“To explore strange, new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man (and after Captain Kathryn Janeway, ‘no one’) has gone before.” This optimistic vision of the future is the essence of Star Trek. With a total of six different series and 11 movies spanning five decades, Star Trek is indeed a sci-fi enterprise to behold. We asked Staff members of The Lowell what makes Star Trek live long and prosper.

Franka Iloka, Journalism 1 student: “I like the fact that Star Trek: The Next Generation has episodes with morals or lessons behind them that show you that different races in the galaxy can be thought of as equal to humans.”

John Sherman, Web Editor: “‘The Best of Both Worlds’ is a two-parter that ends the third season and begins the fourth season of The Next Generation. It's the one where Captain Picard gets captured by the Borg (humanoid drones of many different species enhanced by cybernetics who force this idea of perfection on others) and turned into a Borg. If you've ever heard, "I am Locutus of Borg. Resistance is futile," this is where it came from. Really powerful stuff. ‘Part II’ won the Emmys for Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Drama Series as well as Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series and they were both nominated for a couple of others.”

Jenna Fiorello, Reporter: “I pick up the important things, like ‘Beam me up, Scotty,’ so I can throw it into a conversation and seem like I know something about Star Trek. The first time I saw a picture of Tribbles, I thought they were just a large quantity of William Shatner’s toupee.” (Tribbles were first introduced in the 1967 original series’ episode The Trouble with Tribbles when Lieutenant Uhura brings one aboard the USS Enterprise, where it begins to reproduce rapidly).

Jeremy Gaines, Photographer: “The new Star Trek movie was better (than previous Star Trek episodes and movies) and more action packed. I like the more optimistic portrayal of science fiction in the future that Star Trek gives compared to other science fiction.”

Free episodes for the Original Series, including The Trouble with Tribbles, are available on www.cbs.com. Star Trek: The Next Generation, the series which includes "The Best of Both Worlds", is available on www.Netflix.com, as is the movie from 2009, which can be watched on Netflix Instant Play.