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    Star Trek: The Original Series

    Published Nov 5, 2019

    This Month In Trek: Spocktober Spooktacular

    In which we all continue to be suckers for Star Trek Halloween costumes, and more!

    By StarTrek.com
    Star Trek - New York Comic Con

    Getty Images

    Each month, StarTrek.com scours the internet for the best mentions, writing, art, crafting, and all-around creative endeavors from the global Star Trek community. Our picks for October include so many Halloween costumes, some great news from NASA, a surprise visit from Snoop Dogg, and more.

    Kicking off October, NASA and Delta Airlines teamed up to fly 120 middle and high-school aged girls to NASA headquarters in Houston. As Good Morning America reports:

    A Delta flight operated exclusively by women, and carrying 120 young females as passengers, took off this week to inspire more women to become aviators and advocate for equality in a "male-dominated industry."

    ..."It didn't seem realistic to go after a career in aviation. But today I realized, 'Hey, I can do this too,'" said a 12th-grade student named Katelyn. Another student, an 11th-grader named Karyanna, said, "It's such an exciting time to be in STEM. There's so much left for us to discover."

    ...The flight was planned and orchestrated by an all-female crew, and women also served as ramp agents working on the ground, gate agents boarding the flight and operators in the control tower guiding the aircraft off the runway, according to Delta.

    Only 7% of pilots in America are women. But, as we've seen in Star Trek's optimistic future, women certainly belong in the captain's chair. November marks National Aviation History Month, and We hope this is the first of many initiatives putting women at the forefront of flight!

    NASA had quite the month, actually. In addition to the above, the space agency debuted new spacesuits which astronauts will be wearing on future missions to the Moon and Mars through The Artemis Program. The plan is to launch the first woman and a man to the Moon in 2024. From Popular Mechanics:

    NASA The Artemis Program spacesuits
    Xinhua/Liu Jie via Getty Images

    At a press conference yesterday, NASA revealed two prototype spacesuits: the Orion Crew Survival System suit, which astronauts will wear during launch and reentry, and the Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) suits that the astronauts will don as they explore the lunar surface.

    ...One of the most important aspects of the new xEMU suit will be its adaptability for use in a wide variety of environments. NASA wants a suit that astronauts can operate during spacewalks, on the lunar surface, and eventually on Mars.

    The design of the xEMU gives astronauts the ability to swap out certain parts in order to match their specific needs. For example, astronauts visiting Mars would be able to adjust components to fit the red planet’s atmosphere and seasonal temperature changes. The suits can hold up in temperatures ranging from minus 250 degrees Fahrenheit to 250 degrees Fahrenheit.

    And hey, these new Virgin Atlantic space suits for tourists look a wee bit familiar, points out one Star Trek fan on Twitter.

    Finally, NASA closed out October on a bold note. One group of NASA affiliated researchers in the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory is making strides with their 'Interstellar Probe' study, which is intended to facilitate the ability to conduct interstellar missions.

    The basic idea for the interstellar mission is to launch a spacecraft weighing less than 1,700 pounds on NASA’s massive Space Launch System rocket, which is expected to be ready by 2021. That will get it traveling across our solar system like any other probe. To give it another boost, it will then use a gravity assist to sling the craft to speeds well over 100,000 miles per hour. The team at the Applied Physics Lab is currently considering two types of gravity assists—a “plain vanilla” assist that swings the probe around Jupiter and another that swings it around the sun.

    Sounds like exactly the work we need to be doing in order to finally get to a first contact of our own. Check out Wired to read about the Interstellar Probe study and what it means for the future of space travel.

    If you were watching Netflix's Rhythm + Flow, the rap competition show starring Chance the Rapper, Cardi B, and T.I., you may have noticed a rather surprising detail in Snoop Dogg's LA studio.

    Rhythm and Flow Netflix Snoop Dogg Cardi B

    Netflix

    Yes, that is Snoop and Cardi standing in front of a giant Star Trek mural. We have no choice but to stan.

    ICYMI, Simon & Schuster announced a new Star Trek novel late this month. The Unsettling Stars, written by Alan Dean Foster, is the first original non-YA novel set in the Kelvin Universe, established by Star Trek (2009). There is no cover or exact release date yet, but readers can expect copies to hit their local bookstore shelves sometime in 2020.

    Taking place in an alternate timeline created when the Starship Kelvin was destroyed by a Romulan invader from the future, The Unsettling Stars follows Captain James T. Kirk and an inexperienced crew commandeering a repaired U.S.S. Enterprise out of spacedock for a simple shakedown cruise. When a distress call comes in, the Enterprise must aid a large colony ship of alien refugees known as the Perenorean, who are under siege by an unknown enemy. But Kirk and his crew will find that the situation with the peaceful Perenorean is far more complicated than they bargained for, and the answers as to why they were attacked in the first place unfold in the most insidious of ways…

    And now the content you've all been waiting for... Halloween costumes! Scroll down for costumes from our Star Trek family, and the many fans (and pets) who showed off their costumes on social media. And if this isn't enough for you, head over to check out contributor Margaret Kingsbury's roundup of some decked out Starfleet cadets!

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