star trek beyond space station

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Simon Pegg Explains Giant Starbase in Star Trek Beyond

| May 27, 2016 | By: Kayla Iacovino 82 comments so far

When the new Star Trek Beyond trailer dropped , many fans were quick to notice a massive space station. But, what exactly is that thing? Simon Pegg reveals the newest Starbase, and confirms some spoilery photos we saw during the Dubai shoot. [SPOILERS]

Beware of spoilers!

That gigantic space station, space ship, starbase thing we got a glimpse of in the second Beyond trailer? It turns out, according to the film’s co-writer and co-star Simon Pegg, that it’s the massive Starbase Yorktown. In an interview with IGN , Pegg explains that Yorktown is located on the very edge of Federation space, and it’s here that Beyond ‘s narrative begins when the Enterprise docks with the base.

“It’s a kind of diplomatic hub,” said Pegg. “It’s where all the most recent Federation inductees can come and mingle with each other and learn about each other. It’s a kind of lovely…”

When asked if the Yorktown is anything like a certain other famous spaceport, Mos Eisley, Pegg laughed and responded, “No, no — that’s a wretched hive of scum and villainy! This is the opposite of that.”

“You can imagine — me and [co-writer Doug] Jung joked that there were various aliens with leaflets, handing them out to other aliens like, ‘Come and see our world!’” Pegg said. “But it’s basically a place where they can go, where they can better understand what being part of the Federation means. It’s an important kind of tactical establishment for the Federation. It’s been built locally, so it’s very interesting to look at, but it’s where the Enterprise docks up. [This is] the first time in like 10 months [that the Enterprise has] had kind of proper contact with other people, and that’s where the story begins.”

We’ve already seen the Yorktown Back in October, we got our first glimpse at Starbase Yorktown, via photos leaked during the film’s shooting in Dubai.

And, to get an idea of how big the Yorktown really is: remember all of those outdoor scenes? Yep, all of that is onboard the Yorktown.

Happening now #StarTrekBeyond filming in #dubai #jlt pic.twitter.com/tpPhbCjtyZ — Nabil Narch (@NabilNarch) October 13, 2015

Watch the new trailer, and this time keep an eye out for scenes on the Yorktown!

Read the full interview at IGN .

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This is extremely cool and very Star Treky.

Looking good

It looks a lot like the new Deep Space Nine from the novels.

I have to disagree. The DS9 in the novels is ugly. I hate the design.

There’s a different design for DS9 in the novels? It’s been many years since I last read a Star Trek novel but why would they do that?

It is a new station, the old DS9 was destroyed.

Ok it maybe cool but is it practical? *mumbles* it looks like 6 or 7 new Macross-class vessels mid colitis in there…

~Pensive’s Wetness

“but is it practical?”

It must be practical, otherwise Starfleet wouldn’t have build it that way :)

Think about it… you’re gonna pull in a vessel powered by something that would melt the interior of that station, if it lit up accidently. Warp Core Breach Smoothie, anyone?

Spacedock was built that way since Star Trek 3, so nothing different here. They were lucky in 100110101010 or whatever that episode of TNG when the NCC-1701-D was able to get evacuated and ejected b4 it blew. I wonder of the docking port tube on Yorktown are airtight to create a sort of drydock for the spaceships to easily work on them instead of needing eva suits and what not?

The station has that frontier vibe…very original-esque….

A very impressive space station.

““It’s a kind of diplomatic hub,” said Pegg. “It’s where all the most recent Federation inductees can come and mingle with each other and learn about each other. It’s a kind of lovely…””

Even better, this sounds like Babylon 5 :)

It could be one of countless starbases in different franchises.. Deep Space 9 for example.

It was the last, best hope for peace.

Naw, sounds like b5.

Ok. That starbase is m-a-s-s-i-v-e. Its also really great to see how they spent some of that $200M budget. It kind of reminds me of TMP and the attention to detail the models had that made you feel you were really in space.

And one more thing, let’s hope some of that budget goes to some decent makeup for the crew. I do not want to see Chekov’s beehive sized neck pimple and blemishes that he had in the last movie. If I were the actor, I would’ve demanded that they at least CGI erase those blemishes. If they can spend $100K back in ’91 to slim Shatner’s behind, at the end of VI, it should cost less than that today to fix Chekov.

What happened to the G in Gareth Thomas’ name on the wall? Oh wait, the missing G clearly means we’re “Going back to the Prime Timeline.” YAY!!!!!!!

It’s like Deep Space 9 had a baby with Halo or something. It even kinda’ looks like DS9 is in there, if you look at it a certain way. Judging by the trailer, it has some wonky gravity. It may be reasonable to suspect the climax of the movie takes place there. Very interesting.

Yeah I thought that too, but looks good none-the-less :)

Very excited for this movie. Can’t wait.

Reminds me a bit of the early Design sketches of ds9, when they still hat the vertical ring(s). http://fsd.trekships.org/art/ds9.html

I gotta admit, I’m sad they didn’t take the opportunity to sneak some easter eggs into that wall of names of the fallen, like Gene Roddenberry, Majel Barrett, James Doohan, and DeForest Kelley. Granted, those might’ve been obvious, but it’d still be nice.

Also, based on the description, the starbase reminds me of the planet Babel, as far as purpose goes.

@ SciFiBrony: Looking through the names I wonder if these are some of the movie production crew. The names don’t sound very alien (if the station is supposed to be built locally). E.g. there are 3 Peters and 3 Scotts on there. My guess is we won’t see that wall long enough in the movie to read any of them.

Very much like the look and feel of the second trailer and the other material coming out for this film. Perhaps I can go in on July 22nd with more hope and less dread than the last time around? If nothing else, Jaylah has my interest. ;)

Cool but very spoilery the swarm ships attack Yorktown so that means either:

1: The Yorktown is docked above the unknown planet where the Enterprise crashes (unlikely as we know the Enterprise warps away to the unknown planet after Shore Leave). The new trailer shows the Enterprise travelling @ Warp that is most likely after it leaves Yorktown. Its very unlikely to be the hero shot from the end of the movie where they get a new or repaired ship & warp off! 2: This means the Swarm somehow finds the Yorktown & attacks setting up the trailer external shot with the NX class ship returning to defend the Yorktown! So that gives away the big climax of the movie & the stakes at play (lives of everyone on the Yorktown & the base itself).

@ Paul: I’ve read speculations that Kirk and company use that NX class ship to get off the planet where Enterprise crashes. They return to Starbase Yorktown and are followed there by the swarm ships. Of course, it might also be the other way around, that the swarm ships go there first and are followed by that NX class ship. In any case, Yorktown is probably at stake at some point in the movie. Gotta have big stakes in these kinds of movies. At least, it seems that Earth is not the one in danger this time around.

The swarm ships go blue when the franklin is shooting them, the same blue that Kirk’s hologram riding the bike changes to when shot.

Are the swarm ships actually holograms??

Everything and everyone is a hologram! All the reboot movies are actually The Doctor from Voyager’s holodreams.

It is not an NX, google Star Trek Beyond USS Franklin.

That dedication wall made me facepalm….200 million dollars and they still can’t spell correctly…… H-O-N-O-U-R is how you spell honour. At least NASA didn’t drop the “u” when they named one shuttle “Endeavour” .

Otherwise, can’t wait.

@ Lone Browncoat: I don’t know if you’re trolling or don’t know: “Honor” is the correct spelling in American English. “Honour” is the traditional British spelling. Star Trek has always been quite American in style even though it’s supposed to represent the future of not only all or Earth but even a multitude of planets. I can’t remember which spelling they used in previous movies/series.

Endeavour was named for Captain Cook’s ship, so it kept the British spelling.

US Military uses Honor, and Starfleet is based on the USN. I like the british spelling better myself!

It’s correct in American English… Anyway, language isn’t static, it’s vivid. Probably, some hundred years in the future we won’t extinguish between BE and AE anymore…

Scene 2, Approaching Yorktown Space Station

Kirk: Looks like it’s heading for the space spider web.

Spock: That’s no spider web Captain, it’s a space station.

Kirk: It’s too big for a spider space station.

McCoy: I’m getting a bad feeling about this.

That second trailer is growing on me more and more each time I watch it.

It’s almost like a manmade planet like the voyager episode ‘thirty days’ but a space station. It has mini ponds of water in the city as well as containment fields for gravity.

It’s a very cool design, however it looks extremely impractical. Maybe Star Trek producers should consider hiring actual construction designers to design their spaceships and stations.

Also, Yorktown isn’t a ship in this timeline? Can a station and a ship share the same name?

In what ways does it look impractical?

Yeah, this strikes me as another misunderstanding of the universe. Even if there’s a good explanation, like some battle occurred where the station was established, which destroyed the Yorktown, it’s still a choice made completely counter to what fans are used to. It’s like using the name delta vega completely out of context from the original because it’s familiar to the fans watching the new film.

I don’t think its as much as misunderstanding of the universe as much as the Delta Vega thing— did we ever even see the USS Yorktown on screen or was it just mentioned offhand a couple times? Its not like they are naming Voyager station to replace the USS Voyager or some other “more known” ship. Maybe the Yorktown was destroyed at the spot where they build the station and they named it after it?

“I don’t think its as much as misunderstanding of the universe as much as the Delta Vega thing…” — CaptainSheridan

Which Orci has repeatedly said was done on purpose. So are you asserting Lin is doing the same, i.e. purposely messing with established Yorktown canon?

No. Naming a constructed object Yorktown (giving the name to a starbase/spacedock instead of a starship) makes much more sense than renaming / moving a planet.

CaptainSheridan,

In reply to your comment uniquely identified by the following URL:

https://trekmovie.com/2016/05/27/simon-pegg-explains-giant-starbase-in-star-trek-beyond/#comment-5306829

Well, I suppose it all boils down to whether the Yorktown construct is regarded as a city is in our times. For example, Arlington, is a very common city name in the United States, as in the point being there’s more than one.

