On September 8, 1966, we all learned to "Boldly go where no man had gone before." The first episode of Star Trek debuted with the episode “The Man Trap.”
Given the cultural impact and enormous franchise spawned by the original Star Trek series, it’s hard to believe that the show lasted just three seasons and was canceled by NBC in 1969 because of low ratings.
The commercial success of the first Star Trek movie would spawn other films and a new TV series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, although Roddenberry’s involvement with those projects was diminished. But if his relationship with the industry had its rough patches, his reputation as a futurist and visionary — which begins and ends with Star Trek — is assured.
The original show’s most visionary aspects were social, not scientific, but the show made several scientific predictions. Examples:
Communicators - We call them cell phones. Landing parties from the Enterprise only gave verbal reports, and did not send back images and videos, as people would today. Also, the shows writers failed to predict there would be a place to post those intergalactic check ins; Facebook.
Computers - The computers on the show were used to quickly search databases. This was spot on, alto ugh we now use computers for so much more. And they missed the concept of the Internet.
Use this link to see which parts of Star Trek science are in use today.
