A
transporter is a fictional
teleportationTeleportation is supposed to be the transfer of matter from one point to another, more or less instantaneously, either by paranormal means or through technological means. Teleportation has been widely utilized in works of science fiction...
machine used in the
Star TrekStar Trek is an American science fiction entertainment series.The original Star Trek was an American television series, created by Gene Roddenberry, which debuted in 1966 and ran for three seasons, following the interstellar adventures of Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the Federation...
universe. Transporters convert a person or object into an
energyIn physics, energy is a scalar physical quantity that describes the amount of work that can be performed by a force, an attribute of objects and systems that is subject to a conservation law...
pattern (a process called
dematerialization), then "beam" it to a target, where it is reconverted into matter (
rematerialization). The term
transporter accident is a catch-all term for when a person or object does not rematerialize correctly.
According to
The Making of Star Trek,
Star Trek creator
Gene RoddenberryEugene Wesley "Gene" Roddenberry was an American screenwriter and producer. He created the American science-fiction series Star Trek, an accomplishment for which he was sometimes referred to as the "Great Bird of the Galaxy" due to the show's influence on popular culture. He was one of the first...
's original plan did not include transporters, instead calling for characters to land the starship itself. However, this would have required unfeasible and unaffordable sets and model filming, as well as episode running time spent while landing, taking off, etc. The shuttlecraft was the next idea, but when filming began, the full-sized shooting model was not ready. Transporters were devised as a less expensive alternative. Transporters first appear in the original pilot episode "
The Cage"The Cage" is the original pilot episode of the original Star Trek science fiction series and resulting franchise. It was completed in early 1965 , but not broadcast on television in its complete form until 1988. The episode was written by Gene Roddenberry and directed by Robert Butler...
". The transporter special effect, before being done using
computer animationComputer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
, was created by mixing glitter with water, then agitating the solution and incorporating it into special camera effects.
Gene Roddenberry in 1964 had not seen
The FlyThe Fly is an American science-fiction/horror film, directed by Kurt Neumann. The screenplay was written by James Clavell , from the short story "The Fly" by George Langelaan. It was followed by two sequels, Return of the Fly and Curse of the Fly.It was remade under the same title in 1986, and...
upon his first draft of "The Cage", but it was brought to his attention, and this is how the transporter was considered.
According to the
Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical ManualStar Trek: The Next Generation: Technical Manual is a paperback reference guide detailing the inner and other workings of the fictional Federation starship Enterprise-D and other aspects of technology that appeared in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation.Authored by Rick Sternbach...
, the three touch-sensitive light-up bars on the Enterprise-D's transporter console were an homage to the three sliders used on the duotronic transporter console on the original Enterprise in The Original Series.
In August 2008, physicist
Michio Kakuis an American theoretical physicist specializing in string field theory, and a futurist. He is a popularizer of science, host of two radio programs and a best-selling author.-Early life and education:...
predicted in
Discovery Channel Magazine that a teleportation device similar to those in Star Trek would be invented within 100 years.
History
According to dialogue in the
Star Trek: EnterpriseEnterprise is a science fiction television program created by Brannon Braga and Rick Berman and set in the fictional Star Trek universe created by Gene Roddenberry in the 1960s...
episode "
Daedalus"Daedalus" is the name of the 86th episode from the television series Star Trek: Enterprise. "Daedalus" first aired on January 14, 2005, on the American television network UPN...