And somehow the US Navy dealt with the possible name confusions of its ship coming to port in Yorktown, Va. for which it was named.

Clearly the station is named in honor of those who perished on what appears to be an actual starship Yorktown. I already stated that appears to be the case. And it doesn’t matter to my point since ANYTHING can be explained, just as Delta Vega was. However, yes, we did see the actual starship Yorktown in TOS, as well as in subsequent Trek series where it was referred to as a starship. Add to that among the fan base it is common knowledge that Yorktown held a special place for Roddenberry, even supposedly being rechristened at the end of Star Trek IV as the Enterprise. And yes Disinvited, I think Lin and/or Pegg are doing the same thing as Orci was guilty of doing.

What episode was the Yorktown in? I remember it being mentioned in one episode and I think we saw her captain on screen in Star Trek IV? I don’t recall ever seeing the ship onscreen. I like how they are using the name for the starbase… it makes sense much more than relocating a planet (Delta Vega).

Curious Cadet,

Don’t forget that the ship that fascinated Roddenberry was named for the famous American Revolutionary War battle that took place there at Yorktown, Va. so it’s plausible the starship and starbase are both likewise named after that event ultimately.

Again, I’ve acknowledged that the use of the name can be explained, but that’s not the point. Considering how the name Yorktown was consistently used in the Prime universe, this is fan pandering of the same sort as reusing Delta Vega in st09. It has a familiarity factor to appeal to long time fans and make the film feel more Treky without actually being so. there seems to be a lot of that going on with this film, even in the poster art derived from iconic TMP.

Interestingly a friend of mine who is a bigger Trekkie than me but very pessimistic about STB was annoyed at the naming of the Yorktown, saying it was a ship in Star Trek so why use it as a space station. Doesnt bother me. At least they are using a recognizable name. The other option if the intent is to throw bones to the fans would be to make it a “Deep Space” designation. Deep Space One, I guess would work.

@ Curious Cadet, 6:36 am: The TMP-style poster was designed specifically for and handed out to the fans at the special fan event. So that was definitely fan pandering if you want to call it that.

This just seems so stupid. Capital Ships (Aircraft Carriers) and other ships (Cruisers) have been named after battles in U.S. history. Yorktown was the name of a Federation Starship in Star Trek. In recent history Yorktown has had the distinction of being the name of a WWII Aircraft Carrier and a modern day AEGIS Cruiser, the former Mr. Roddenberry so admired. NSWC Yorktown is the name of a Weapons Station because it’s in YORKTOWN, Virginia! You don’t name a Starbase after a ship that perished. So, you don’t name a Starbase “Yorktown”. It’s stupid. I really do like Mr. Pegg’s work, but he needs to PLEASE enlist some military consultants who are Star Trek fans. Mr. Roddenberry understood the military so I’m confident that he understood the things I’m pointing out here. It seems as if little things are not making it to the writers. This is evident in Star Trek (2009) and STID (2013). I mean at the end of Star Trek, when Kirk says “Take us out.” and we pan to the exterior of the Enterprise… take us out of what?!!! There’s nothing around her! Did they run out of money that they couldn’t put a starbase or SOMETHING in the shot???!!! I know that’s Mr. Abrams and before Mr. Pegg was writing any scripts for this movie. I’m just not getting a warm and fuzzy from this film and I want this to be good. Lastly I’ll say this, DESTROYING THE ENTERPRISE?!!! Come on, really?!!

Man that Station would make an Awesome snow globe!

I am going to be very disappointed if we don’t see a Centauri or Narn somewhere in the background of a crowd shot…

@ SelorKiith: Contact Justin Lin or Simon Pegg on Twitter. If they like your idea maybe they’ll add something in post.

Love it! Fresh and different.

The swarm ships go blue when the franklin is shooting them, the same blue that Kirk’s hologram riding the bike changes to when shot.

Are the swarm ships actually holograms?

Anyway, who is the female voice that starts speaking at ca. 0:38 in the trailer? Though I know of course that it wouldn’t fit at all timeline-wise, I find it amusing to imagine it to be Admiral Janeway. She of all people should know all about being “lost in the vastness of space”! ;-)

Shohreh Aghdashloo, she was added in the reshoots: https://trekmovie.com/2016/03/11/iranian-actress-shohreh-aghdashloo-joins-star-trek-beyond-as-film-goes-back-for-reshoots/

That voice is of the Iranian actress playing High Command.

Shohreh Aghdashloo is playing the head of Star Fleet as Harry said.

What a very nice Starbase!

The NX-01 is back!!

DS9 is/was a cardassian built station…the federation came on board after the cardassion occupation of bajor

SORRY MY ENGLISHE IS A LITTLE CARZY, HAS THIS REALLY HAPPEN?

So, this means that NONE of the movie takes places on Earth? That would be fantastic!

Its been confirmed a small part of the film does, but sounds very small and it may not be the crew them self at Earth but other characters.

Do you have a source for that?

So far, the only film without any contact with Earth has been Insurrection. It would have been nice if this film could have been the second.

it seems odd to me that a Starfleet rooted on a planet that patented the concept of “winning” a nuclear war by overwhelming the enemy with a swarm of nukes, suddenly has no effective countermeasures when the attack concept’s been updated to a swarm of drones?

Maybe they do, but since swarms are not common they don’t have those counter-measures readily available. Plus nukes are old school tech by the time this takes place. It would be like a modern day country having counter-measures standing by in case someone starts using trebuchets against them.

Oh but in the prime universe they did have nuclear trebuchets, errrr…missiles tossed at them. If I recall correctly in BALANCE OF TERROR wasn’t one of the Romulan commander’s last ditch efforts to try to hide a nuclear missile in debris to try to blow up the Enterprise and John Gill, a history professor, was able to get the Ekosians to nuclear arms status in nothing flat which they in turn launched at the E in PATTERNS OF FORCE. Not to mention Kirk having Scotty turn an entire Starship into one and crowing about it in the final scene of THE DOOMSDAY MACHINE.

And aren’t we forgetting those new dronified torpedoes that Kirk was supposed to use in the previous movies? Something as big as The Yorktown doesn’t have a stockpile of those or even the ability to replicate them on demand?

Wow! Correct me if I’m wrong, but the interior of the Federation station Yorktown reminds me of those of Terra Venture in “Power Rangers Lost Galaxy.” “Go Galactic!”

I presume the Yorktown can move wherever it needs to be moved? If so does it have warp engines? Impulse might be useful but only within a solar system. Otherwise, I’m hard pressed to understand the need for deep space stations of this complexity, though I’m sure there’s a logical explanation. We never saw such outposts in TOS, so this is a MAJOR technological leap forward from anything we saw depicted in the Federation. It’s even pretty far afield of anything we saw in TNG from which era this technology was supposedly derived. But from a practical standpoint, even K-7 didn’t make a lot of sense considering the reality of warp drive that cuts the trip from Kronos to Earth down to a few hours at most. DS9 likewise only made sense for a Federation presence where no terrestrial accommodations were being made — i.e. an Embassy where none were permitted planet-side. And it’s even more complicated when one considers the alt universe is one where starships are launched from the surface of planets, and transporters can beam people across vast distances. Obviously, a negotiated base on a planet in the vicinity of operations is more practical than maintaining a fragile space station with limited resources, which is also vulnerable to attack. So there would have to be a pretty significant strategic reason to have one in deep, planet-less space, when a few more minutes by warp drive would get a ship to a more defensible planet. I’m not blaming this on the alt verse at all, since it seems to be a general star trek problem, but the alt verse technology makes it more complicated, as well as potentially another major break with preexisting canon. That said, it’s pretty cool.

@Curious – Yup, Nero’s arrival caused a massive leap in technological achievement in Starbase design!

Hello, Curious Cadet. I meant the atmosphere part, the outdoor part.

First chance I’ve had to comment on the 2nd trailer.

I loved the music and initial voiceover dialogue very much, and sorely wish this had been everyone’s first look at the footage instead of the fast n’ furious ‘Beastie Boys’ teaser. Such a big improvement with the choice of music in this one, thankfully.

The downside is I’m still mourning the fact that the ever-watchable Idris Elba has been rendered unrecognisable by the bumpy-headed mask and eye contacts. And the ridiculously over-the-top ‘cliff-hanging jump’ moment for Scotty is as laughable as the motorcycle jump antics and nuKirk’s “Do it! Do it!”, unfortunately. Did Pegg write this particular ‘action beat’ for himself, or was it mainly Lin’s input I wonder? Either way, I’m hoping it’s possible to re-edit that out for myself eventually, just like I removed nuKirk’s ‘cliff-hanging’ in the 2009 movie. ;)

As for this ‘alternate timeline’ spacebase design, I quite like it.

Doesn’t seem that Star Trek to me. The Federation has a habit of building small-ish space docks/stations, that are exactly that. This is more like they built an artificial planet. Cool, but what is the point when there is an abundance of planets everywhere? Wouldn’t it be simpler and more sensible to just take one of those rocks, terraform it if necessarily and build stuff on it?

That giant mushroom space dock that first appeared in Star Trek IV was pretty massive, but not planet sized. yeah, this one looks like a mini-planet or at least a city in space.

Shades of Babylon 5……

B5, DS9, UN, Babel …

And how many millions of people die when THIS one gets blown up? These people just don’t get Rodenberry’s idea of Star Trek; it’s just explosions to them. I’m through with this crap, it’s not getting ANY of my money.

@ Charley W: How do you know this one gets blown up? Right, you don’t. But hey, don’t watch it when it actually comes out. Might save you 2 hours of “crap”. On the other hand, you might also miss if they don’t blow it up.

