Beam Me Up, San Diego

Star Trek exhibit prospers at Air & Space Museum

Vulcans, Androids, Tholians and humans alike! Welcome aboard the USS Enterprise!

Oh, I’m sorry, do you not understand Trekkie? Have no worries — I just learned yesterday at the San Diego Air and Space Museum’s Star Trek exhibit, and you can too!

The display celebrates everything Star Trek — from the shows and movies to the science behind them. Walking onto an almost exact replica of the Enterprise and sitting in the same chair Captain Kirk himself sat in, I was an amateur. Though I had watched a few episodes with my dad when I was younger, I had no idea what this cult phenomenon was about.

But as I looked out the Enterprise’s window and saw my beloved planet Earth from the captain’s seat, I, like so many Americans in the 1960s, was ready for take off.

So off I went into the exhibit. The first half of it was dedicated to the earlier episodes of Star Trek and included actual costumes from the original series, along with various memorable props. Among them was a device called “Starfleet PADD.” It was used by officials on the show to communicate data, but I couldn’t help noticing its resemblance to the modern BlackBerry phone.

The comparison was not completely unmerited though; much of the technology used as props on the show inspired scientists and engineers to invent real-life versions of these devices. NASA even constructed its first space shuttle’s bridge after the bridge on Star Trek’s USS Enterprise.

The Next Generation half of the exhibit showcased the advances the show and movie had made in the more modern years. The costumes were sleeker and sexier and the props were more visibly intricate. Most of the attention was drawn toward the “Transporter Room,” wherein guests could request that Scotty “beam them up,” and a camera would allow them to be transported to another galaxy.

What fascinated me most was the intricate and obviously well-thought-out details of the series. Who knew that Vulcan aliens’ blood cells contained copper, rather than iron? The “Timeline of the Future” captured a whole era of Star Trek’s legacy, right down to the philosophical leanings of the Romulan aliens. Star Trek contains a rich history that puts an imaginative spin on our own planet’s history, inspired by events like the Cold War and space race.

For the true Trekkie, the exhibit pays exceptional homage to the series and the movies. However, for those not acquainted with such a culture, the museum only has the potential to be interesting. Give it an hour, though, and you’ll find yourself entranced by the cult-classic phenomenon that took so many Americans into the universe.

The Star Trek exhibit is open seven days a week at the San Diego Air & Space Museum, 2001 Pan American Plaza, Balboa Park, 619-234-8291, aerospacemuseum.org.

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