", the transporter was invented in the early
22nd centuryThe 22nd century of the Anno Domini era will span the years 2101–2200 of the Gregorian calendar.- List of the long total solar eclipses :* June 3, 2114 : Solar eclipse of 6 min 32 s, saros 139.* June 13, 2132 : Solar eclipse of 6 min 55 s, saros 139....
by Dr. Emory Erickson, who also became the first human to be successfully transported. Although the
Enterprise (NX-01)The Enterprise is a fictional starship in the science fiction television series Star Trek: Enterprise. It is commanded by Captain Jonathan Archer.-History:...
has a transporter, the crew does not routinely use it (Captain
Jonathan ArcherJonathan Archer is a fictional character in the Star Trek franchise. He is the protagonist of the television series Star Trek: Enterprise, where he is played by Scott Bakula....
once said that he wouldn't even put his dog through it), generally preferring shuttlepods or other means of transportation before falling back on the transporter if no other means of transportation were possible or feasible. The crew aboard the
23rd centuryThe 23rd century of the anno Domini era will span the years 2201–2300 of the Gregorian calendar.-Astronomical predictions:* 2221: Triple conjunction between Mars and Saturn.* December 2, 2223: At 12:32 UTC Mars will occult Jupiter....
USS EnterpriseThe USS Enterprise, NCC-1701, is a starship in the Star Trek media franchise. The original Star Trek series depicts its crew's mission "to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before" under the command of Captain James T. Kirk...
frequently use the transporter. By the
24th centuryThe 24th century of the anno Domini era will span the years 2301–2400 of the Gregorian calendar. Unlike most century years, the year 2400 will be a leap year, and the first century leap year since the year 2000.-Astronomical events:...
, transporter travel was very reliable and "the safest way to travel", according to dialogue in the
Star Trek: The Next GenerationStar Trek: The Next Generation is a science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Created about 21 years after the original Star Trek, and set in the 24th century about 80 years after the orginal series, the program features a new crew and a new...
episode "
Realm of Fear"Realm of Fear" is an episode of the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation. It primarily focuses on Reginald Barclay's paralyzing fear of the transporter. It is the second episode of season 6, and the first episode to show the transporter process from the point of view of a person being...
".
According to the
Star Trek: Deep Space NineStar Trek: Deep Space Nine is a science fiction television program that premiered in 1993 and ran for seven seasons, ending in 1999. Rooted in Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek universe, it was created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller, at the request of Brandon Tartikoff, and produced by Paramount...
episode "
Homefront"Homefront" is an episode of the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the eleventh episode of the fourth season. It is rated 4.3/5 on the official Star Trek Website.-Plot:...
",
Starfleet AcademyIn the fictional universe of Star Trek, Starfleet Academy is where the future members of Starfleet are trained. It was created in the year 2161, when the United Federation of Planets was founded. The Academy's motto is "Ex astris, scientia" - "From the stars, knowledge". This is derived from the...
cadets receive transporter rations, and the
SiskoBenjamin Lafayette Sisko, played by Avery Brooks, is the main character of the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Deep Space Nine is the third of five live action television series set in the Star Trek universe.-Early life and career:...
family once used a transporter to move furniture into a new home.
Despite its frequent use, characters such as
Leonard McCoyLeonard H. McCoy is a character in the Star Trek media franchise. First portrayed by DeForest Kelley in the original Star Trek series, McCoy also appears in the animated Star Trek series, seven Star Trek movies, the pilot episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and in numerous books, comics,...
and
Katherine PulaskiDoctor Katherine Pulaski, M.D.; played by Diana Muldaur, is the replacement chief medical officer for Dr. Beverly Crusher during the second season of the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation.-Overview:...
are reluctant to use the transporter, as the characters express in the
Next Generation episodes "
Encounter at Farpoint"Encounter at Farpoint" is the first episode of the science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation. It was originally shown on September 28 1987, and was the first new live-action episode of Star Trek to have been broadcast since 1969....
" and "
Unnatural Selection"Unnatural Selection" is the seventh episode of the second season of Star Trek: The Next Generation first broadcast on January 30, 1989. It is episode #33, production #133, and was written by John Mason and Mike Gray, and directed by Paul Lynch....
", respectively. Additionally,
Reginald BarclayLieutenant Reginald Endicott "Broccoli" Barclay III, played by Dwight Schultz, is a recurring character in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation...
expresses his outright fear of transporting in "Realm of Fear".