There have been some theories that the movie ends on the in-tact station. I agree with you on the cheapness of life in this series of movies though. I’m hoping for a reset button for the Enterprise herself. Otherwise, the destruction of the ship would cut the five-year mission short and trigger a court martial, robbing the crew of that which made their prime counterparts legendary.

Starbase Yorktown

Simon Pegg Explains New Star Trek Beyond Space Station

Simon Pegg sheds some light on the massive space station seen in the latest trailer for Star Trek Beyond, in theaters July 22.

Last week, Paramount held a special fan event at their studio lot in Hollywood, where the beloved Star Trek franchise was honored, as part of its 50th Anniversary celebration. The festivities included the dedicating of a street to franchise icon Leonard Nimoy , before fans all over the world got to see the new trailer for Star Trek Beyond . There is one particular aspect of the trailer that some fans have been wondering about, but, thankfully, star/screenwriter Simon Pegg helped shed some light on this in a new interview.

The trailer featured a shot that showcased a large space station, although it was never fully revealed what this facility is. During an interview with IGN , Simon Pegg revealed that this facility is known as the Starbase Yorktown, which essentially marks the very edge of Federation jurisdiction, with everything outside of this base marking uncharted enemy territory. The movie basically starts with the U.S.S. Enterprise docking at Starbase Yorktown at some point during its five-year mission. Here's what Simon Pegg had to say below.

"It's a kind of diplomatic hub. It's where all the most recent Federation inductees can come and mingle with each other and learn about each other. It's kind of lovely."

When asked if the Starbase Yorktown was anything like the Mos Eisley Cantina from the iconic Star Wars franchise, Simon Pegg revealed that this facility is the "opposite" of the other franchise's cantina, described as a "wretched hive of scum and villainy." Simon Pegg went on to add more details about Starbase Yorktown, revealing that this is the first time in several months that the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise has had any contact with other people since embarking on their five-year journey.

"You can imagine -- me and (co-writer Doug) Jung joked that there were various aliens with leaflets, handing them out to other aliens like, 'Come and see our world!' But it's basically a place where they can go, where they can better understand what being part of the Federation means. It's an important kind of tactical establishment for the Federation. It's been built locally, so it's very interesting to look at, but it's where the Enterprise docks up. [This is] the first time in like 10 months [that the Enterprise has] had kind of proper contact with other people, and that's where the story begins."

While Simon Pegg has played Scotty since the first remake in 2009, a role he reprised in Star Trek Into Darkness and this upcoming movie, the actor also pulled double duty as a screenwriter. The actor/writer crafted the script with Doug Jung , revealing how he described Starbase Yorktown while he was writing the script. Here's what he had to say below.

"Designing that -- you know, you say that in a screenplay, you describe it, and then you get it to a production designer, and they come back with these amazing concept designs. That was the most amazing thing for Doug and I. You know, you write away and write away, and then suddenly you see all these boards with this beautifully designed, incredibly imaginative stuff, and you kind of feel like you can take credit for it. [Laughs] Even though you shouldn't!"

Star Trek Beyond , the highly anticipated next installment in Paramount's globally popular Star Trek franchise, created by Gene Roddenberry and reintroduced by J.J. Abrams in 2009, returns with director Justin Lin ( The Fast and the Furious franchise) at the helm of this epic voyage of the U.S.S. Enterprise and her intrepid crew. In Star Trek Beyond , the Enterprise crew explores the furthest reaches of uncharted space, where they encounter a mysterious new enemy who puts them and everything the Federation stands for to the test. The film stars John Cho , Simon Pegg , Chris Pine as Captain Kirk , Zachary Quinto as Spock , Zoë Saldana , Karl Urban , Anton Yelchin and Idris Elba . We'll be sure to keep you posted with more on Star Trek Beyond , which was directed by Justin Lin , as we get closer to the July 22 release date.

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Published Oct 4, 2016

Beyond Beams Up to International Space Station

So, you're up in space, for real, and maybe you have a couple of hours to spare. What do you do? If you're the astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS), you watch Star Trek Beyond . In advance of the latest big-screen Trek adventure's debut today on Digital HD, Beyond has been "beamed up" to the International Space Station, thereby making its extraterrestrial debut.

The International Space Station, of course, serves as the world's leading laboratory for conducting cutting-edge microgravity research, and is the primary platform for technology development and testing in space to enable human and robotic exploration of destinations beyond low-Earth orbit, including asteroids and Mars. And, it's common knowledge that Star Trek has inspired many of the scientists and astronauts who've been part of NASA and the space program over the years.

On the heels of today's Digital HD release, Star Trek Beyond will blast onto 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D Combo Packs on November 1.

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‘Star Trek Beyond’ Reveals New Photos, Details on That Mysterious Space Station

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Following last weekend’s debut of that great new trailer for Star Trek Beyond , Paramount has released a whole bunch of official stills from the upcoming sequel. The images offer new looks at Sofia Boutella ’s alien character, along with Chris Pine ’s Captain Kirk, Zachary Quinto ’s Spock and Simon Pegg ’s Scotty (and that little rascal Keenser) — speaking of which, Pegg has also offered some details on that mysterious space station you may have spotted in the most recent trailer.

You can check out all the images from Justin Lin ’s Star Trek Beyond in the gallery above, a few of which feature the director himself. Mostly, we get some new looks at Jaylah, the new alien character played by Sofia Boutella. And if her role in Kingsman is any indication, Jaylah is going to be pretty badass.

Jaylah isn’t the only new addition in Star Trek Beyond , which also features Idris Elba as an original villain created specifically for the sequel by co-writers Simon Pegg and Doug Jung. While speaking with IGN , Pegg shared details about something else that’s new — a mysterious space station briefly shown in the most recent trailer:

As you can see, it’s encased in a massive sphere, presumably to protect whatever is inside. According to Pegg, that would be Starbase Yorktown, the Federation‘s “diplomatic hub”:

You can imagine -- me and Jung joked that there were various aliens with leaflets, handing them out to other aliens like, ‘Come and see our world!’” he said. “But it's basically a place where they can go, where they can better understand what being part of the Federation means. It's an important kind of tactical establishment for the Federation. It's been built locally, so it's very interesting to look at, but it's where the Enterprise docks up. [This is] the first time in like 10 months [that the Enterprise has] had kind of proper contact with other people, and that's where the story begins.

Yorktown sounds like it offers more diversity than what we’ve seen in Starfleet, showcasing dozens of aliens and races from various planets all in one place. That’s pretty exciting, especially for an opening sequence.

Star Trek Beyond hits theaters on July 22.

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Watch Simon Pegg geek out about ‘Star Trek’ with an astronaut in space

Simon Pegg has heard from the toughest, highest-flying critic about  Star Trek Beyond:  an astronaut aboard the International Space Station.

He checked in with astronaut Kate Rubins after she watched the Justin Lin-directed summer hit, which was beamed up to the Space Station.

Pegg, who co-wrote  Beyond  and stars as Enterprise chief engineer Scotty, was blown away by their satellite talk earlier this month to promote Star Trek Beyond 's arrival on Blu-ray (Nov. 1).

"That is fantastic, I have never spoken to anyone in space before,” Pegg says.

Rubins gave high marks to  Beyond . It didn’t hurt that she had the best view ever to watch a science-fiction film.

“I watched it from our cupola, which is our windows facing the Earth,” she says, prompting Pegg to lose his geek mind (“That’s utterly amazing”).

The giant Federation space station depicted in the film, Starbase Yorktown, was spot-on in Rubins' expert view. “Your special effects guys get it right. It absolutely feels like a space station," she says.

Pegg ended the nerd-tastic talk by volunteering his services.

“If you need a chief engineer to come and fix your warp core,” Pegg says, “you know where I am.”

Starbase Yorktown

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Starbase Yorktown , often simply called Yorktown , was a massive Federation space station in operation during the mid- 23rd century , near the Necro Cloud nebula , in the Kelvin timeline . ( Star Trek Beyond ).

Located near the edge of Federation territory in 2263 , it was constructed with the aid of many Federation members , and was built in deep space so as not to show preferential treatment toward any recently-admitted member worlds. The station's crew numbered in the millions, including Starfleet officers, their families and other civilians, representing nearly every planet in the Federation.

Commodore Paris served as commanding officer of Starbase Yorktown in 2263. ( Star Trek Beyond )

The station had extensive spacedock and starship construction facilities. The USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A) was built there after her predecessor 's destruction at Altamid . ( Star Trek Beyond )

External links [ ]

• Starbase Yorktown article at Memory Alpha , the canon Star Trek wiki.
• Starbase Yorktown article at Memory Beta , the non-canon Star Trek wiki.
• 1 Dominion War
• 2 USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-G) (Excalibur class)
• 3 USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-H) (Endurance class)

Screen Rant

All the retro references in star trek beyond.

Star Trek Beyond is bursting with references to Trek's past. With five series and ten pre-Abrams movies, our cup runneth over.

Spoiler alert! If you haven't seen Star Trek Beyond yet, you'll want to bookmark this for later. If you've already seen it, and you're a fan, you probably picked up on more than a few references to other entries in the Star Trek canon. Leaving out the Kelvin Timeline entries - that means the J.J. Abrams-produced reboots - we still noticed a few dozen throwbacks, references, and friendly nods to the various series and movies of the past. And that's not even including some continuing themes, like captains going crazy and betraying the Federation, anonymous red shirts getting slaughtered, a beautifully filmed saucer crash that reminds us of the same event in Star Trek Generations , and the familiarity of the Swarm (when we hear drones and hive minds and bee references, we can't help but think of the Borg).

From the names of starbases and Starfleet personnel to random quotes, gestures, and throwaway comments, here are  19 Hidden References To  Star Trek 's Past .

