# TOS - Federation membership **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 26, 2016, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tos-federation-membership/766971 "2016-09-26T20:34:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2016, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tos-federation-membership/766971/21 "2016-09-27T22:08:05Z")
I would have loved an episode centered on the little dudes from _ **The Wizard of Oz** _ who were seen briefly in “Journey to Babel.” \*\*\*Trek \*\*\*needs to do more to fight things like size-ism and age-ism. Let’s have episodes focusing on little people and old guys married to hot young women! :o ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2016, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tos-federation-membership/766971/22 "2016-09-28T00:10:40Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > Until “First Contact” I went with the TOS Technical Manual (Loved it!) that had Alpha Centaurians being nearly human and i went with the notion that Cochrane was from AC. > > That’s nicely non-human centric if an alien nearby discovers warpdrive and helps Earth out. I agree. There was a non canon book called Worlds of the Federalization that said the same about AC. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2016, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tos-federation-membership/766971/23 "2016-09-28T00:20:31Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > 1. The “park manager” from “Shore Leave” looked human, but everything was fake so who knows? The animated ST episode “Once Upon a Planet” was the sequel to “Shore Leave.” Kirk and his crew discover the grave of the Keeper, who had passed away. The grave marker describes him as the last of his race. So that implies he wasn’t human, but was of a humanoid looking race. Of course, it’s a Saturday morning cartoon, but I think it’s still considered canon. Or at least elements of it have passed into later “Star Trek.” ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2016, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tos-federation-membership/766971/24 "2016-09-28T01:00:38Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Of course, it’s a Saturday morning cartoon, but I think it’s still considered canon. Or at least elements of it have passed into later “Star Trek.” Probably the single biggest element from the animated series that made it to live-action is that Kirk’s middle name is Tiberius. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2016, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tos-federation-membership/766971/25 "2016-09-28T06:13:54Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Probably the single biggest element from the animated series that made it to live-action is that Kirk’s middle name is Tiberius. So did ShiKhar, Spock’s birthplace on Vulcan. ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2016, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tos-federation-membership/766971/26 "2016-09-28T10:31:18Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > In addition to the four in the OP we have Alpha Centauri which was a Founding Member. It was never made clear if there was native population with humans living there too or if it was just a human colony. I remember some old sources saying that the “native” population of Alpha Centauri was a colony of transplanted ancient Greeks. I think there was a time when the Star Trek expanded universe was really in love with the idea that there was a spacefaring race putzing about putting humans in strange places. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2016, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tos-federation-membership/766971/27 "2016-09-28T13:26:39Z")
And some of the Earthlike planets (particularly those with continents similar or identical to ours) were explained away as being “quantum duplicates” of Earth, that diverged at various points in our planet’s history (how they ended up being at various locations in the same spacetime continuum is conveniently ignored). ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2016, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tos-federation-membership/766971/28 "2016-09-28T15:23:02Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And some of the Earthlike planets (particularly those with continents similar or identical to ours) were explained away as being “quantum duplicates” of Earth, that diverged at various points in our planet’s history (how they ended up being at various locations in the same spacetime continuum is conveniently ignored). Oh boy does that open up a can o worms. Maybe _every_ species in the galaxy is humans with different divergences. There are no other species at all. We need evidence - what did the other planets in the Miri system look like? Were they all copies of our planets, too? How about the Roman planet? The Yangs and the Khoms planet? Maybe the religious types were right. God did make man (and only man) in His image, just over and over and over… This needs investigation! Maybe this proves that, in the ST universe, science is an illusion and that God exists. And he calls himself Q. Forget The Preservers - it’s Gods all the way down. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2016, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tos-federation-membership/766971/29 "2016-09-28T17:13:36Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I would have loved an episode centered on the little dudes from _ **The Wizard of Oz** _ who were seen briefly in “Journey to Babel.”