Voyager 1 and 2 were originally designated by NASA as Mariner Jupiter/Saturn, back when only those two worlds were their targets. So, excusing for now the fact that mainstream Hollywood films were and still are expected to have human actors in the forefront of their cinematic productions, were humans really necessary on either the Nostromo or the Enterprise if we are being completely pragmatic? As a result, Skylab began a slow but steady descent towards our planet several years sooner than first predicted. Of course there was the possibility that the AI might actually find more kinship with V’Ger than any organic beings and decide to join up with the mighty alien. Among the many findings of Mariner 9 were clusters of enormous volcanoes and a canyon far longer and deeper than anything like it on Earth, plus numerous channels that intimated liquid water once flowed across the face of Mars, perhaps whole seas of water or even oceans. Even the xenomorph in Alien possesses traits of being machine-like, if not actually being truly biomechanical. 182 & 198-199).”. Skin Color But the fact we are really going tonhave to be cautious with humans I think we should step up starshot. If you have seen these films before, a refresher viewing never hurts. My issue with this solution – and maybe it is just my issue here – is that it seems so trite in light of the cosmic forces and everything else that transpired throughout the film. Whenever I see a big budget SF film like this I think, why didn’t they do Have Spacesuit Will Travel?! For the present, however, this new breed of human makes a poor space traveler, and Starfleet must depend on us ‘primitives’ for deep space exploration.”. As knowledge accumulated, Vejur had increased and improved its memory storage systems. The financial cost would be too high to build it and we could safely use robots to get the same information and smaller ships with much less cost. This may lead to a desensitizing effect, but the studios will not care until the money stops rolling in for them. This does narrow things down just a bit about what Voyager 6 could do in terms of exploring our Sol system. I did like horror movies especially sci fi horror 1950’s 1960’s style since those movies were on TV like creature features with Bob Wilkins and the Saturday Sci Fi movie. Finding they cannot simply pull it off his face, they try to cut off one of its “legs” (or arms?) Even Ash, who is technically more advanced than the human crew in many respects, showed a measure of respect for the alien. Sadly, as of 2019, Uranus and Neptune remain explored by only one space probe, and that was Voyager 2 back in 1986 and 1989, respectively. Why is there no evidence of V’Ger’s existence in future films, episodes or novels? While Pinback is preoccupied trying to escape the elevator, the alien spends its time exploring the Dark Star, where it unintentionally causes further and ultimately disastrous technical problems for the vessel, which has already been slowly but steadily deteriorating over the last few years of its mission. To the right of V’Ger’s real moniker on the nameplate is a diagram that was not on either the Pioneer Plaque or the Voyager Record cover, but is to be found among the 118 images embedded in the Golden Record itself – and also inside a satellite that looks like a big shiny golf ball that will be circling Earth for at least the next eight million years. Nomad carried out its directive on itself for being a flawed life form, thankfully after Kirk had the machine beamed as far from the starship as possible. There was plenty of sexism in the original series in regards to male attitudes towards women, which was largely absent by the time ST:TMP arrived on the scene. Returning to the USS Enterprise (registration number XCV-330) shown oh so briefly in ST:TMP, it has since made a few more minor appearances in later Star Trek series and merchandise, solidifying it as canon to the franchise. … a dingy-looking nameplate that has clearly seen better days. Everything you might ever want to know about the United States Commercial Star Ship (USCSS) Nostromo, and then some: Alien would not be the only time that actors John Hurt (Kane) and Tom Skerritt (Dallas) would appear together in a film about aliens: My Centauri Dreams essay on the 1974 science fiction film Dark Star, the inspiration for the Alien franchise: https://www.centauri-dreams.org/2017/11/19/dark-star-and-staring-into-the-cosmic-abyss/. However, Spock’s Vulcan differences from his two human fellow officers and best friends were often the focus of humor and criticisms by them throughout the original series. Cinematic science fiction had not completely lost its higher brain functions to the Hollywood Id. Kane then exclaims to the other two crewmembers to come see the large burned out hole he has found in the platform supporting the Space Jockey. By contrast, the Star Trek