 19. Chekov Explains The Origins Of Scotch

In one of Star Trek Beyond 's final scenes, Chekov is seen explaining to a new alien friend that Scotch was " inwented by a little old lady in Moscow ." Anyone who watched the original series knows that Chekov was constantly attributing inventions, sayings, and discoveries to Russia, even when faced with overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

Examples abound. When Scotty brings up the classic Scottish saying, " Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on you ," Chekov insists (with a smile) that the saying is Russian. On Pollux IV, he and Kirk discuss Apollo's ability to magically disappear, but he's baffled by Kirk's reference to the Cheshire cat in Alice In Wonderland . " Cheshire? No sir. Minsk, perhaps. " He insists that quadrotriticale was developed in Russia, which is why he's familiar with it when his Captain isn't, and in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country , he he says that Cinderella was a Russian epic.

His quote about scotch is pretty specific, though; it echoes his sentiments expressed to Scotty in fan favorite episode "The Trouble With Tribbles," telling him that Scotch was " inwented by a little old lady from Leningrad. "

18. McCoy Calls Spock A "Green-Blooded Ingrate"

McCoy and Spock have a long history of banter, but it's always McCoy who slings the insults, throwing in references to Spock's ancestry and physiology whenever he gets the chance. It's a strange thing for a 23rd-century Starfleet officer to keep doing, especially in a future filled with alien races, and double-especially considering the fact that he's a doctor, but that doesn't stop him. In Beyond, he calls Spock a " green-blooded ingrate " after he saves Spock's life and then gets dragged back onto an alien ship with him, but that's nothing compared to previous insults from the original series:

“ Don’t give me any Vulcan details, Spock .”

“ Are you out of your Vulcan mind? ”

“ I’m trying to thank you, you pointed-eared hobgoblin! ”

“ You bet your pointed ears, I am. ”

Even Kirk gets in on the action in "Catspaw," the very silly Halloween episode:

Spock: “ Trick or treat, Captain? ”

Kirk: “ Yes, Mister Spock. You'd be a natural. ”

17. The Yorktown Space Station

The stunning, multi-dimensional Yorktown Space Station is a major player in Star Trek Beyond . It's where the Enterprise crew gets assigned the mission that sends them into conflict with Krall, and our story begins. In panoramic sweeps we see dozens of species going on about their daily lives, and learn that Sulu's husband and daughter make their home there.

Its name has some history. In the original series episode "Obsession," the Enterprise is supposed to deliver much-need vaccines to the U.S.S. Yorktown, and on Star Trek Voyager , Tuvok's father was an officer on the Yorktown. In Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home , the Yorktown is one of the ships disabled by the destructive probe that's trying to find some whales to talk to.

But in this case, we think the reference is a throwback to Gene Roddenberry's first plan for the show. When he pitched Star Trek to NBC back in 1964, it featured a starship called The U.S.S. Yorktown, named after a World War II era aircraft carrier. Given that the whole premise of Star Trek centers around acceptance and diversity, the naming of the space station Yorktown, where multiple species live together in peace and harmony, seems to be a nod to the creation of the entire Star Trek universe. Further evidence: Director Justin Lin mentioned that there are 50 species on the Yorktown, representing 50 years of Star Trek .

16. Captain Kirk's Log Entry

While Kirk is recording his Captain's Log, he throws in a few references for us longtime fans. The Enterprise is already three years into her five-year mission, but Kirk gets specific, making a point of saying that it's their 966th day on the job. That number didn't come out of nowhere; Star Trek, the original series, premiered its first episode, "The Man Trap," on September 8, 1966. Yes, that's 9/66.

He also refers to life aboard the Enterprise as "episodic," which reminds everyone that this whole universe of movies, merchandise, events, and giant lines at Comic Con has its very humble beginnings in a TV series that almost didn't make it to a third season. Life may feel episodic at times, but Star Trek is always episodic, and the best of the movies feel like an expanded, extended episode of the TV show.

15. The Franklin's Serial Number

This is one of those little Easter eggs that we thought was a stretch, but was recently confirmed by the Star Trek Beyond team. The U.S.S. Franklin's serial number appears a couple of times during the movie, and seemed familiar, making us wonder if it was a tribute to Leonard Nimoy, who died last year and whose presence is still strong throughout this movie. He'd already appeared in the rebooted Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness , and was asked if he could also appear in Star Trek Beyond, but his health was already failing at that point, and he had to say no . He loved the idea, though, and had particularly enjoyed playing alongside the new cast in the first two, but he simply wasn't able to work anymore. Fittingly, there is a dedication to him at the end of the movie, right before the closing credits.

Nimoy's birthday was March 26th, making it 3-26, and a match for the Franklin's NX-326 designation.

14. Kirk's Depressing Birthday

In Star Trek Beyond , Kirk and McCoy share a drink - scotch, stolen from Chekov's locker - and talk about Kirk's upcoming birthday, which is not a celebratory occasion for him. As McCoy not-so-sensitively reminds him, it's the same day his father died. George Kirk's death was the event that kicked off the first reboot movie, and changed the timeline forever, but Kirk doesn't know that; he only knows that his dad died the day he was born. So the two men share a drink and talk about why Kirk is feeling so low.

A similar scene unfolds in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan , when McCoy and Kirk share a drink and Kirk complains about feeling old and tired. McCoy isn't particularly sensitive then either. " Other people have birthdays ," he says, " Why are we treating yours like a funeral ?"

McCoy's long history of drinking with Kirk, Chief Medical Officer to Captain, was actually started by their predecessors, Captain Christopher Pike and Doctor Philip Boyce. In "The Cage," which later became the two-parter "The Menagerie," Boyce stops by Pike's cabin, and makes them a couple of martinis, because " sometimes a man'll tell his bartender things he'll never tell his doctor. "

Clearly, McCoy and Boyce went to the same medical school.

13. Krall's History

Remember the spoiler warning at the beginning? If you weren't paying attention then, pay attention now, and plug your eyes and ears while we do this next bit. Scrolling would probably accomplish the same goal, with less drama.

Krall used to be Captain Balthazar Edison of the aforementioned U.S.S. Franklin. Once the crew realizes that, they dig into his history, and find out that he was a soldier in the united Earth military organization called MACO (Military Assault Command Operations). We first heard of such a thing in Star Trek: Enteprise , when crew members and MACO personnel teamed up against the Xindi.

During Krall's final battle with Jim Kirk on the Yorktown, he bitterly refers to fighting the Romulans and the Xindi, and resents the fact that MACO was disbanded and replaced by Starfleet, when the United Federation of Planets was founded, an organization devoted to peace. All of this Trek canon history comes directly from Enterprise , the least-liked and least-watched, but clearly not the least important, of all the Star Trek series.

12. Spock Quotes Shakespeare

When Spock and McCoy are stranded, and Spock is injured, McCoy has some choice words for Spock's decision to start quoting Shakespeare. But how could Spock resist? The Bard and Star Trek go back a long way.

From the first season original series episode "The Conscience of the King," to Klingon Chancellor Gorkon's insistence that " You have not experienced Shakespeare until you have read him in the original Klingon " in  Star Trek VI ,  Shakespeare's presence has loomed large. But by far, his largest fan is Captain Jean-Luc Picard, who uses Shakespeare's words to rescue Lwaxana Troi from a romantically-inclined Ferengi, distract a 19th century landlord in San Francisco from evicting him and his crew by promising her a role in their production of A Midsummer Night's Dream , and convince Q that humanity is actually a pretty worthy species . Remember, this is a man who kept Shakespeare's Collected Works in his ready room at all times, because you never know when you're going to need a quick quote.

 11. Commodore Paris

In Star Trek Beyond, Shohreh Aghdashloo plays Commodore Paris, of the Federation High Command. She's the one who assigns James Kirk the Enterprise's mission, and also offers him a position as Vice Admiral.

In a Trek-savvy audience, you'll hear whispers the first time her name is mentioned, as everyone assumes she is an ancestor of Star Trek Voyager's Ensign-turned-Lieutenant, bad-guy-turned-good-guy, rogue-turned-family-man Tom Paris. Tom Eugene Paris was recruited to Voyager by Captain Janeway from a penal colony, to help her find the Maquis, and more than earned his keep. In his years aboard the starship, lost in the Delta quadrant, he became an invaluable member of the crew, saving them from peril multiple times, working undercover when necessary, and creating a series of particularly annoying holographic novels. His backstory included a disapproving father, Admiral Owen Paris, who came from a long line of high-ranking Starfleet officers. We can only guess that Commodore Paris was among them.

10. Uhura's Necklace

When Kirk is trying to figure out how to locate the Enterprise crew, Spock asks Chekov to scan for a specific Vulcan mineral, located in a necklace he gave to Lieutenant Uhura. McCoy has a field day with this, commenting on how Spock gave his girlfriend a tracking device. Who knew it would come in so handy?

Turns out necklace gifts have come in handy on Star Trek before. In the episode "Elaan of Troyius," the Enterprise is on a diplomatic mission, escorting the captivating but incredibly cranky Elaan to Troyius to be married and end a war. Things get dramatic: she stabs her instructor, chemicals in her tears make Kirk fall in love with her, and her guard betrays the Enterprise to the Klingons. The ship is about to be destroyed when Spock discovers some energy readings on the bridge, and traces them to Elaan's necklace. She calls them "common stones" but they turn out to be dilithium crystals, and once Scotty integrates them into the ship's engines, the Enterprise wins the battle and saves the day. The moral of the story: jewelry saves lives, no matter which timeline you're in.

9. Krall's Relationship With Kirk

Krall may be a new villain, but he has moments when he seems awfully familiar.