Capabilities and limitations
The television series and films do not go into great detail about transport technology. The
Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical ManualStar Trek: The Next Generation: Technical Manual is a paperback reference guide detailing the inner and other workings of the fictional Federation starship Enterprise-D and other aspects of technology that appeared in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation.Authored by Rick Sternbach...
claims that the devices transport objects in real time, accurate to the
quantum levelQuantum levels are fixed levels with a logarithmic, descending quantum pattern in the visible spectrum of light that can be observed through a spectrometer while looking at intense flows of electricity through the various halides on the periodic table in a vacuum tube...
. The episode "Realm of Fear" specifies the length of a transport under unusual circumstances would last "... four or five seconds; about twice the normal time". This calculates the length of a typical transport as between 2 and 2.5 seconds and possibly less. Heisenberg compensators remove uncertainty from the subatomic measurements, making transporter travel feasible. Further technology involved in transportation include a computer pattern buffer to enable a degree of leeway in the process. When asked "How does the Heisenberg compensator work?" by
TimeTime is an American newsmagazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong. As of 2009, Time no longer publishes a Canadian advertiser edition...
magazine, Star Trek technical adviser
Michael Okuda- Work in Star Trek :In the mid-1980s, he designed the look of animated computer displays for the Enterprise-A bridge in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. This led to a staff position on Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1987 as a scenic artist, adding detail to set designs and props...
responded: "It works very well, thank you."
According to the
The Original Series writers guide, the effective range of a transporter is 40,000 kilometers, although thick layers of rock can reduce this range (
TNG: "Legacy"). Transporter operations have been disrupted or prevented by dense metals (
TNG: "Contagion"), solar flares (
TNG: "Symbiosis"), and other forms of radiation, including electromagnetic (
TNG: "The Enemy";
TNG: "Power Play") and nucleonic (
TNG: "Schisms"). Transporters have also been stopped by telekinetic powers (
TNG: "
Skin of Evil"Skin of Evil" is a first-season episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, first broadcast April 25, 1988. It is episode #23, production #122, teleplay written by Joseph Stefano, based on a story by Joseph Stefano and Hannah Louise Shearer, and directed by Joseph L. Scanlan. This episode is...
") and by brute strength (
TNG: "The Hunted"). The
TNG episode "
Bloodlines"Bloodlines" is a seventh season episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.Quick Overview: Bok, a vengeful Ferengi from the first season episode "The Battle", returns to enact revenge on Picard, by killing the son Picard never knew he had.-Plot:...
" features a dangerous and experimental "
subspaceSubspace may refer to:Mathematics* Euclidean subspace, in linear algebra, a set of vectors in n-dimensional Euclidean space that is closed under addition and scalar multiplication....
transporter" capable of interstellar distances. The 40,000 kilometer limit is also referenced in
STE: "
Daedalus"Daedalus" is the name of the 86th episode from the television series Star Trek: Enterprise. "Daedalus" first aired on January 14, 2005, on the American television network UPN...
".
StarfleetIn the fictional universe of Star Trek, Starfleet is a humanitarian and peacekeeping armada of spacecraft, that provides defense, research, diplomacy, and exploration to the United Federation of Planets .-History:...
transporters from the
TNG era onward include a device that can detect and disable an active weapon (
TNGStar Trek: The Next Generation is a science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Created about 21 years after the original Star Trek, and set in the 24th century about 80 years after the orginal series, the program features a new crew and a new...
: "
The Most Toys"The Most Toys" is a 1990 episode from the science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation. The episode involves Lieutenant Commander Data being kidnapped by an obsessive collector, who leads the Enterprise crew to believe that Data was killed in a shuttlecraft accident...
"), and a bio-filter to remove contagious microbes or viruses from an individual in transport (
TNG: "
Shades of Gray"Shades of Gray" is the last episode of the second season of Star Trek: The Next Generation.-Plot:During a routine geological survey on Surata IV, Commander William Riker is accidentally struck by a sharp thorn growing on a vine plant. The away team immediately beams back to the U.S.S...
