Why is it Deep Space "9"?

Discussion in 'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine' started by toughlittleship, Jan 22, 2013.

  1. toughlittleship

    toughlittleship Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Does anyone know how the writers chose "Nine" as the number of the station? Is nine the coolest sounding number?
     
  2. CorporalClegg

    CorporalClegg Admiral Admiral

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    There were other deep space stations mentioned in TOS and TNG. I'm pretty sure TNG got through DS7. Nine probably seemed most likely to be next in line.
     
  3. Lindley

    Lindley Moderator with a Soul Premium Member

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    Deep Spaces 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 were sabotaged and destroyed. Deep Spaces 6, 7, and 8 all disappeared without a trace 24 hours after going operational. To this day no one knows why....
     
  4. CorporalClegg

    CorporalClegg Admiral Admiral

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  5. R. Star

    R. Star Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Random number selection.
     
  6. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    According to what I read in one of the making-of books (probably The Making of ST:DS9 by the Reeves-Stevenses, though I'm not up to searching for the exact reference), the name Deep Space Nine started out as a placeholder -- just something one of the producers tossed out as a working title when they needed to call it something for reference, not something anyone really liked. But they got into the habit of using it and never thought of a better alternative, and past a certain point everyone was calling it by that name and they were kind of stuck with it. So the number wasn't really chosen for any good reason; it just kind of happened.


    Not really. There was a "Deep Space Station K-7" in "The Trouble With Tribbles," but that's as close as they got. And all the references to "Deep Space #" stations in TNG came along after DS9 was created. So DS9 was the very first station to be referred to by that specific naming pattern.
     
  7. ZeNd

    ZeNd Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    DS9 sounds the coolest.
     
  8. Dream

    Dream Admiral Admiral

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    Because the name Babylon 5 was already taken.
     
  9. R. Star

    R. Star Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    B5 started on February 22, 1993 with it's pilot. DS9 started on January 3, 1993. So that's over a month ahead... to say nothing of the fact that B5 waited a full year after their pilot episode thingie before they aired weekly.
     
  10. Lance

    Lance Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Does it say something about the Federation that, while the cardassians gave the station the moody name 'Terok Nor', the best that Starfleet could come up with was a generically bland sounding letter/number designation? :wtf:

    Mind you, I suppose that 'Terok Nor' could simply be Cardassian for "Subspace Outpost 232", or something.
     
  11. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    Well, actually JMS was developing B5 for five years before the pilot got made, and he did pitch it to Paramount. But that doesn't make it any less ridiculous and wrong to accuse DS9 of ripping off B5 just because they were both set on space stations. There used to be a good Usenet post by Robert Hewitt Wolfe that systematically demolished the accusation, which was preserved on Google Groups and which I had bookmarked for easy reference, but now I get a 404 Not Found for it.
     
  12. timelord1010

    timelord1010 Captain Captain

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    That's why I print to PDF any web pages I think are important. Too many pages have "disappeared" on me in the past.

    You would think a organization like Starfleet would have multiple Deep Space stations out on the edge of Federation space. I guess if we had a TV series going now Deep Space Nine would be changed to Star Base since Bajor is supposedly a member of the Federation now.
     
  13. Melakon

    Melakon Admiral In Memoriam

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    Weren't all Cardassian stations named ____ Nor? Though I can only remember Empok Nor. So Nor might be an equivalent for starbase.
     
  14. Lance

    Lance Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    ^ I do like the sound of that. :) 'Terok' and 'Empok' might be representative of the region of space they are located in. A sort of geographical marker. So 'Terok Nor' might mean "Outpost (in) Terok".
     
  15. Skywalker

    Skywalker Admiral Admiral

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    Because if they called it Deep Space 10 every character would have turned into a lizard.
     
  16. R. Star

    R. Star Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I can get why the Bajorans would want to rename it from Terok Nor... but why isn't it Bajor One or something? Why did the Federation get to name it? Only reason I can think of is a base with a Federation name might keep the Cardies away.
     
  17. Melakon

    Melakon Admiral In Memoriam

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    The Bajorans might have renamed it FU Spoonheads.
     
  18. JirinPanthosa

    JirinPanthosa Admiral Admiral

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    I think Voyager referenced 'Deep Space 5' at some point. Just like TNG had 'Starbase 23' or whichever it was in Future Imperfect. The Federation just really sucks at naming things.
     
  19. dub

    dub Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Location? What is this?
    Did you try the Wayback Machine for that bookmarked URL:
    http://archive.org/web/web.php
     
  20. Captain Nebula

    Captain Nebula Commander Red Shirt

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    Deep Space Nine was originally acquired for viewing/distribution by WGN (and/or affiliates) which was Channel 9 in the Chicago area. Coincidence?