We already know from Star Trek Into Darkness that the reboot team is a fan of Khan. But the reboot Khan, with all due respect to the talents of Benedict Cumberbatch, is nothing compared to the original, played to perfection by the late Ricardo Montalban, and that's where see some Khanspiration in Beyond . Both Krall and Khan were abandoned, or at least perceived they were, and both are hell-bent on revenge, even if Khan is mostly angry at Kirk while Krall is pissed at the entire Federation. But by the end of the movie, when Krall has already come up against Kirk multiple times, their relationship starts to get personal. He even starts taking on a little of Khan's rhetoric, and finally, in a very Khan-like moment, says, " Goodbye old friend ," a phrase Khan really likes using when talking to his arch-enemy, Admiral Kirk.

In both cases, it's Kirk who survives, so we recommend not becoming an old friend of James T. Kirk's, if you value your own survival... unless your name is Spock.

8. "I Ripped My Shirt Again"

In the movie's opening scene, Kirk meets with the Teenaxi people to help them make a treaty with their enemies, the Fenopians. Before the scene is over, the Teenaxi, who look sort of like tiny dog-monsters, attack the poor Captain as a group, tearing at him as he tries to throw them off. Scotty beams him out, security guards remove the creatures who beamed over with him, and Kirk storms off with the comment, " I ripped my shirt again. "

Viewers of the original Star Trek know that's one of Kirk's trademarks, a nice way to counterbalance all the female near-nudity that was a staple of the 1960s series. His shirt ripped during fist fights with Gary Mitchell, Ben Finney, Finnegan, gladiators on Triskelion, and the Onlies, a bunch of really creepy children. It ripped when Spock sliced it open with a lirpa - don't blame Spock, he was in the grip of a blood fever - and when McCoy tore it open to give him a hypospray.  Assuming some of these events still happened in the Kelvin Timeline, Kirk wasn't kidding when he said "again."

7. Scotty Cracks His Knuckles

There's a light moment near the end of the movie, right when the stakes are at their highest. Krall is about to unleash his superweapon on the entire population of the Yorktown space station, and Scotty is trying to help them shut down the ventilation systems to prevent it. He sits down and gives his knuckles a good crack before diving in.

Flashback! In Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home , the Enterprise crew travels back to the 80s to try to find some whales. (They need them to communicate with a space probe that's destroying Earth.) The crew splits up into teams, much like in Beyond and many a Trek episode, and Scotty and McCoy go looking for the 20th century equivalent of transparent aluminum.  They pose as scientists to get into a company called Plexicorp, and are given access to the computer. Just saying " Computer " doesn't seem to get it going (as it's an early era Mac), nor does it help when he picks up the mouse and speaks into it directly. Then the Plexicorp guy suggests Scotty use the keyboard.

" The keyboard ," Scotty says . " How quaint. " Then he cracks his knuckles, just like Simon Pegg, and gives it a go.

6. Kirk's Inspirational Speech

As they're about to head into the nebula on a rescue mission, Kirk delivers some words of inspiration to his crew. He has Uhura patch him in to the whole ship, and tells them, " There's no such thing as the unknown, only things temporarily hidden, temporarily not understood. "

Even across two timelines, our Kirk is still our Kirk. In the original series episode "The Corbomite Maneuver ," the crew is also faced with the unknown, and he wants to reassure then that there's still hope, despite the fact that they've just heard a shipwide message from an alien called Balok telling them they have ten minutes to make preparations for being destroyed. (He assumes they have a deity or two that provides them with some comforting beliefs.) What does Kirk tell his crew?

" There's no such thing as the unknown, only things temporarily hidden, temporarily not understood. " Wise words, obviously worth repeating.

5. A Toast To Absent Friends

After the mission is over, McCoy throws a little surprise get-together for Kirk's birthday. The crew is all decked out in their civilian clothing, but it's still clear that Kirk is their commander as well as the birthday boy. In view of the losses they suffered at the hands of Krall, he makes a toast. " To absent friends ," he says. It's a poignant moment, made more so by the cutaway added in after the film was done to Anton Yelchin, who died in a tragic accident after the movie was shot. It's a much-needed reminder that even in success, there are casualties.

In Star Trek III: The Search For Spock , Kirk makes the same toast as he has a drink with Scotty, Sulu, Chekov, and Uhura. In this case he's referring to Spock, who died at Khan's hands and is now in a torpedo tube on the Genesis planet, and McCoy, who's at home, " pumped up full of tranquilizers ." Both DeForest Kelley (McCoy) and Leonard Nimoy are gone now. They have been and always shall be, our absent friends.

4. Spock's Lives

The two Spocks in the reboot movies can get a little confusing, since they are alive at the same time and even have conversations. Quinto's Spock sees Nimoy's Spock as a mentor, and so shaken when he hears about his death that he decides to leave Starfleet and pursue his work on New Vulcan. At least that's his plan. When he's telling McCoy about it, he starts with, "When you've lived as many lives as he ... "

While New Spock doesn't really know all the details of Original Spock's life, we do, and we know that he's lived quite a few lives. He came close to death many times in course of the Enterprise's adventures, but at the end of The Wrath of Khan , he sacrificed his life to save the crew, saving them all and devastating them at the same time. At the last minute, though, he mind-melded with McCoy, preserving his "katra" or his living spirit, so that he could live again. So in The Search for Spock , the crew violated direct orders and headed back to the Genesis planet, where they found his torpedo coffin broken open, and a mindless, empty Spock body waiting to get its katra back.

There was also that time when Spock's consciousness was stored in Christine Chapel, but he didn't actually die; his body was just being used by an entity named Henoch, and he got it back. So that doesn't count.

3. The Reason Spock And McCoy Were Beamed Up Separately

It wasn't just for comic relief that McCoy and Spock are transported separately, although dammit, Jim, that was a great moment. But when McCoy asks why, Scotty explains that he's using the cargo transporter for the first time and doesn't want to risk splicing them. "I couldn't imagine a worse scenario," McCoy says.

Of course, he already experienced that scenario, or rather, he's going to, depending on how you look at the timeline. See list item number four for details of the original Spock and McCoy merger.

In addition, we know that the transporter DID once splice together an unlikely duo. In the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Tuvix," Tuvok and Neelix were accidentally fused into one being due to a transporter accident. Tuvix retained elements of both of their characteristics but in the fusion, he became a new person entirely, with his own sense of self and and a desire to continue his existence. This led to a huge moral dilemma about whether or not it was right to kill Tuvix, a unique life form, in order to get Tuvok and Neelix back. Janeway had to make the hard choice, as always, and she wrestled with it, but ultimately decided it was her only real option. Bye bye, Tuvix. So, the splicing thing? A valid concern.

2. Kirk's Promotion

At the beginning of the movie, Kirk wants a promotion. He's tired, he feels a little lost, and the idea of being in one place has some appeal. He talks to Commodore Paris about a Vice Admiral position, which seems a little premature given that he hasn't even completed his five-year mission yet, but she's open to the idea and agrees to discuss it with Starfleet. By the end of the movie, he's changed his mind, and heads off happily anticipating new danger and adventure (and for us, Star Trek 4 ).

What's the advice the original Captain Kirk gives to Captain Picard when they meet in Star Trek Generations ? " Don't let them promote you. Don't let them transfer you. Don't let them do anything that takes you off the bridge of that ship, because while you're there, you can make a difference. " This is why Kirk was so depressed at the beginning of The Wrath of Khan and even so unnerved at the beginning of Star Trek: The Motion Picture . He needs that ship to feel like he's making a difference. He also likes to have a good time, which is why New Kirk asks if there's any flying when you're a Vice Admiral. When he's told no, he asks, with a grin, " Where's the fun in that? " And on we go.

1. The Giant Green Space Hand

All fear the giant green space hand! Sounds silly, but we loved when Scotty mentioned this as one of the perils of outer space. That throwaway comment of his is a reference to one of the worst SFX moments from the original series. In the episode "Who Mourns for Adonais? ," the Enterprise encounters the Greek god Apollo, who reaches out into space and grabs the ship with, yes, his giant green hand. " You will obey me ," he says, " lest I close my hand thus ." The air pressure gets a little intense, and he finally releases them by opening his hand (thus). They get the message: Kirk and a team beam down to the planet to see what he wants from them. Spock, however, isn't invited, as he reminds Apollo of Pan.

Apollo's demands are simple: he just wants the Enteprise crew to come live on Pollux IV and give them their loyalty, their tribute, and their worship.  When that doesn't work out, he spreads himself across the wind like the other Greek gods, while Lieutenant Carolyn Palamas cries. Kirk gets his by a wave of remorse once the whole thing is over, and wonders aloud if it would have hurt them so much to gather a few laurel leaves. Too late!

Sharp eyes will spot the green hand in the Star Trek Beyond credits; it's a blink-or-you-miss-it moment, but it's definitely there.

Star Trek Beyond premiered on July 22nd, 2016.

Could The Yorktown Space Station From Star Trek Beyond Exist?

By ketwolski | mar 25, 2017.

Could the massive Yorktown space station from Star Trek Beyond really be built?

Boasting impressive visuals, a huge population, massive cityscapes and housing the galaxies biggest starship pit-stop ever, the Yorktown wowed audience members and certainly earned its place in Trek history.

I truly loved Star Trek: Beyond. It was a return to what I felt Trek was lacking in the past few years: hope, adventure, and exploration.

Wherever you might be on the spectrum of love-hate for the ‘Kelvin’ timeline, most fans will admit that ‘Beyond’ was indeed a great ‘Trek’ film.

Classic characters were acting more normal, Kirk was his own man, and the villain was genuinely intimidating on-screen.

Mix that an amazing score and impressive visuals and you have yourself an A+ Trek film.

One of the most breath-taking set pieces featured in Beyond was the state of the art Yorktown class space-station. Capable of housing hundreds of thousands of Federation citizens and a massive starship construction yard, the Yorktown is a ‘Sci-Fi’ fans dream.

But could they have built this station within the Kelvin timeline?

In short: yes, but not in the year 2263.

In the video, I describe the process it took to get ‘Deep Space Nine’ up a running. Comparing that timetable to the size of the ‘Yorktown’ would mean it would take roughly 179 years to build.