"). The transporter can also serve a tactical purpose, such as beaming a photon grenade or photon torpedo to detonate at remote locations (
TNG: "
Legacy"Legacy" is the 80th episode of the science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and the sixth installment of the show's fourth season...
",
VoyStar Trek: Voyager is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe. The show was created by Rick Berman, Michael Piller, and Jeri Taylor and is the fourth incarnation of Star Trek, which began with the 1960s series Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry...
: "Dark Frontier").
Whenever a person or object is transported, the machine creates a memory file of the pattern. This has been used at least once in every Star Trek series to revert people adversely affected by a transport to their original state.
Various episodes of DS9 and Voyager have introduced two anti-transporter devices: transport inhibitors and transporter scramblers. Inhibitors prevent a transporter beam from "locking on" to whatever the device is attached. Scramblers distort the pattern that is in transit, literally scrambling the atoms upon rematerialization, resulting in the destruction of inanimate objects and killing living beings by perverting them into masses of random tissue; this was gruesomely demonstrated in the DS9 episode "The Darkness and the Light".
The transporter is susceptible to unusual anomalies and environmental conditions that can cause unexpected results. An unknown magnetic ore created a physical duplicate of Captain Kirk (TOS "The Enemy Within") and an enhanced beam attempting to transport Lt. Riker through an unstable atmosphere created a physical duplicate that remained undiscovered on the planet's surface for eight years. A transporter accident in the Voyager episode "Tuvix" combined both the physical and behavioral aspects of Lt. Tuvok, Neelix, and a plant into a single being.
While several characters have asserted that transporters cannot transport through a ship's
shieldsIn the Star Trek fictional universe, shields refer to a 23rd and 24th century technology that protects starships, space stations, and planets from damage by natural hazard or enemy attack...
or planetary defense shields, there are instances of this "rule" being broken through a
technobabbleTechnobabble is a form of prose using jargon, buzzwords and highly esoteric language to give an impression of plausibility through mystification, misdirection, and obfuscation...
solution (
TNG: "
The Wounded"The Wounded" was the 85th episode of the science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and the 12th installment of the show's fourth season...
") or disregarded by the show's writers (
Voy: "
Caretaker"Caretaker" is the first episode of Star Trek: Voyager. It was originally shown as one double-length episode, but has been split into two parts for repeats...
").
In
Star Trek II: The Wrath of KhanStar Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is a 1982 motion picture released by Paramount Pictures. The film is the second feature based on the Star Trek science fiction franchise. The plot features James T...
, Vice Admiral
James T. KirkJames Tiberius "Jim" Kirk is a fictional character in the Star Trek media franchise. First portrayed by William Shatner as the principal lead character in the original Star Trek series, Shatner also appears as Kirk in the animated Star Trek series and in the first seven Star Trek movies...
and Lieutenant
SaavikLieutenant JG Saavik is a fictional character in the Star Trek universe. She appeared first in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, in which she was played by Kirstie Alley. She was also a supporting character in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, and appeared briefly in Star Trek IV: The Voyage...
carry on a conversation during rematerialization. In
Star Trek IV: The Voyage HomeStar Trek IV: The Voyage Home is the fourth feature film based on the Star Trek science fiction television series. It completes the loose story trilogy started in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and continued in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock.Leonard Nimoy directed as well as starred in The...
, Dr. Gillian Taylor jumps into Kirk's transporter beam during dematerialization, and rematerializes without any apparent ill effects.
According to the
TNG Technical Manual, the transporter cannot move
antimatterIn particle physics, antimatter is the extension of the concept of the antiparticle to matter, where antimatter is composed of antiparticles in the same way that normal matter is composed of particles...
