Star Trek: Voyagerintroduced many firsts intoStar Trekcanon. Most obvious was Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) - the first female captain to lead aStar Trek Series. Her firm leadership, determination, and love for coffee made Captain Janeway instantly stand out inStar Trek. Similarly,Lieutenant B’Elanna Torres (Roxann Dawson) was the first female chief engineer inStar Trek, and her wit, intensity, and Klingon heritage set Lieutenant Torres apart. More broadly,Voyagerwas the first show to have a significant portion of its crew not be Starfleet- theUSS Voyageris partly crewed by former Maquis.
ButVoyager’sdiverse castwas not the only wayVoyagerchanged the scope ofStar Trek.Voyageraired in 1995, right afterStar Trek: The Next Generationconcluded in 1994. At that point in time, the only otherTrekairing wasStar Trek: Deep Space Nine, which focused on its titular stationary space station, which couldn’t travel to explore the galaxy.So, in an era when special effects technology was advancing rapidly,Voyagerwas perfectly positioned to show off new tech on new planets in the Delta Quadrant.There were suddenly no limits on whatVoyagercould show on screen.
Star Trek: Voyager Was The First To Show A Starship Land & Take Off
It Was Too Expensive For TOS And TNG
At the start ofVoyagerseason 2, theUSS Voyagerdid the unthinkable, and becamethe first starship to land on a planet, taking off again at the end of the episode.From the inception ofVoyager, writers always wanted to make the ship land.For that reason, landing hatches were drawn into initial concept art for the ship, and subsequent models included clear landing gears. Producer Brannon Braga said, “That’s something we’ve always thought the ship could do,” so whenVoyagerfinally landed it was really a chance to show off what made the new show and ship different from previousStar Trekshows.
Even inStar Trek: Voyager,landing the ship was expensive enough that the ship could only be shown taking off and landing a few times throughout all seven seasons of the show.
Of course, there was a good reason that earlier shows had never shown ships landing and taking off from planets -it was prohibitively expensive.In order to makeVoyagerland, special sets, models, and effects had to be designed and implemented. Even inStar Trek: Voyager,landing the ship was expensive enough that the ship could only be shown taking off and landing a few times throughout all seven seasons of the show.
Star Trek: Voyager Always Deserved A Movie, But The Show’s Premise Meant It Couldn’t Follow TOS & TNG
A Star Trek: Voyager movie could have been like the TOS and TNG films, but Voyager’s premise meant a cinematic follow-up for Janeway would be hard.
To get around this expense, earlier generations ofStar Trekemployed numerous clever techniques. Concepts like “standard orbit,” shuttles, and even transporters were initially introduced toStar Trekso that crews could get down to planets without the immense cost of landing a ship on screen. So in some ways,the inability to land ships inStar Trek: The Original SeriesandThe Next Generationlead to some of the most iconic and definitive concepts in all ofStar Trek.Nevertheless, seeingVoyagerland for the first time was a cathartic conclusion to decades of build-up.
Other Star Trek Ships Have Followed Voyager’s Lead
Modern Tech Makes More Landings Possible
Of course, now thatVoyagerhas landed and proved that it’s possible, the floodgates are open for the rest ofTrek.With new twenty-first-centuryStar Trekshows airing, it is more affordable than ever to have ships land on the strange new worlds they encounter.TheUSS Discoverycrash-landed on a glacier at the start of season 3 ofStar Trek: Discovery. The animated playground ofStar Trek: Prodigymeant that theUSS Protostarcould land as often as the writers wanted. Similarly, theAnaximanderlanded inStar Trek: Lower Decks509.
Because theUSS Enterprisewas designed at a time when it was impossible to show a starship landing, it is unlikely that there will be any ships landing inStar Trek: Strange New Worlds.
Landing an entire starship on the surface of a planet changes the game every time it occurs.If the ship itself has landed, then effectively the entire crew is on an away mission, and at risk in ways that are otherwise impossible.These dangers mean it can be a mistake for a captain to land a ship, upping the stakes for every attempted landing. With current technology making landings easier than ever, and lots of newStar Trekcoming out, it is possible that we will see more exciting starship landings in 2025, following in the footsteps ofStar Trek: Voyager.
Star Trek: Voyager
Cast
In this sci-fi series, the starship Voyager becomes stranded in the Delta Quadrant, 70,000 light-years from Earth. The diverse crew, led by Captain Janeway, embarks on a perilous journey home, encountering unfamiliar species and challenges while adhering to Federation principles in uncharted space.
