Are there too many "convenient" planets or scenarios to beam down to ?

[Delta Vega]

In the Star Trek universe

By this I`m saying, too many Class Ms, virtually 99% of landing parties did so minus Space or Environmental Suits to protect them.

Off the top of my head I can only recall suits being worn in The Naked Time and The Tholian Web (no doubt someone will correct me), and it got me thinking that some situations could have been more interesting with oxygen supplies, or lack of them, as a hindrance.

They did have those mask things, briefly, in The Squire of Gothos I believe.

Just a thought for your discussion.


Tam

 

[MacLeod]

Re: Are there too many "convenient" planets or scenarios to beam down

Well given that there are billions of stars in our galaxy and even if only 1% of those had class M worlds that still leaves millions of class M worlds. Hence little or no need for suits, given that Class M is basically Earth Like.

We don't ofetn see other Class words, the odd Class L and Class Y worlds,

 

[F. King Daniel]

Re: Are there too many "convenient" planets or scenarios to beam down

I thought so too, but some current real-life estimates put an insane ten billion earth-type planets in our galaxy.

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/03/ten-billion-earths/

 

[marksound]

Re: Are there too many "convenient" planets or scenarios to beam down

They didn't have a lot of money to work with, so lots of Class M planets. That's why they came up with the transporter too, by the way. Much cheaper than landing a ship every week.

 

[SchwEnt]

Re: Are there too many "convenient" planets or scenarios to beam down

I don't think it was ever confirmed onscreen, but in-universe Kirk had orders to explore and investigate Class M Earth-approximate planets.

So maybe not just convenient that we always saw the Enterprise stumbling across Class M planets. It seems those were the ones the ship was sent to explore. Or something.

 

[Navigator_NCC2120]

Re: Are there too many "convenient" planets or scenarios to beam down

In the Star Trek universe

By this I`m saying, too many Class Ms, virtually 99% of landing parties did so minus Space or Environmental Suits to protect them.

Off the top of my head I can only recall suits being worn in The Naked Time and The Tholian Web (no doubt someone will correct me), and it got me thinking that some situations could have been more interesting with oxygen supplies, or lack of them, as a hindrance.

They did have those mask things, briefly, in The Squire of Gothos I believe.

Just a thought for your discussion.


Tam

There was the Season 3 episode "Whom Gods Destroy" which took place on planet Elba Two, which was not Class M.

Here are screencaps courtesy of trekcore. It shows 2 criminally insane members wearing environment suits (which were also used in "The Tholian Web") dragging the green Orion woman, Marta, out to her death on the planet's surface (outside the protective domes), per Criminal Leader Garth's instructions. Garth blew her up before she had time to choke to death and he forced Captain Kirk to watch.

Courtesy of website: http://www.chakoteya.net/StarTrek/71.htm

Captain's Log, stardate 5718.3. The Enterprise is orbiting Elba Two, a planet with a poisonous atmosphere where the Federation maintains an asylum for the few remaining incorrigible criminally insane of the galaxy. We are bringing a revolutionary new medicine to them, a medicine with which the Federation hopes to eliminate mental illness for all time. I am transporting down with Mister Spock, and we're delivering the medicine to Doctor Donald Cory, the governor of the colony.

Navigator NCC-2120 USS Entente
/\

 

[Mr_Homn]

Re: Are there too many "convenient" planets or scenarios to beam down

yeah it's not a stretch to imagine that class -m planets would be at the top of the list of planets to explore.. and as it has already been pointed out, they did go to some non m class planets as well

 

[kythe]

Re: Are there too many "convenient" planets or scenarios to beam down

I have a hard time believing there are that many planets that are "exactly" like Earth. It's one thing to say that a planet has an atmosphere that can support life. It's another thing to say that it's atmosphere has 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen.

In dinosaur times, it is believed that the oxygen concentration on Earth was as much as 30% higher than today. Clearly the Earth was already a planet that could support life, but that doesn't mean we could breathe the air for long without appropriate gas masks. Yet in Star Trek, the air of "M class" planets is always identical to what we breathe.

 

[jayrath]

Re: Are there too many "convenient" planets or scenarios to beam down

Well, I enjoy a TV series where a crew visits planets filled with humanoid life forms a lot better than a show where they visit lifeless gas giants composed primarily of ammonia.

