bigdeal,
butit hadnowherenearas bigan
impactoncontemporary– and
future– societyas thefollowing
real-worldadvancements.
Anyonewhousesa computer
willknowhowa graphicaluser
interfaceworks– youbasicallymove
thecursor,click,andsomething
happens.Whilethevarioustouch
screeninterfacesseenacrossStar
Tr e kpushthisideatothelimit,
1984 sawthefirstaffordable
GUI-basedoperatingsystemgo02 Sulu,
Chekov,and
tricorder,in
TheSearch
forSpock.
03 Apple’s
Macintosh
computer,
whichdebuted
in1984.
04 A close
encounterwith
V’Ger, inThe
MotionPicture.03
0204
SCIENTIFIC MILESTONES