With only 109 years between ‘Beyond’ and the NX-01 maiden voyage, there is simply not enough time to build that station within the universe.

And yes, this include the ‘boost in technology’ that the Enterprise received from scanning Nero’s ship in ‘Star Trek 2009’.

But nevertheless, I still enjoyed seeing it on the big screen and watching the enterprise fly through impossible tubes within the station never gets old.

NEXT: 10 Reasons Picard Was The Best Captain

Let us know what you think about this topic on Facebook or in the comments below!

‘Star Trek Beyond’ Review: Found in Space

The new ‘Star Trek’ film franchise finally discovers its identity and breaks away from paying overt homage to what came before.

It’s become a disheartening trend for reboots to pay far too much homage to their more popular predecessors rather than try to stand on their own feet. The thinking seems to be that if there are enough shout-outs, it will pass for a kind of shibboleth with the fanbase. We’ve seen it with Ghostbusters , Star Wars: The Force Awakens , and we saw it with J.J. Abrams ’ Star Trek movies. Oddly, while those movies could drop in references to the Kobayashi Maru or make Khan a villain, those overt references didn’t make Abrams movies feel more like Star Trek because Trek , a 50-year-old franchise that’s spawned six TV series, twelve movies, and countless tie-in novels, is more than the sum of its parts. There’s an essence to Star Trek that’s harder to define. But Justin Lin ’s Star Trek Beyond has come closer than any Star Trek film since 1991’s Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country to finding that essence.

The Enterprise is in its third year of its five-year mission, and Captain James Kirk ( Chris Pine ) is starting to feel listless. In his captain’s log, he even notes how life aboard the Enterprise is starting to feel “episodic”, and what’s more, he’s not even sure if he wants a captain’s life or if he’s still living in his father’s shadow. Kirk’s decision is put on hold when, while re-provisioning at the Yorktown starbase, Starfleet receives a distress signal from an alien who claims that her crew is in trouble. The Enterprise rides to the rescue only to be attacked by a swarm that obliterates the ship and scatters the crew on an uncharted world. The crew must figure out how to regroup, get off the planet, and stop the villainous Krall ( Idris Elba ) from unleashing a powerful weapon.

In an odd way, by lowering the stakes and focusing more on the crew, Star Trek Beyond actually feels more like Star Trek: The Original Series than a slew of fan service could ever provide. Lin, along with screenwriters Simon Pegg and Doug Jung , have found the right balance in showing that they’re Trek fans, but finally establishing that the Kelvin universe is its own place with its own attitude. There are going to be some elements that will never win over die-hard fans and moments of over-reach, but at least Beyond comes off like it’s moving in the right direction for trying to be both Star Trek and a modern interpretation that can manage the tricky balance of appealing to both Trekkies and non-fans alike.

There were those that were worried Lin might try to turn Star Trek into his Fast & Furious franchise, and in a way, he kind of has, but in the best sense possible. Lin has taken his strongest element from the Fast & Furious movies—the emphasis on family and rousing action—and applied it to the Star Trek universe while leaving out Fast & Furious ’ dismissal of physics and the objectification of women. For some, this will leave Trek still too action-oriented, which is a valid complaint. While a slightly slower-paced, more sci-fi-minded film would be more in keeping with Trek ’s values, I think at this point we have to accept that this new Star Trek universe is an action franchise.

The reason why Beyond works better than the previous two Trek films is because there’s an emphasis on exploration and discovery whereas Star Trek 2009 is about getting the crew together and Into Darkness is about a manhunt/conspiracy. Beyond , while steeped in being a summer blockbuster, feels rooted in the TOS episodes where the crew would find themselves on an alien planet. And while there’s plenty of action, Lin keeps it grounded by finally giving the entire crew their close-up.

By splitting up the crew, it challenges the dynamics we’ve seen before, and the results are delightful. We’ve got Uhura ( Zoe Saldana ) and Sulu ( John Cho ) trying to escape from Krall; Scotty (Pegg) and the alien Jaylah ( Sofia Boutella ) working to repair her ship; Chekov ( Anton Yelchin ) assisting Kirk; and the best pairing of all, Bones ( Karl Urban ) and Spock ( Zachary Quinto ) trying to survive the wilderness. While Spock’s emotional range in these scenes will definitely go too far for some, again, we have to accept that in this universe, Spock is more willing to embrace his human side, and I’m glad that Beyond does it full-heartedly rather than just make Spock a poorly-restrained Vulcan. The chemistry between Spock and Bones is top-notch and they almost steal the movie.

The drawback to putting so much emphasis on action and family is that the movie forgets its initial conflict—Kirk feeling lost in space—and this conflict remains forgotten until almost the end of the movie because it’s tied in with a twist regarding Krall. You have to wait until midway through the third act for a theme to surface. And it’s not a particularly deep theme, but the film is biting its tongue because it doesn’t want to tip its hand with the reveal. However, that means there’s really nothing for Kirk to wrestle with beyond saving the ship. He’s definitely the portrait of a responsible captain here—as opposed to Trek ’09 and Into Darkness —but whereas those films are about Kirk growing into his role as captain, Beyond begins with raising an interesting question: does Kirk even want to be captain? Sadly, that question doesn’t really get explored through the course of the film.

Beyond isn’t ideal Trek , but that’s okay because it’s started to discover its own identity while not casting off the essence of what made Star Trek special in the first place. If you’re deeply entrenched against Abrams’ Star Trek films, Beyond probably won’t change your opinion (although it’s nice to see this new aesthetic without being pummeled by lens flares) because these are action movies now. What makes Beyond impressive is how it’s managed to blend an action aesthetic with enough deep cuts and esoteric references that the film isn’t screaming to remind you it’s Star Trek . The references are still there (and not just from the original Trek , but also Deep Space Nine , Voyager , and Enterprise ), but they’re no longer stopping the film in its tracks. By placing the emphasis on the crew and on discovery, the Star Trek film franchise is now boldly going somewhere worth exploring.

Memory Beta, non-canon Star Trek Wiki

A friendly reminder regarding spoilers ! At present the expanded Trek universe is in a period of major upheaval with the continuations of Discovery and Prodigy , the advent of new eras in gaming with the Star Trek Adventures RPG , Star Trek: Infinite and Star Trek Online , as well as other post-57th Anniversary publications such as the ongoing IDW Star Trek comic and spin-off Star Trek: Defiant . Therefore, please be courteous to other users who may not be aware of current developments by using the {{ spoiler }}, {{ spoilers }} OR {{ majorspoiler }} tags when adding new information from sources less than six months old (even if it is minor info). Also, please do not include details in the summary bar when editing pages and do not anticipate making additions relating to sources not yet in release. THANK YOU

• Starfleet Facilities
• Space stations

Yorktown (starbase)

• View history
• 1 Service history
• 2 Technical data
• 3 Personnel
• 5.1 Appearances
• 5.2 External Link

Service history [ ]

Located near the edge of Federation space in 2263 , the base housed millions of people from all Federation worlds. It was built with the idea of not showing favoritism to any single Federation world, by being built in deep space, instead of on a planet.

Exterior view.

In that year, the USS Enterprise under Captain James T. Kirk docked at the base. The base then detected a escape pod in distress with a single passenger aboard named Kalara . She then asked the base's commander, Commodore Paris and the Enterprise 's captain, {James T. Kirk to help her rescue her crew stranded in the nebula.

Unbeknownst to both the Enterprise and Yorktown crews at the time, one of their Magellan probes that were sent out to chart the nebula was captured by a warlord, Krall . It was also Krall who sent Kalara to lure the Enterprise to Altamid to retrieve the other half of the Abronath . Krall also studied the base and when Lieutenants Uhura and Sulu attempted to send a distress signal, Krall was able to lure Yorktown's rescue ship into the nebula to leave the base undefended.

Krall then launched his attack on Yorktown, so he could use the base's advanced technology to attack other Federation worlds with the Abronath. At first, Krall's swarm ship were overwhelming and penetrating Yorktown's defenses. However, Yorktown received assistance from the USS Franklin under Kirk. The base received the swarm ship's frequency and were able to broadcast "Sabotage" that destroyed the majority of the Swarm ships. However, Krall's command ship and two swarm ships were able to get inside Yorktown. Commander Spock and Dr. McCoy, aboard a swarm ship, pursued him along with the Franklin . Kirk then had the Franklin fly and force Krall's ships to crash into him.

However, Krall, who revealed himself to be the Franklin 's former captain, Balthazar Edison , survived and took a uniform and went towards the base's life support systems to deploy the Abronath. However, Edison failed to deploy the Abronath and was jettisoned into space. ( TOS movie : Star Trek Beyond )

Technical data [ ]

The base consisted of a large transparent globe with its own internal atmosphere, and a number of pylons that held buildings, parks, squares, a public transporter network, and support facilities. The station had a large spacedock capable of easily holding ships as large as Constitution -class vessels. The base along with it's defensive satellite network, were armed with phasers and photon torpedo launchers. However, they unable to stop Krall 's swarm ships from their attempt to break through.

Yorktown also contained a shipyard capable of building vessels, including Constitution -class ships. One such vessel was the USS Enterprise -A , which was launched in 2263, following the destruction of the previous USS Enterprise . ( TOS movie : Star Trek Beyond )

Personnel [ ]

• Commodore Paris
• Commander Jake Finnegan

Appendices [ ]

Appearances [ ].

• TOS movie : Star Trek Beyond
• TOS - Boldly Go comic : " Boldly Go, Issue 10 "

External Link [ ]

• Yorktown article at Memory Alpha , the wiki for canon Star Trek .
• 1 ISS Enterprise (NCC-1701)
• 3 Ferengi Rules of Acquisition

Space station

• View history

Deep Space 9 , a Cardassian-built Starfleet/Bajoran space station

Starbase 375 , a Federation space station near the Cardassian border

A space station was an artificial structure in space , often built to support life . Space stations could serve many purposes , including research , defense , and starship maintenance. Depending on their purpose, they may have been referred to by another term , such as a spacelab or outpost. Space stations could be in orbit of a planet , or be completely free floating in space.

