I originally saw this during first run in 1966. In all this time since, there's one point I never stopped to consider.
After the serum is discovered, the crew restored, and medical teams and social workers are left with the children, what happens next?
The prolonged aging agent must still be in the atmosphere, and anyone visiting the planet would need to be vaccinated for protection. Would Starfleet quarantine the planet? Would the Federation use it as a health club? Would the atmosphere be restored to pre-toxin conditions?
And what about these 300 year old children? Will they live a thousand years or more? Would their own children be another generation of Methuselahs? Will they stay on their world, or eventually establish new colonies?
There seem to be many ways things could develop.
After the serum is discovered, the crew restored, and medical teams and social workers are left with the children, what happens next?
The prolonged aging agent must still be in the atmosphere, and anyone visiting the planet would need to be vaccinated for protection. Would Starfleet quarantine the planet? Would the Federation use it as a health club? Would the atmosphere be restored to pre-toxin conditions?
And what about these 300 year old children? Will they live a thousand years or more? Would their own children be another generation of Methuselahs? Will they stay on their world, or eventually establish new colonies?
There seem to be many ways things could develop.