Background detail about the real-life S.E.T.I. project.
Pictures from [Future's End] unless otherwise stated.
this area is in front of Rain's desk; to her left is a model of S.S. Botany Bay
Encyclopaedia says that a model of S.S. Botany Bay can be seen in the laboratory (but does not say whereabouts). S.S. Botany Bay was a DY-100 space vessel launched from Earth in 1996, and was a sleeper ship carrying the former dictator Khan Noonien Singh and his followers, who had escaped from Earth after the terrible Eugenics Wars. (Why Los Angeles as seen in [Future's End] seems to have escaped the ravages of the Eugencis Wars is not explained, but ST Chronology says that [Future's End] is evidence that the Eugenics War left parts of Los Angeles untouched.) The Botany Bay used nuclear-powered engines. It travelled for some 300 years with its passengers in suspended animation before being discovered by the USS Enterprise NCC-1701 near the Mutara Sector in 2267, when most of the passengers were revived, as depicted in [TOS: Space Seed]. Sleeper ships like the DY-100 fell from general use by 2018 because of significant improvements in sublight propulsion technology. The later DY-500 model of interplanetary vessel was still relatively primitive by 23rd century standards but considerably more advanced than the older DY-100 ship. The S.S. Mariposa, launched from Earth in 2123, was a DY-500 ship, seen in [TNG: Up the Long Ladder]. The Botany Bay miniature was also used as the freighter Woden in [TOS: The Ultimate Computer]. The model was displayed at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., USA. A conjectural model of the Botany Bay, built by Greg Jein for a photograph in the ST Chronology, showing the S.S. Botany Bay launching, was equipped with several space shuttle-style solid rocket strap-on boosters, suggesting how the 1996-vintage spacecraft might have attained orbit. (At this time getting a payload into space was more difficult especially in certain parts of the world due to coriolis forces, for which the USA has the natural advantage of geography.)
S.S. Botany Bay on the Enterprise's viewscreen, then in space as the Enterprise approaches, [TOS: Space Seed]
inside the S.S. Botany Bay, with passengers still in suspended animation, [TOS: Space Seed];
"suspended animation" anagrams into "supine man is not dead" (anagram by that busy person Anon)
picture to show the object masked by Rain's body in the picture further above
note also the style of chair
Paris likes one of Rain's desk ornaments
Tuvok gets Paris to put back things as he found them; this picture shows the ornament in more detail
view from desk looking toward the door
another space poster just inside the door
On a wall is posted the Drake Equation. This is the 20th century Earth scientific concept for estimating the number of technologically-sophisticated civilisations in the galaxy, and was postulated by Earth astronomer Frank Drake before Earth's first contact with explorers from planet Vulcan in 2063. The Drake Equation is based on estimates of the total number of stars in the galaxy, the fraction of those stars that have planetary systems, the fraction of those planets that could support life, and so on. The Drake Equation was part of Gene Roddenberry's first outline for [TOS] written in 1964. Roddenberry wanted to use the equation to show that the idea of alien civilizations on other worlds was within the realm of scientific possibility. Unfortunately, while Roddenberry knew of the Drake Equation, he did not have an actual copy of the formula. Under pressure of a deadline, Roddenberry simply made up a plausible-looking version of what he thought it might look like. Once he was successful in selling the Star Trek concept to Desilu Studios and NBC, he never got around to correcting the outline. The formula posted in Rain Robinson's lab, shown here, incorporates both versions. The top line is Dr Drake's version, and the second line is the Drake Equation according to Gene Roddenberry. Dr. Drake has gently pointed out that any value raised to the first power is merely the value itself.
