Star Trek has never qualified as "hard sf;"
It's always been weird to me how a significant a number of fans treat trek as if it is hard SciFi
They've no idea what hard SF is.
Akiva Goldsman, the Strange New Worlds and Star Trek Picard co-creator, co-producer, and co-showrunner, says that Harlan Ellison's TOS episode "The City on the Edge of Forever" is "hard sci-fi":

‘Star Trek’ Showrunner Discusses ‘Strange New Worlds’ Plan, Evolving Q for ‘Picard’
Akiva Goldsman discusses the upcoming seasons of his two 'Star Trek' shows, plus updates on 'Firestarter' and 'The Dark Tower.'

Are you saying that Akiva Goldsman is wrong and has no idea what he is talking about?