 

[MacLeod]

Re: Are there too many "convenient" planets or scenarios to beam down

I have a hard time believing there are that many planets that are "exactly" like Earth. It's one thing to say that a planet has an atmosphere that can support life. It's another thing to say that it's atmosphere has 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen.

In dinosaur times, it is believed that the oxygen concentration on Earth was as much as 30% higher than today. Clearly the Earth was already a planet that could support life, but that doesn't mean we could breathe the air for long without appropriate gas masks. Yet in Star Trek, the air of "M class" planets is always identical to what we breathe.

So in dinosaur times the Oxygen content would have been around 27%, I'm fairly sure we could breath that. We didn't hear that often the actual make-up of the Atmosphere, so they may not all be "exactly" Earth Like

We've seen Class L worlds:-

ENT: "Bounty"
DSN: "The Ascent"
DSN: "The Sound of Her Voice"
VOY: "Timeless"
VOY: "Muse"

 

[Timo]

Re: Are there too many "convenient" planets or scenarios to beam down

I have a hard time believing there are that many planets that are "exactly" like Earth.

Why settle for less?

I mean, there's no need to settle for what nature provides. Star Trek assumes the existence of civilizations, and those will have an incentive to engineer the planets to their liking. And all we need then is a single dominant civilization at some specific era: all later civilizations will thrive if they survive on the type of planet preferred by that once-dominant civilization, and will terraform even more planets to that standard - and will remain second-rate if they are incompatible.

Eventually, all planets that somewhat resemble Earth will be exactly like Earth. Even planets that are quite unlike Earth (such as the one from "Paradise Syndrome") will be engineered to be exactly like Earth, although the terraforming in those cases may wear off in an aeon or two.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Timewalker]

Re: Are there too many "convenient" planets or scenarios to beam down

The thing that always irritated me about the planets that the crew stumbled across mostly seem to just be there. They're rarely mentioned as having their own Sun, or being part of a solar system, or even having any moons. Same with asteroids they just stumble over.

I'm not saying there are never rogue planets, asteroids, and comets roaming the galaxy; it's just that the Enterprise ran across a helluva lot of them.

 

[Delta Vega]

Re: Are there too many "convenient" planets or scenarios to beam down

In the Star Trek universe

By this I`m saying, too many Class Ms, virtually 99% of landing parties did so minus Space or Environmental Suits to protect them.

Off the top of my head I can only recall suits being worn in The Naked Time and The Tholian Web (no doubt someone will correct me), and it got me thinking that some situations could have been more interesting with oxygen supplies, or lack of them, as a hindrance.

They did have those mask things, briefly, in The Squire of Gothos I believe.

Just a thought for your discussion.


Tam

There was the Season 3 episode "Whom Gods Destroy" which took place on planet Elba Two, which was not Class M.

Here are screencaps courtesy of trekcore. It shows 2 criminally insane members wearing environment suits (which were also used in "The Tholian Web") dragging the green Orion woman, Marta, out to her death on the planet's surface (outside the protective domes), per Criminal Leader Garth's instructions. Garth blew her up before she had time to choke to death and he forced Captain Kirk to watch.

Courtesy of website: http://www.chakoteya.net/StarTrek/71.htm

Captain's Log, stardate 5718.3. The Enterprise is orbiting Elba Two, a planet with a poisonous atmosphere where the Federation maintains an asylum for the few remaining incorrigible criminally insane of the galaxy. We are bringing a revolutionary new medicine to them, a medicine with which the Federation hopes to eliminate mental illness for all time. I am transporting down with Mister Spock, and we're delivering the medicine to Doctor Donald Cory, the governor of the colony.

Navigator NCC-2120 USS Entente
/\

Yeah, thanks for that, I had overlooked that episode and do remember it well

 

[Delta Vega]

Re: Are there too many "convenient" planets or scenarios to beam down

I have a hard time believing there are that many planets that are "exactly" like Earth. It's one thing to say that a planet has an atmosphere that can support life. It's another thing to say that it's atmosphere has 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen.

In dinosaur times, it is believed that the oxygen concentration on Earth was as much as 30% higher than today. Clearly the Earth was already a planet that could support life, but that doesn't mean we could breathe the air for long without appropriate gas masks. Yet in Star Trek, the air of "M class" planets is always identical to what we breathe.