Roddenberry's formula: N = R * x fp x ne x fl x fi x fc x L
Correct formula:
Ef2(MgE) - C1Ri1 x M = L/So
the Drake Equation, behind the computer screen
One function of computers in the 1990s is the exchange of electronic mail, or e-mail for short. This transmission of data and messages electronically from one computer to another revolutionised communications in this era, rendering hardcopy "snail mail" almost obsolete except for essential items and for the shipping of goods. Shannon O'Donnel, Janeway's ancestor, sends e-mail e-mail on her laptop computer, in [#117 11:59]. E-mail became commonplace on Earth in the late 20th century and continued to be used on the Net throughout the early 21st century, as noted in [DS9: Past Tense]. Rain uses e-mail to notify her colleagues after she discovers evidence of an extra-terrestrial object (the Starship Voyager) orbiting Earth. This causes Henry Starling, head of Chronowerx Industries, who wants to suppress knowledge of Voyager, to issue a formal rejection of her findings, and also leads him to order his Security Chief, Dunbar, to seize her data and murder her. Rain's computer is her control system for the S.E.T.I. (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) project's radio telescopes and satellites. She detects Voyager from its gamma emissions, which match the frequency profile previously given to her by Henry Starling along with instructions to inform him if she ever detects it. Voyager does not show up through any of the standard search parameters. Rain uses her computer to instruct a satellite (noted as "dish A-1" on her screen) to transmit the standard S.E.T.I. greeting toward the UFO; Voyager receives it but does not reply. She also uses her computer to carry out a Fourier spectral analysis (pictured) to investigate the extra-terrestrial radio source, although Paris remarks when he sees her work that: "Your curves don't look so great." He does not mean her personal body curves but the curves in the Fourier analysis and he hurriedly corrects himself. The Fourier series is a mathematical method derived by Jean Baptiste Joseph Fourier (1768-1830), and the system can define any periodic function as a sum of sine and cosine waves. (Dr. Noonien Soong utilised a Fourier system to give an appearance of randomness to the eye-blink pattern of his androids, [TNG: Inheritance].)
Rain transmits the S.E.T.I. greeting toward the UFO (Voyager) which receives it but dares not respond and thereby alert the Earth's inhabitants to its anachronistic presence
The S.E.T.I. greeting was a communications protocol developed by 20th century Earth astronomers for the purpose of signalling an extraterrestrial intelligence and was intended to be intelligible by any technologically sophisticated civilisation. It conveys information about Earth's position in the galaxy, information about life on Earth, and carries greetings in many different Earth languages. See Page 5 for detailed background information about S.E.T.I.
The S.E.T.I. greeting seen in [Future's End] was loosely based on messages that NASA sent into interstellar space aboard its Pioneer and Voyager space probes. Those greetings, in the form of a plaque on Pioneer 10 and 11, and a record on Voyager 1 and 2, were designed by astronomers Carl Sagan, Frank Drake (see above re the Drake Equation) and others. A replica of the Pioneer 10 plaque is among the wall decorations in Rain's laboratory. The Pioneer 10 was launched from Earth on 2nd March 1972 by NASA, and studied the planets Jupiter and Saturn. S.E.T.I. astronomers used Pioneer 10's transmission as a locator fix. Pioneer 10 is the first human-made object to leave Earth's solar system. It seems Pioneer 10 sent its last signal to Earth with a very weak signal received on 23 January 2003. A final attempt was made to locate Pioneer's 10 signal on 3rd-5th March 2006 but received no response detection of a carrier signal from the spacecraft. It is now now over 8 billion miles away. It provided data for 7.6 billion miles. Pioneer 10 drifted for centuries in the interstellar void until it (and of course the plaque) was destroyed in 2287 by a Klingon bird-of-prey piloted by Captain Klaa, in [Star Trek V: The Final Frontier]. The Pioneer 10 model used in that film was built by Greg Jein with technical assistance provided by TRW, Inc., and Richard O. Fimmel, Pioneer project manager for NASA's Ames Research Center. No one on the film's staff told him they were going to blow up his spacecraft!