… Never named on the show: [Unnamed humanoids (23rd century) | Memory Alpha | Fandom](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Unnamed_humanoids_(23rd_century)#Copper-skinned_alien) There were diminutive humanoid aliens in _Star Trek: Insurrection_, too: [Evora | Memory Alpha | Fandom](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Evora) ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2016, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tos-federation-membership/766971/30 "2016-09-28T17:22:42Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Probably the single biggest element from the animated series that made it to live-action is that Kirk’s middle name is Tiberius. So did Captain April being the first commander of the Enterprise NCC-1701 ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2016, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tos-federation-membership/766971/31 "2016-09-28T17:56:23Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Yeah, but how many of those guys are in the Federation? > And, you forgot Balok, The black/white, white/black guys, the Horta, and The Companion! In DC’s Star Trek comic book series, there was a Horta crewmember onboard the Enterprise. Apparently they can be taught to speak if the training starts when they’re young. I remember an issue in which he wasn’t feeling well, and Dr. McCoy diagnosed it as anemia. He got on the intercom to Engineering, and said (I’m paraphrasing), “Scotty, I want to you run me off a ton of pig iron, and about a hundred pounds of carbon steel. I’ll send a crewman down for it. No, he won’t need any help, he’ll eat it there. What are you laughing at? Nobody on this ship takes me seriously.” ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2016, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tos-federation-membership/766971/32 "2016-09-28T17:57:35Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > In _ **The Making of Star Trek** _ (anyone who doesn’t have a copy ought to go out and buy one!), it’s said that the crew of each starship is made up primarily of one species, with a small sampling of aliens. The theory is that since they have more in common with each other, they will work more smoothly together and not require much in the way of different foods, day and night schedules, and so on. Probably makes life support systems easier to maintain, too. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2016, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tos-federation-membership/766971/33 "2016-09-28T18:09:59Z")
Did he at least consult a bricklayer for a second opinion? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2016, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tos-federation-membership/766971/34 "2016-09-28T18:15:43Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Maybe the religious types were right. God did make man (and only man) in His image, just over and over and over… If the Universe is Euclidian, as the experts now claim it is, it’s infinite, meaning there are an infinite number of possibilities repeated an infinite number of times. If you subscribe to this view, yeah, exact duplicates of Earth as we know it do exist. Creepy thought! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2016, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tos-federation-membership/766971/35 "2016-09-28T18:30:41Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > I belive Kirk said to Zephram Cochrane that “We’re a thousand planets…” Even assuming some rounding up, I gather there are hundreds of permanent colonies and outposts in the TOS era, many of them settled by humans. Or possibly all the planets, inhabited or not, in Federation territory. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2016, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tos-federation-membership/766971/36 "2016-09-28T18:46:03Z")
We have the Medusans too. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2016, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tos-federation-membership/766971/37 "2016-09-28T20:45:21Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > We have the Medusans too. Post 11. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2016, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tos-federation-membership/766971/38 "2016-09-29T00:27:22Z")
Yeah, it is surprising to find out that Star Trek was pushing the “separate but equal” paradigm in the 1960s, but that was their excuse. (Real life being that it’s just easier to have human extras than pay for all that makeup.) What made more sense was the idea that Starfleet was more a human idea, and it just naturally had more humans involved in it. Vulcans didn’t like the military part, and so had their own. You could see other races being like that, too. The only real differences in environments tended to be temperature. But no one ever seemed to be all that uncomfortable. So they could just have the right temperature in their quarters. Maybe even have heated or chilled chairs. Heck, why not portable devices in their clothes to make them warmer or colder? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2016, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tos-federation-membership/766971/39 "2016-09-29T01:01:50Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > The only real differences in environments tended to be temperature. But no one ever seemed to be all that uncomfortable. **Spock** : Doctor, ship’s temperature is increasingly uncomfortable for me. I’ve adjusted the environment in my quarters to 125 degrees, which is at least tolerable. However, I… **McCoy** : Well, I see I’m not gonna be making any house calls on YOU! ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2016, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tos-federation-membership/766971/40 "2016-09-29T01:04:18Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Why not portable devices in their clothes to make them warmer or colder? They had things like this in _ **TNG** _. One blue guy had a sniffer-thingie that he wore around his neck to supply him with whatever gasses or particles he needed in a Class M environment. Still, the _Enterprise_-D was pretty much a Terran thing. One of the best things about _ **TAS** _ was that there actually were non-humanoids in the crew, and they were featured prominently. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tos-federation-membership/766971.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tos-federation-membership/766971.md?page=3)