This Week in Star Trek History: Feb. 23-27

StarTrek.com looks back at events across Star Trek history that occurred from February 23-27.

Feb 23:

“A Taste of Armageddon” aired on this date in 1967. The prescient episode tells the tale of a war waged between… computers, with real people paying the price. Guest stars included Barbara Babcock, who later co-starred on the landmark series Hill Street Blues, and David Opatoshu, a character actor whose many credits included The Outer Limits, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Alien Nation, and an episode of The Twilight Zone (“Valley of the Shadow”), in which he appeared with James Doohan.

Majel Barrett-Roddenberry was born on this day in 1932. To read our tribute to the late First Lady of Star Trek, click here.

Feb. 24:

Day one of principal photography for Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home began on this date in 1986. Director Leonard Nimoy staged his first shot on the bridge of the USS Saratoga. ST:IV went on to be a blockbuster and received four Oscar nominations, including one for Don Peterman in the Best Cinematography category. Peterman passed away a couple of weeks ago, on Feb. 5, 2011, at the age of 79.

The novel Over a Torrent Seas, a chapter in the Titan series, was published on this date in 2009 by Pocket Books. The story, penned by Christopher L. Bennett, was a sequel to Star Trek: Destiny and featured Captain William T. Riker and the crew of the USS Titan.

Feb. 25:

This date was a busy, yet sad one for all involved with Enterprise. On this date in 2005, the episode “Divergence” premiered. Meanwhile, cast and crew were busy on set shooting parts of two fourth- and final-season episodes. They wrapped production on “Terra Prime” and began shooting the series finale, “These Are the Voyages…”

Jud Taylor was born on this date in 1932. Taylor was an ex-actor (The Great Escape, Dr. Kildare) who morphed into a respected, award-winning producer and director. Among his credits was TOS, for which he directed five third-season episodes: “The Paradise Syndrome,” “Wink of an Eye,” “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield,” “The Mark of Gideon” and “The Cloud Minders.” Taylor passed away in 2008 at the age of 76.

Feb. 26:

The seventh-season TNG episode “Eye of the Beholder” premiered on this date in 1994. The story follows two Deanna Troi-centric threads. In one, she deals with a crewmember’s apparent suicide, which may actually be a murder. And in the other, the never-well-received Troi-Worf romance was consummated.

Legendary sci-fi author Theodore Sturgeon was born on this date in 1918. Closely associated with TOS, Sturgeon wrote “Shore Leave” and the Spock and Vulcan-centric episode “Amok Time,” as well as the novel The Joy Machine, based on an un-filmed script he’d written for TOS. Actually, James Gunn penned The Joy Machine novel, with Sturgeon receiving a “Based on the Story By” credit.

Feb. 27:

The DS9 episode “Visionary” premiered on this date in 1995. A complex, time-tripping episode – pitched by a school teacher from Texas named Ethan Calk – it sent O’Brien leaping ahead, a half-dozen times, into the future, at one point even witnessing his own death.

“Ex Post Facto” debuted on this date in 1995. The first-season, film noir-ish Voyager hour centers on Tom Paris, who has been proven guilty of murder and sentenced to forever re-live the final moments of his victim’s life. Fortunately, Tuvok goes into investigator mode and uses a mind-meld to determine what really happened. LeVar Burton directed the episode, the first of eight Voyager installments he’d helm.