Pioneer 10 plaque, a copy of which (without the labels) Rain has on her wall. Source: NASA
Starling orders Rain not to tell anyone about her discovery
Rain excitedly tells Henry Starling that they should inform NASA about her discovery of the extra-terrestrial UFO that is orbiting Earth. He tells her not to do so, as his secret motive is to suppress knowledge of any UFO. NASA, the Earth-based branch of the USA government responsible for many early space exploration missions, including Apollo 11 and Voyager VI, as noted in [Star Trek I: The Motion Picture] (for which NASA received a screen credit for its technical support), launched the spaceship Charybdis from Earth in July 2037. This was the ill-fated third manned attempt to explore beyond the solar system. The ship suffered a telemetry failure, and its fate was unknown until 2365, when the remains of the Charybdis were discovered in orbit around a planet in the Theta 116 system, [TNG: The Royale].
In [#167 Friendship One], we do not know who precisely in 2067 (only four years after first contact with Vulcans) launched the ill-fated Friendship 1 probe. It should not be assumed that it was NASA, whose name is not mentioned in the episode.
One function of computers in the 1990s is the exchange of electronic mail, or e-mail for short. This transmission of data and messages electronically from one computer to another revolutionised communications in this era, rendering hardcopy "snail mail" almost obsolete except for essential items and for the shipping of goods. Shannon O'Donnel, Janeway's ancestor, sends e-mail e-mail on her laptop computer, in [#117 11:59]. E-mail became commonplace on Earth in the late 20th century and continued to be used on the Net throughout the early 21st century, as noted in [DS9: Past Tense]. Rain uses e-mail to notify her colleagues after she discovers evidence of an extra-terrestrial object (the Starship Voyager) orbiting Earth. This causes Henry Starling, head of Chronowerx Industries, who wants to suppress knowledge of Voyager, to issue a formal rejection of her findings, and also leads him to order his Security Chief, Dunbar, to seize her data and murder her. Rain's computer is her control system for the S.E.T.I. (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) project's radio telescopes and satellites. She detects Voyager from its gamma emissions, which match the frequency profile previously given to her by Henry Starling along with instructions to inform him if she ever detects it. Voyager does not show up through any of the standard search parameters. Rain uses her computer to instruct a satellite (noted as "dish A-1" on her screen) to transmit the standard S.E.T.I. greeting toward the UFO; Voyager receives it but does not reply. She also uses her computer to carry out a Fourier spectral analysis (pictured) to investigate the extra-terrestrial radio source, although Paris remarks when he sees her work that: "Your curves don't look so great." He does not mean her personal body curves but the curves in the Fourier analysis and he hurriedly corrects himself. The Fourier series is a mathematical method derived by Jean Baptiste Joseph Fourier (1768-1830), and the system can define any periodic function as a sum of sine and cosine waves. (Dr. Noonien Soong utilised a Fourier system to give an appearance of randomness to the eye-blink pattern of his androids, [TNG: Inheritance].)
The S.E.T.I. greeting seen in [Future's End] was loosely based on messages that NASA sent into interstellar space aboard its Pioneer and Voyager space probes. Those greetings, in the form of a plaque on Pioneer 10 and 11, and a record on Voyager 1 and 2, were designed by astronomers Carl Sagan, Frank Drake (see above re the Drake Equation) and others. A replica of the Pioneer 10 plaque is among the wall decorations in Rain's laboratory. The Pioneer 10 was launched from Earth on 2nd March 1972 by NASA, and studied the planets Jupiter and Saturn. S.E.T.I. astronomers used Pioneer 10's transmission as a locator fix. Pioneer 10 is the first human-made object to leave Earth's solar system. It seems Pioneer 10 sent its last signal to Earth with a very weak signal received on 23 January 2003. A final attempt was made to locate Pioneer's 10 signal on 3rd-5th March 2006 but received no response detection of a carrier signal from the spacecraft. It is now now over 8 billion miles away. It provided data for 7.6 billion miles. Pioneer 10 drifted for centuries in the interstellar void until it (and of course the plaque) was destroyed in 2287 by a Klingon bird-of-prey piloted by Captain Klaa, in [Star Trek V: The Final Frontier]. The Pioneer 10 model used in that film was built by Greg Jein with technical assistance provided by TRW, Inc., and Richard O. Fimmel, Pioneer project manager for NASA's Ames Research Center. No one on the film's staff told him they were going to blow up his spacecraft!