Space stations were used by the Federation , the Klingons , the Cardassians , and other races . They could be used as outposts often located in "frontier" areas or along interstellar borders, research stations specialized in scientific research, shipyards specialized in the construction of starships, or as orbital components of starbases such as a spacedock .

Stations that were positioned on the edge of the Federation border (like Deep Space K-7 ) or, in the case of Deep Space 9 , in neutral territory close to the Federation border, were labeled as Deep Space stations.

A Vulcan space station was located around fifty light years from Deep Space 9. ( DS9 : " Take Me Out to the Holosuite ")

See also [ ]

• Fixed installations

External links [ ]

• Space station at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• Space station at Wikipedia
• 2 ISS Enterprise (NCC-1701)

Star Trek Beyond Had A Deeper Backstory For Krall's Army That Fans Never Got To See

"Star Trek Beyond" might be the best "Mass Effect" movie we ever get. The shiny Yorktown station, with city sprawls built along the surface of spinning, gravity-manipulating rings, is a dead ringer for the Citadel. The film's villain — Krall (Idris Elba) — leads an army of robots, "The Swarm," much like Saren Arterius employing the cyclopean robot Geth in the first "Mass Effect."

Krall's army destroys the Enterprise in the first act of "Beyond," leaving the crew stranded on planet Altamid. Though Krall made his home on this world, he isn't a native. No, he's really Balthazar Edison, once the (human) captain of the Starfleet ship the U.S.S. Franklin. After the Franklin crashed on Altamid in the 22nd century, rescue from the Federation never came and Edison became disillusioned.

He and his surviving crew found abandoned technology, including his Swarm army (originally invented as "sophisticated mining equipment," not disposable soldiers) and the life-draining devices they've sustained himself with. (Krall's alien appearance was siphoned from his victims with said tech.) When the Swarm destroys the Enterprise, they do so by ramming it repeatedly, not blasting it out of the sky with phasers. Such a physical approach makes sense if the ships were designed to mine a planet's surface.

According to "Star Trek Beyond" co-writer Doug Jung, the team originally had some "loftier ambitions" for the backstory of Krall's army.

The Swarm in Star Trek Beyond

In a 2016 interview with TrekCore , Jung elaborated on these plans while offering insight into how the Swarm functions: "Justin's idea was that [the Swarm soldiers] were sort of like drones in a way and that they don't actually have a lot conscious thought of their own. That sort of answers how Krall would be able to come in and take all this stuff." That's also why, in the film's climax, the Enterprise bridge crew disrupts the Swarm with a signal playing the Beastie Boy's "Sabotage." The Swarm has command signals, not thoughts, and is a hive mind more easily felled than the Borg.

Speaking to CinemaBlend , Jung confirmed the idea of the Swarm was "Star Trek Beyond" director Justin Lin's: "[Lin] liked that idea of like asymmetrical warfare and he kind of made sense. He's like, 'Why would you have that big ship going around? Why not just get a bunch of little ones?'"

As for how Edison took control of the Swarm and perverted them, turning them from harmless miners into vicious attack dogs, Jung explained: "[Edison] was taking his skills as an ex-soldier and applying them in a way that he probably never thought he would have to do."

This backstory is briefly alluded to in "Star Trek Beyond," where Kirk (Chris Pine) and Scotty (Simon Pegg, who also co-wrote the movie) find Edison's final captain's log aboard the Franklin, where he mentions that the "indigenous race" of Altamid "left behind sophisticated mining equipment and a drone workforce." In his TrekCore interview, Jung also refers to Altamid as an abandoned "mining colony." This helps explain why the Swarm's creators abandoned it; it was never their home.

A Star Trek to remember

This exposition is enough to put the pieces together about where the Swarm came from and how Edison/Krall became their leader, at least for attentive viewers. ( Some fans seem to have missed it , and came out of the movie questioning where Krall got an army from, or not realizing that the Swarm were the mining drones Edison mentioned in his log, not armored aliens). Any of Jung's "loftier ambitions" for the Swarm may have ended up in the 30 minutes that Lin had to cut from "Star Trek: Beyond" ( per Collider ), just like a scene expanding on Sulu's (John Cho) role.

A resounding praise for "Star Trek Beyond" is that it feels like an episode of "Star Trek: The Original Series," just two hours long and with modern effects. The backstory of Altamid is part of that. Critic Darren Mooney, reviewing episode "The Gamester of Triskelion," noted:

"The episode presents a planet that is a graveyard, occupied by ruins of an ancient civilization that collapsed in on itself long before mankind reached the stars. It recalls the eerie sense that space is a graveyard, an element of early stories like 'The Cage' or 'Charlie X' or 'The Man Trap' or 'What Are Little Girls Made Of?' or even 'The Squire of Gothos.'"

An abandoned planet home to a legion of androids, seized upon by a human driven insane on the edges of space? That's classic "Star Trek."

'Star Trek Beyond' Features Clever War Games, Too Many Questions (Film Review)

Note: This article contains minor spoilers for "Star Trek Beyond."

" Star Trek Beyond ," which premieres today (July 22), opens with a very confusing scenario for Trekkies: A captain of a Federation starship is actually sick of space — enough to want to take a desk job.

The last time we saw Capt. James T. Kirk (Chris Pine), in 2013's "Into Darkness," he was breaking Federation rules during his quest to get a coveted five-year mission. Now, he's more than 900 days into that mission, and it's going well. Instead of savoring his achievement, however, he complains about the routine and questions his choice to join Starfleet — which he did on a dare, as he points out to Doctor "Bones" McCoy (Karl Urban).

Kirk's routine is broken when he tries to use an ancient artifact as part of peace negotiations. After the offer fails, the artifact is stored, and his crew gets a brief shore leave on the Yorktown starbase. (That's also where Spock, played by Zachary Quinto, learns of the death of Spock Prime, who was played by Leonard Nimoy .) But in typical "Trek" style, a crew in distress lures the Enterprise into a rescue mission that ends up putting the Enterprise itself in mortal peril. [ The Evolution of 'Star Trek' (Infographic) ]

We've seen Enterprise ships go through a lot of abuse over the years, particularly during the  "Star Trek" movies of the 1990s . It was modified by the Borg in "Star Trek: First Contact," and it went through a scary crash on the alien planet Veridian III in "Star Trek: Generations."

But the plot of "Beyond" — though, thankfully, an original one — soon falls into confusion. It centers on a nasty dude named Krall (Idris Elba) who takes most of the crew captive. The crew is scattered and fighting separate battles against injury, strange beings and artifact hunters. But between the different threads, it's hard to make out what Krall's motivations are for attacking the Enterprise, or why others are helping him.

It's OK for "Trek" films to be deep and talk about what the proper role of a crewmember should be on a mission. But when the crewmembers question things in "Beyond," there's too much action surrounding the contemplation to take a breath, so it's hard for the audience to empathize with the characters as they decide where to take their careers next.

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What saves the movie from a complete distress call, thankfully, is Kirk's wits as he takes a few pages from "The Art of War" and engages in a series of excellent distractions to thwart an enemy against the odds. I'd like to see more of these war games in the next "Star Trek" movie. After all, Kirk's spirit dictates that he should be too busy subduing the enemy to whine — especially when it involves blasting the Beastie Boys.

The good:  After three movies, the reimagined "Star Trek" is finally confident enough to host its own stories.

The bad :  Too much plot is jammed into a 2-hour movie, making each of the individual threads hard to understand.

The verdict:  While the movie is boldly exploring its own adventures, it will be a difficult sell for longtime Trekkies — even with tributes to Leonard Nimoy.

Rating:  3 out of  5 stars

Follow Elizabeth Howell  @howellspace , or Space.com  @Spacedotcom . We're also on  Facebook  and  Google+ .   Original article on Space.com .

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: [email protected].

Elizabeth Howell (she/her), Ph.D., is a staff writer in the spaceflight channel since 2022 covering diversity, education and gaming as well. She was contributing writer for Space.com for 10 years before joining full-time. Elizabeth's reporting includes multiple exclusives with the White House and Office of the Vice-President of the United States, an exclusive conversation with aspiring space tourist (and NSYNC bassist) Lance Bass, speaking several times with the International Space Station, witnessing five human spaceflight launches on two continents, flying parabolic, working inside a spacesuit, and participating in a simulated Mars mission. Her latest book, " Why Am I Taller ?", is co-written with astronaut Dave Williams. Elizabeth holds a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Space Studies from the University of North Dakota, a Bachelor of Journalism from Canada's Carleton University and a Bachelor of History from Canada's Athabasca University. Elizabeth is also a post-secondary instructor in communications and science at several institutions since 2015; her experience includes developing and teaching an astronomy course at Canada's Algonquin College (with Indigenous content as well) to more than 1,000 students since 2020. Elizabeth first got interested in space after watching the movie Apollo 13 in 1996, and still wants to be an astronaut someday. Mastodon: https://qoto.org/@howellspace

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10 Biggest Artificial Structures in Star Trek

😲 Comment below (without indignation, if possible), or post your personal list. Places in science fiction have to be huge to be impressive, and Star Trek is no exception. Here are the ten biggest artificial structures as of early 2022, ranked by their estimated enclosed volume. Not included are cities or city-like facilities on planets.

10 Borg cube

Yes! They made it! I didn't expect it, but the iconic Borg cube still secured a place on this steadily growing list of oversized structures. We don't really know if all Borg cubes are the same size (those of TNG appear to be larger than on Voyager). But for the sake of simplicity I don't want to have an uncertain "TNG cube" on this list. So let us assume that a Borg cube generally has an internal volume of 28 cubic kilometers as mentioned in VOY: "Dark Frontier", which gives us a side length of a bit more than 3 kilometers. According to my estimation, this should beat a few other huge vessels that are longer but not cubic.