, but this rule has been broken a few times, such as in the
Voyager episode "Dark Frontier", when
Voyager transported a live photon torpedo equipped with antimatter onto a Borg ship. The animated series episode "One of Our Planets is Missing" has the Enterprise beaming a chunk of antimatter into a stasis box. Some reference material states that antimatter can be transported, but only in minute amounts.
In the original series, beaming to and from the transporter room was a necessity. This is explained in the
TOS episode, "The Day of the Dove". Spock and Scotty had said that doing a site-to-site transport, as they are referred to on the show, on board the ship could be risky. They could "beam into a deck" or an inanimate object and get stuck there. However, there are apparently safeguards in place to prevent people from being beamed into hostile environments such as under water and into lava pits, although it is possible to override this safety feature; for example, in the TOS episode "And the Children Shall Lead", two security guards are beamed into open space. In the following series, however, the actual transporter room seems to become mostly obsolete, the actual equipment notwithstanding. Characters are shown activating the transporter from ordinary consoles and beaming from place to place without apparent trouble. The main operator can likewise send those in transport anywhere with ease. A possible explanation for this is put forward in the
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Technical ManualThe Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Technical Manual, written by Herman Zimmerman, Rick Sternbach and Doug Drexler, is a description of the space station Deep Space Nine, the main setting of the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, in the Star Trek fictional universe.The book opens with a...
, where such site-to-site transports would probably use twice as much energy as would be required for transport to or from the transporter room itself, since the subject would have to be beamed to the transporter, stored, then shunted to their destination. In addition, the six circles on the platform are generally used as targets for the subjects to stand on, but they do not appear to represent any limitation of the hardware to six or fewer people. People have been transported carrying others, in a coffin style transport, and once animals, hay, and other inanimate objects.
Although never seen, dialogue in "Deep Space Nine" indicates the existence of portable transporters, though the
Next Generation episode "Timescape" features emergency transporter armbands (although these may have served only to activate a remote transporter). To confuse things more,
"Star Trek: NemesisStar Trek Nemesis is a 2002 science fiction film directed by Stuart Baird, written by John Logan , and with music composed by Jerry Goldsmith. It is the tenth feature film in the Star Trek franchise, and the fourth and final film to star the cast from the television series Star Trek: The Next...
" featured the prototype "emergency transport unit".
For special effects reasons, in
TOS, people generally appear immobilized during transport, with the exception of Kirk in the episode
That Which Survives. However, by
TNG, characters can move within the confines of the transporter beam while being transported, although this is rarely shown.
In popular culture
The famous catchphrase "
Beam me up, Scotty"Beam me up, Scotty!" is a catch phrase that made its way into pop culture from the science fiction television series Star Trek. It comes from the command Captain Kirk gives his transporter chief, Montgomery "Scotty" Scott, when he needs to transport back to the ship.Though it has become...
" refers to the transporter device, which was often operated by
Montgomery ScottMontgomery Scott is a character in the Star Trek media franchise. First portrayed by James Doohan in the original Star Trek series, Scotty also appears in the animated Star Trek series, seven Star Trek movies, the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Relics", and in numerous books, comics, and...
during the original series. The phrase was never uttered by anyone in the original series, although "Scotty, beam me up" was.
See also
- Personal identity
- Physics and Star Trek
The science-fiction media franchise Star Trek has borrowed freely from the scientific world to provide storylines. Episodes are replete with references to tachyon beams, baryon sweeps, quantum fluctuations and event horizons...
- Replicator
In the fictional Star Trek universe, a replicator is a machine capable of creating objects. Replicators were originally seen used to synthesize meals on demand, but in later series they took on many other uses.-Origins and limitations:...
- Quantum teleportation
Quantum teleportation, or entanglement-assisted teleportation, is a technique used to transfer information on a quantum level, usually from one particle to another particle in another location via quantum entanglement...
- Teleportation
Teleportation is supposed to be the transfer of matter from one point to another, more or less instantaneously, either by paranormal means or through technological means. Teleportation has been widely utilized in works of science fiction...
External links