# Star Trek: Do "star dates" have any structure or are they just a number the writers picked out of a hat? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** star-trek-paramount\ **Created:** [June 8, 2025, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-do-star-dates-have-any-structure-or-are-they-just-a-number-the-writers-picked-out-of-a-hat/1019327 "2025-06-08T13:17:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2025, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-do-star-dates-have-any-structure-or-are-they-just-a-number-the-writers-picked-out-of-a-hat/1019327/81 "2025-06-12T16:45:15Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > So, the show writers occasionally have it mentioned that the transporters use a Heisenberg Compensator. No one knows what that is or how it works. It is technobabble. According to Star Trek technical consultant Michael Okuda and creator of the Heisenberg compensator, “It works very well. Thank you.” ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2025, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-do-star-dates-have-any-structure-or-are-they-just-a-number-the-writers-picked-out-of-a-hat/1019327/82 "2025-06-12T19:44:21Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > The Planet Killer had been wandering through space for ages. Isn’t it odd that no one ever thought about destroying it from within until it just happened to encounter that brilliant race known as Earthmen? Earlier in the writing of the episode, the Planet killer was more of a moving fortress, replete with additional weapons that had been disabled by time and countless counterattacks. By the time Enterprise encountered it, it was largely a wreck, with fundamentally only the main weapon remaining. > [Norman Spinrad](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Norman_Spinrad) was displeased with the model used for the planet killer. As he told [Allan Asherman](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Allan_Asherman) in _[The Star Trek Interview Book](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/The_Star_Trek_Interview_Book)_ [[page number?](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Memory_Alpha:Cite_your_sources) • [edit](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Planet_killer?action=edit)], he envisioned the planet killer bristling with all sorts of evil-looking weapons. And… > The _[Ships of the Line](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Ships_of_the_Line)_ (pg. 52) book states that the Planet Killer once _had_ been the monster Norman Spinrad envisioned, boasting a “complete arsenal of weaponry”, but centuries of combat had taken their toll so that, by the time the _Constellation_ encountered it, only the main weapon remained. So, if you want to take the in-universe explanations (or retcons) then such an attack wouldn’t have been possible before the accumulated damage of countless desperate attempts hadn’t largely ground the device down. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2025, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-do-star-dates-have-any-structure-or-are-they-just-a-number-the-writers-picked-out-of-a-hat/1019327/83 "2025-06-12T20:27:50Z")
Golf clap. 👏 👏 👏 You’re on a roll today with great comebacks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-do-star-dates-have-any-structure-or-are-they-just-a-number-the-writers-picked-out-of-a-hat/1019327.md?page=4)