So in dinosaur times the Oxygen content would have been around 27%, I'm fairly sure we could breath that. We didn't hear that often the actual make-up of the Atmosphere, so they may not all be "exactly" Earth Like

We've seen Class L worlds:-

ENT: "Bounty"
DSN: "The Ascent"
DSN: "The Sound of Her Voice"
VOY: "Timeless"
VOY: "Muse"

There are more varied types of planets in later series, I do appreciate that, but I was primarily talking about Star Trek. (TOS is just wrong, its Star Trek)

 

[Timo]

Re: Are there too many "convenient" planets or scenarios to beam down

The thing that always irritated me about the planets that the crew stumbled across mostly seem to just be there. They're rarely mentioned as having their own Sun, or being part of a solar system, or even having any moons.

I don't see what additional value a specific mention would give to an episode. Does this scenery require exposition?

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Jimi_James]

Re: Are there too many "convenient" planets or scenarios to beam down

To some people, like myself, the details matter.

 

[Timo]

Re: Are there too many "convenient" planets or scenarios to beam down

I'm curious as for what you mean by details. Specifically, what sort of astronomical detail do you think the landscape on the previous page is missing?

Throwaway dialogue lines? "Look at the size of that moon, Spock!"

Plot-relevant musings? "Captain, it is the tidal forces caused by that satellite that make this world uniquely capable of creating ryetalin in its upper crust."

Graphics?

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Jimi_James]

Re: Are there too many "convenient" planets or scenarios to beam down

For that image? What's up with the moon and why is it so close? Is it inhabited and indeed, does its proximity effect the planet in some way beyond simple tidal forces? What's with the low cloud cover? Is the atmosphere unusually thin? Are those lakes of water, or so sort other liquid? If it's not water, is it dangerous to go swimming? Is it even liquid, it could be frozen from the looks of it. Why do things looks sort of hazy? What's up with those blue/purple bushes? If that is the local star to the left of the moon, is it flashing or pulsing for some reason and if so why? Why is the sky that color? Why is there no vegetation, other than those blue bushes and what appears to be grass? There are no trees or any other kind of plants anywhere. Are there any animals in the vicinity? Spock, have we been here before? This matte painting looks like the planet we visited a few weeks ago.


I'm kidding, sort of. More specifically though, I was referring to the previously comment about stumbling upon a planet that appeared to have no moons and orbit no star. Sure, they can get away with not explaining why the planet appears to exist on it's own, but some comment about other planetary bodies in the system and the star they're orbiting isn't too much to ask for.

It only takes a moment to include a throwaway line about the rest of the star system. And my point was that if you're going to go to the trouble of doing something, than why not go just a bit further and get the details right. Or at the very least include some details that sound right, even if you make them up. The existence of the Tech Manual suggest there are plenty of people who care about such details, even if they never make it into the show or add any great depth to the story.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Re: Are there too many "convenient" planets or scenarios to beam down

The thing that always irritated me about the planets that the crew stumbled across mostly seem to just be there. They're rarely mentioned as having their own Sun, or being part of a solar system, or even having any moons. Same with asteroids they just stumble over.

I'm not saying there are never rogue planets, asteroids, and comets roaming the galaxy; it's just that the Enterprise ran across a helluva lot of them.

Examples? I think most of the planets were implied to be in solar systems with suns and other planets in them. Do we really need dialogue like "Mr. Chekov, plot a course to Quadrant 1, Sector 294, Gamma Triangula System, Planet IV. Oh and when we arrive make sure the sun is visible on the viewscreen. I like a good sun shot when entering orbit."

 

[BillJ]

Re: Are there too many "convenient" planets or scenarios to beam down

For that image? What's up with the moon and why is it so close? Is it inhabited and indeed, does its proximity effect the planet in some way beyond simple tidal forces? What's with the low cloud cover? Is the atmosphere unusually thin? Are those lakes of water, or so sort other liquid? If it's not water, is it dangerous to go swimming? Is it even liquid, it could be frozen from the looks of it. Why do things looks sort of hazy? What's up with those blue/purple bushes? If that is the local star to the left of the moon, is it flashing or pulsing for some reason and if so why? Why is the sky that color? Why is there no vegetation, other than those blue bushes and what appears to be grass? There are no trees or any other kind of plants anywhere. Are there any animals in the vicinity? Spock, have we been here before? This matte painting looks like the planet we visited a few weeks ago.

But none of that is really important to the scene at hand and would feel unnatural.