Did you know that the transporter effect in the original Star Trek series was created by stirring glitter in water and then filming it? Or, that the sound of the automatic door opening onboard the 2009 Enterprise was actually the sound of a Russian train’s toilet flushing? If not, continue reading to see those interesting Star Trek facts and more.
5 More cool facts:
- The line, “To boldly go where no man has gone before” was hijacked verbatim from a 1957 White House booklet on space exploration. It is one of the more famous examples of a split infinitive and is grammatically incorrect.
- Martin Landau was supposed to play the part of Spock. He was contractually bound to the Mission Impossible cast. Later, when Star Trek was cancelled, Nimoy joined the cast of Mission Impossible by literally just walking across the street to the IM set.
- The chairs on Star Trek were bought out of a window display. When Jim Rugg went back to get more there were no more. The chair hadn’t sold and the production was cancelled. The story of them being stolen from the Mission Impossible trash is a myth.
- Roddenberry was known as “The Great Bird of the Galaxy”. He gave himself this moniker during the original series production. As a homage, in the subsequent series and movies a parrot can be occasionally seen on data screens. Decked out in a red star fleet uniform and sporting warp nacelles.
- James Doohan was a true war hero. An enlisted man who rose to captain in the Royal Canadian Artillery, he was with the Royal Canadian Artillery on Juno Beach on D-Day. He was shot seven times, with an eighth bullet lodging in his metal cigarette case. Three bullets shredded the middle finger of his right hand. Eventually, the finger was amputated, which is occasionally noticeable in Star Trek episodes and movies.