universe from the original series through the first franchise film sees itself as free of nearly everything that marks its cinematic counterpart, namely the terrestrial society of the late Twentieth Century. To learn more about the Pioneer Plaque so you can make your own interpretations of what it is supposed to represent and how you think it might come across to real ETI, see here: http://www.planetary.org/blogs/guest-blogs/2016/0120-the-pioneer-plaque-science-as-a-universal-language.html. Image: The Voyager 1 and 2 deep space probes as they looked before departing Earth in 1977. [Influenced by the Twighlight Zone episode Nightmare at 20,000 Feet? About hearing sound in space via “vaporized gaseous material” as a “conduit for pressure waves,” has anyone conducted a test to see if this would work? In some ways, pre-computer SciFi movies avoided that error, although caught in others with contemporary airplanes, cars, and telephones. As has already been seen and discussed with the Star Trek universe, they still rely heavily on humans being an integral part of their starship operations. Intellectually, thanks to scientific progress, we no longer see beings from other worlds only as members of a fantastical supernatural realm, be they spirits, angels, demons, or deities. Explaining Arrokoth’s Shape, Dark Skies: Space Expansionism, Planetary Geopolitics, and the Ends of Humanity: A Review, Cometary Alignments and the Galactic Tide, WASP-189b: An Impressive Debut for CHEOPS, ASTEP: Antarctic Search for Transiting Extrasolar Planets, DEMONEX (DEdicated MONitor of EXotransits), ESPRESSO (Echelle SPectrograph for Rocky Exoplanet and Stable Spectroscopic Observations), GAPS (Global Architecture of Planetary Systems), GEMSS: Global Exoplanet M-dwarf Search-Survey, High Accuracy Radial velocity Planetary Search, KMTNet (Korea Microlensing Telescope Network), MARVELS (Multi-object APO Radial Velocity Exoplanet Large-area Survey), METIS (Mid-Infrared E-ELT Imager and Spectrograph), MINERVA (MINiature Exoplanet Radial Velocity Array), New Mexico Exoplanet Spectroscopic Survey Instrument, PARAS (PRL Advanced Radial-velocity Allsky Search), PIRATE (Physics Innovations Robotic Astronomical Telescope Explorer), PISCES (Planets in Stellar Clusters Extensive Search), SEEDS (Subaru Strategic Exploration of Exoplanets and Disks), SPOTS: (Search for Planets Orbiting Two Stars, Tennessee Automatic Photoelectric Telescope, TRAPPIST (TRAnsiting Planets and PlanetesImals Small Telescope), ARIEL: (Atmospheric Remote-Sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey), ATLAST (Advanced Technology Large-Aperture Space Telescope), CHEOPS – CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite, ECHO (Exoplanet Characterization Observatory), EPOXI (Extrasolar Planet Observation and Deep Impact Extended Investigation), High Étendue Multiple Object Spectrographic Telescope (THE MOST), MOST (Microvariability and Oscillations of STars), SPICES (Spectro-Polarimetric Imaging and Characterization of Exo-planetary Systems), TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite), WFIRST (Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope), American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, L’Institut de l’Information Scientifique et Technique, Planetary and Life Science Community Meetings Calendar, Comets & Asteroids: Small Bodies of the Solar System, PHASES (Palomar High-precision Astrometric Search for Exoplanet Systems), This Week’s Finds in Mathematical Physics. The creature lies almost dormant among the interior ductwork, biding its time since Ripley literally has nowhere else to go. He admitted he had to adjust that vision as production continued. Now let us dive into the world, such as it is, of this close yet fictional cousin of its famous and real brethren and see how and why Voyager 6 not only came to be but how it went from early Space Age relic to an interstellar godlike entity that threatened Earth and humanity. Kirk replies that he wants Decker and Ilia listed as “missing” instead of casualties and that the Enterprise is “fully operational.”. From the moment we learn what the intruder calls itself when the Ilia probe it created says it speaks for V’Ger, the Enterprise crew and the viewing audience are left to ponder just who or what this “Vee-jurr” is. Is that possible?”. Third Officer reporting. Interesting tidbit in this overall very interesting piece on the Klingon vessels that initially encountered V’Ger at the start of the film: https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Klingon_Fight_with_V%27ger, “This space battle doesn’t include any hand-to-hand combat, yet Klingon disruptors were designed for the film by Andrew Probert. As the probe is pulled further into the black hole, it would eventually go from a very stretched state into a very crushed state, which scientists have ironically labeled horizontal compression.