9 Species 8472 Terrasphere

We have no good size estimation for this space station built by Species 8472 to train for the invasion of Earth, as seen in VOY: "In the Flesh". But we can see that a good portion of San Francisco and the bay is included, so the station measures a couple of kilometers in diameter if everything is to scale.

8 Starbase type

We can see this huge type of space station as Starbase 74 in TNG: "11001001", as Starbase 84 in TNG: "Phantasms", as Starbase 133 in TNG: "The Survivors" and as Lya Station Alpha in TNG: "Ensign Ro". I would want them to be the same (smaller) size as Earth Spacedock , but if we strictly go by the visual evidence from TNG with the larger Enterprise-D in place of the Enterprise(-A), we arrive at a diameter of some 7 kilometers and a height of roughly 10 kilometers. In any case, it is the biggest human-built structure in classic Trek.

7 Delphic Expanse sphere

At least 78 spheres, each of which measured 19 kilometers in diameter, were responsible for the anomalies inside the Delphic Expanse. They were first encountered in ENT: "Anomaly" and destroyed in a chain reaction in ENT: "Zero Hour", upon which the Delphic Expanse vanished. Although the spheres are mostly empty, they have a place in this list because it is ordered by enclosed volume.

6 Starbase Yorktown

The Starbase Yorktown from the Kelvin Timeline movie "Star Trek Beyond" is the largest human-made object ever to appear in Star Trek. Depending on how we scale the Kelvin Enterprise, the lower limit for the station's diameter ranges from 12.5km to 25km. My apprehension is that the design size is more like 30km. But even if we go by the lowest possible size, the question must be allowed why the Federation would build such a massive station with millions of inhabitants in the middle of nowhere, and right next to the unexplored and dangerous Necro cloud.

5 Whale Probe

When the probe passes by the Spacedock in "Star Trek IV", the Spacedock is roughly the same height as from the bottom of the probe's hull to about the middle of the rotating sphere. Considering the studio model was 4 times as long as high, it would make the Whale Probe some 12.5km in diameter and 50km in length.

There is some confusion about the size of V'ger from "Star Trek: The Motion Picture". In the original version of the movie, the phenomenon was said to be over 82 astronomic units in diameter, which was corrected to a more realistic 2 AU for the Director's Edition DVD. The size of the probe itself is not stated in the movie, but it was designed (and mentioned in the novelization) to measure 78 kilometers.

3 Borg transwarp hub

A transwarp hub is a part of a network of transwarp corridors maintained by the Borg. There are six of these huge structures in the galaxy. Although we have no good size estimation, approaching Borg cubes are dwarfed by the hub. In VOY: "Endgame", USS Voyager used a transwarp hub to travel back to the Alpha Quadrant. The network was subsequently obliterated as it seems.

2 Borg Unicomplex

The Unicomplex from VOY: "Dark Frontier" is a vast spaceborne installation including the Central Nexus of the Queen and appears to be something like the capital city of the Borg. The structure measures at least several hundred kilometers in diameter, and even if this volume contains lots of empty space, it seems reasonable that it outranks a couple of the more compact structures. I also think that the Unicomplex is bigger than any of the five transwarp hubs.

1 Dyson sphere

The top rank is very obvious and totally indisputable because it must be larger than all other artificial structures of the known galaxy combined. The Dyson sphere from TNG: "Relics" measures 200 million km in diameter and encloses a volume of 4.19*10^24 km^3. The sphere thereby provides an inner surface of 125*10^15 km^2, which is 250*10^6 times the Earth's surface. Even though 99.999997% of the sphere are empty (at 1km thickness), its solid volume would still be 116,000 times larger than that of the Earth. In other words, building it should have consumed tens of thousands of planets... The Dyson sphere remains a mystery because a Q-like race able to build one would actually not need one and a less advanced civilization with the necessary knowledge would not give up their planets, everything that makes up their history.

Honorable mentions: The Voth Cityship (whose volume is a bit less than that of a Borg cube), the Caretaker Array, the ISS Charon and the "Wisp" ship from ENT: "The Crossing" narrowly didn't make this list. The hollowed out asteroid Yonada from TOS: "For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky" is not included because we don't know how large the useful volume is and because much of the rest is not artificial. I probably should include the Sphere from DIS season 2 as #2 or #3, although it does not seem to fit in any category. The octonary system Aia from Star Trek Picard may be artificially created and would top the list in terms of mass, but it is rather a mystical phenomenon than a work of engineering.

The structures by Species 10-C (hyperfield, Dyson rings) and Jurati's Borg ship from PIC: "The Star Gazer" are not included because I don't want to change this list every few months. Also, I don't think the hyperfield is a solid structure that would fit in here. The Borg ship from PIC: "The Last Generation" measures 25 kilometers in each direction and clearly deserves position #5.

https://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/rankings/ten-biggest-structures.htm

Last modified: 10 May 2023

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Astronauts arrive at Kennedy Space Center as first crew for Boeing's Starliner spacecraft

by Richard Tribou, Orlando Sentinel

It's not just another ride for a pair of veteran NASA astronauts who arrived to the Space Coast ahead of their flight onboard Boeing's CST-100 Starliner.

Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita "Suni" Williams, who both joined NASA's astronaut corps more than two decades ago, will be the commander and pilot for the Crew Flight Test mission of the much-delayed spacecraft.

It's set to launch with humans on board for the first time atop an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station's Space Launch Complex 41 on May 6 at 10:34 p.m., headed to the International Space Station.

The pair flew into KSC in their T-38 jets, landing at the former space shuttle landing facility Thursday afternoon and speaking with reporters ahead of the vanguard mission.

"This mission going off well? Of course we want it to do that," said Wilmore from the tarmac. "Do we expect it to go perfectly? This is the first human flight of the spacecraft. I'm sure we'll find things out. That's why we do this. This is a test flight . When you do test, you expect to find things. And we expect to find things."

Wilmore, who was part of NASA's 2000 astronaut class, was the pilot for STS-129 on board Space Shuttle Atlantis for an 11-day mission in 2009 and then stayed on board the ISS for nearly five months from 2014–2015. Williams was part of NASA's 1998 astronaut class and had two long-term stays on board the ISS, first flying in 2006 on Space Shuttle Discovery on STS-116 and flying home on Space Shuttle Atlantis on STS-117 in 2007 after 192 days in space. She then flew on a Soyuz in 2012 for a four-month stay on board.

This is the third trip to space for both, but the pair are not resting on their laurels with 11 days to go before launch. Wilmore said the coming days could be summed up in three words.

"Review, review, and review—everything we've been working on. There's so much into this, there's a fair amount of responsibility, obviously, that we hold," he said. "We are ready. But we want to stay ready. We've got a week to continue to make sure that there's not a single event that we have prepared for that we're not ready for."

This marks only the sixth new U.S.-based spacecraft to carry humans following Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, the space shuttle and the most recent entrant, SpaceX's Crew Dragon. Dragon's first human spaceflight came nearly four years ago, launching May 30, 2020, with its own pair of veteran NASA astronauts, Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley.

Williams said she got a pep talk from Behnken.

"I just got a text from Bob last night, and he was pretty pumped that we were coming down here. He was like, "I'm reliving it in my mind where we were,'" she said. "He gives us his best and is ready for us to go fly."

SpaceX and Boeing had been running fairly close in development at the end of the last decade as one of two companies NASA awarded contracts for under its Commercial Crew Program. The goal of the program was to replace U.S.-based flights after the end of the Space Shuttle Program in 2011, which forced a reliance on Russia for flights to the ISS on board Soyuz spacecraft.

Starliner, though, ran into trouble on its first uncrewed test flight in December 2019 and was not able to rendezvous with the ISS, forcing a major overhaul of Boeing's program including hardware, software and management changes. That led to the successful redo of that uncrewed test flight in 2022, but further hardware delays have now made it so next month's planned launch will come more than four years behind schedule.

Since then, SpaceX has proceeded full bore, having now flown 50 humans to space onboard its fleet of four Crew Dragon spacecraft on 13 missions, and has three more on the schedule to fly before the end of the year.

Wilmore said Starliner took longer, but it's time.

"We've had a few delays because we weren't ready," he said. "There are literally 1,000 events that are taking place simultaneously as you step up and get prepared to launch and during the launch sequence, and then the spacecraft itself when we're on orbit."

But he's adamant all the parts are in place.

"There's so much going on. It is not easy. I think we make it look easy. That's our goal," he said. "We want the general public to think it's easy, but it's not. It's way hard. We wouldn't be here if we weren't ready. We are ready. The spacecraft's ready. And the teams are ready."

Boeing's CFT mission now aims for about an eight-day stay on board the ISS. The major goals for its crew are to test out both docking backup systems on approach and landing operations when it heads back to Earth, which will feature a parachute-assisted touchdown in the western U.S., unlike the watery splashdowns off the Florida coast taken by SpaceX's Crew Dragon.

If successful, it lines Boeing up to begin operational missions to the ISS as early as February 2025. That first mission, dubbed Starliner-1, has three of its four crew members already named.

Boeing is contracted for six crew rotation mission through the end of the ISS's operation as early as 2030. SpaceX and Boeing would transition to sharing one mission each per year for NASA until the ISS is decommissioned.

For her part, Williams pumped up Starliner's role in the NASA program now, as well as its role with NASA's future Artemis program missions on the Orion spacecraft.

"It has a lot of similar things that Orion has," she said. "So I think if I was a young astronaut, and I was thinking about going to the moon, I think I'd put my hand up and say I want to fly Starliner."

2024 Orlando Sentinel. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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