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THE STAR TREK ENCYCLOPEDIA: A REFERENCE GUIDE T0 THE FUTURE PLASMA FIELDS 363 Plak-tow. Vulcan term roughly translat- NN Class-J planets are gas giants ing as “blood fever." Refers to a state of F with turbulent atmospheres in which mind in which a Vulcan undergoing Pon \ h = wind speeds of over 10,000 kilomefarr, the mating drive, becomes oblivious = ters per hour are not unknown to anything not related to the winning of . Jupiter and Saturn are Class-J ~~ one’s mate. Spock experienced Plak-tow ’ planets. (“Starship Down" [DS9)) when he underwent Pon farr in 2267, v’ A Note that “Emanations” (VGR) sug- o>” making him prone to throwing bowls of L Fr. gests that Saturn is a Class-D planet, soup in anger. (“Amok Time" [TOS]). - P| [¥] but we're assuming this to be a mis> take. Planet Hell. Unofficial name for a Class- NE Class-K planets are unsuitable for humanoid life, even M planet in the Delta Quadrant. The plan- py though their gravity fields can fall within Class-M norms. Class-K et had no detectable plant life, was planets, like the planet Mudd, are adaptable for humanoid life shrouded with trigemic vapors, and £2 only with the use of pressure domes and life-support systems. (I, possessed electromagnetic disturbances throughout its atmos- Mudd” [TOS)) phere. The planet was given its name by the personnel of the Class-L planets are generally small, rocky, terrestrial worlds Stellar Cartography section of the U.S.S. Voyager in 2372 with oxygen-argon atmospheres. (“The 37's” [VGR]). Class-L Shortly after Voyager's discovery of the planet, Lieutenant Paris worlds can sometimes support life, although this is often limited and Neelix were stranded there when their shuttlecraft crashed. to plant forms. Planet Indri VIIl was Class-L. (“The Chase” (“Parturition” [VGR]). SEE: reptohumanoid hatchling. Planet [TNG]). In 2373, Odo and Quark made an emergency runabout Hell was the Star Trek production crew's tongue-in-cheek nick landing on a Class-L planet. (“The Ascent” [DS9]). name for Stage 16 at Paramount Pictures, where many planet Class-M planets are small, rocky, terrestrial worlds with sets for Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: The Next Generation oxygen-nitrogen atmospheres, and are highly supportive of were built. Stage 16 was also used for the exteriors of the organic life. Earth and Vulcan are Class-M planets, (“The Cage" Ponderosa Ranch in the Bonanza television series and for the sur- ~~ [TOS), “Caretaker” [VGR]). The Star Trek format suggests that the face of the moon in the miniseries Space. (The interiors of the majority of Star Trek's adventures should take place on Class-M Ponderosa were filmed on Stage 17, where Deep Space 9's planets. This is a key concept in making the show affordable withPromenade was built.) in the limits of an episodic television budget.

planet killer. Automated spacego- planetoid. SEE: asteroid ing weapon from outside our galaxy that entered Federation space in planets, stars and other celestial objects. SEE: chart follows. 2267, destroying the planets in star systems L-370 and L-374. Several plankton loaf. Baked microscopic Earth sea life, sometimes kilometers in length, with a hull com served as a breakfast food. Keiko O'Brien was very fond of posed of pure neutronium, it smashed planets ing rubble with plankton loaf and served it, along with kelp buds and sea berries, an antiproton weapon, and used the matter as fuel. Enterprise to her new husband, Miles O'Brien, who wasn't too sure about Captain James T. Kirk theorized that it was a weapon, a dooms- the stuff. (“The Wounded" [TNG]) day machine built primarily as a bluff used in a war uncounted years ago in another galaxy. The civilization that built the planet plasma canister. A device used to transport small amounts of killer might have gone, but the machine continued to destroy. warp plasma. (“Fair Trade” [VGR]) Initial projections suggested that the planet killer's course, if unchecked, would take it toward the Rigel colonies and the most plasma charge. Explosive device. When Kira Nerys was a densely populated part of our galaxy, putting billions of lives at member of the Shakaar resistance cell during the Cardassian risk. The ancient weapon was finally destroyed when Kirk sent occupation of Bajor, she planted a plasma charge outside the the hulk of the U.S.S. Constellation to explode in the planet bedroom of Gul Pirak. The explosion killed 12 Cardassians, killer's Interior, destroying it. (“The Doomsday Machine” [TOS)). including his entire family. Twenty-three others, including Silaran SEE: Decker, Commodore Matt. Prin, were wounded. (“The Darkness and the Light” [DSS]) Planet Q. SEE: Q, Planet. plasma conversion sensor. Starfleet instrument used to measure the consumption of matter and antimatter fuel during engine Planetary Geosciences Laboratory. Scientific research facility use. (“Timescape” [TNG]) located on Deck 10 of the Enterprise-D. The planetary geosciences lab, under the supervision of Acting Ensign Wesley plasma coolant. Highly corrosive Crusher, surveyed the planetary systems in the Selcundi Drema fluid used in the warp-drive systems sector in 2365. (“Pen Pals” [TNG]) of Federation starships. (Star Trek First Contact). b planetary classification system. A method of labeling planet types according to a letter nomenclature. Planetary classes near plasma disruption. Violent energy - the letter M are generally more likely to support life. The farther discharges in space, also known as from the letter M, the less likely the planet is to support life as we a plasma storm. Deep Space 9 was know it subjected to a plasma disruption on Class-D planets are small, rocky planetoids. Regula was a stardate 47182.1, forcing evacuClass-D world. (Star Trek Il: The Wrath of Khan). The ringed ation of most station personnel. (“Invasive Procedures” [DS9)). In Saturn-like planet in “Emanations” [VGR] was also described asa 2373, a runabout carrying Sisko, Dax, Garak, and Odo encounClass-D world, but the term had previously been established to tered a plasma disruption. The storm's effects on Odo triggered a describe asteroids, and “Starship Down" (DS9) further estab- version of the Great Link, trapping all four in a memory of Odo's lished Saturn to be a Class-J planet. Perhaps the Voyager crew past. (“Things Past" [DS9]) was referring to the asteroid-like objects in the planet's rings, or maybe they were just overly excited at the discovery of element plasma fields. Energetic plasma 247. disruptions located in the Badlands. Class-H planets are generally extremely dry, although some- These fields were quite extensive times habitable. An example is planet Tau Cygna V (“The Ensigns and made spaceship navigation difof Command” [TNG]). - ficult. (“For the Uniform” [DS9])