'Star Trek: The Exhibition' Leads Explorers On a Journey Through 45 Years of 'Star Trek'

Andrew Bourne, 12, patrolled the command center of the starship "Enterprise," his head seemingly on a swivel while gawking at the lights on the control panels and the massive image of Earth visible on the view screen at the front of the expansive bridge.

While he wasn’t on an actual starship, Andrew and his father, David Bourne, had trekked from Atlanta on a cross-country trip that included a visit to Star Trek: The Exhibition at the St. Louis Science Center. The exhibition, which runs through May 28, is packed with costumes, character and makeup displays, a mix of genuine and replica props from the five TV series and 11 Star Trek movies and plenty of examples of how Star Trek science fiction is becoming fact.

As he moved from the bridge to the transporter room, Andrew, clearly fascinated, fired questions at a Science Center staff person. He wanted to know details, such as how things were done, and what they represented.

"It’s really cool," Andrew said. "I liked going into the little bridge and everything—that was cool. And the costumes were really well laid out."

His dad added, "It’s very well done," to which Andrew chimed in with "Yeah."

Their cross-country trip, with Andrew’s mom home schooling him, was all about the kind of learning experiences the science center offers—the type you can’t necessarily get out of a book or sitting behind a desk.

"When you can learn something first-hand, by seeing it, feeling it, touching it—that means a lot," David Bourne said. "Like that (Gateway) Arch. You can watch videos of it, you can read about it in books, but until you get in that Arch and go to the top, you don’t really understand it. You don’t really understand how pretty it is until you get there underneath it. Any kind of life experience that you can do, you can draw more from it than you can reading about it."

The Star Trek exhibition adheres to the science center's mission to educate and entertain. The original series was considered innovative, with a solid basis in scientific fact that intrigued many viewers, helping influence their ultimate career paths.

"It’s much more than a TV show," said Maria Totoraitis, public relations coordinator for the science center. "It inspired people to pursue careers in science and engineering."

The Star Trek exhibition is really an expedition through the years of Star Trek on TV and in film. At the start of the exhibit, visitors can see and sit in the actual captain’s chair James T. Kirk (actor William Shatner) used on the original 1960s era show. For a fee, people can get their pictures taken in the chair, one of three such photo opps the exhibition offers (the others are on the bridge of the Enterprise from the TV show Star Trek: The Next Generation and in the transporter room from the 2009 Star Trek movie).

The first section of the exhibition features posters from all the TV shows and movies, several scripts, storyboards and design sketches and a clip where Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry discusses the show and what he hoped people would get out of it. Nearby, one of the Enterprise models used in the original TV show is housed in a display case, poised as if to fly in the direction of the rest of the exhibition. An adjacent case holds a recorder, a couple of phaser weapons and a couple of tribbles, the fuzzy little creatures that multiplied so rapidly and caused so much trouble in one of the show’s better known episodes.

Dedicated fans of the franchise will want to spend some time along a timeline wall that summarizes all the various shows and films, including storylines, major characters, even the future time frame for each story.

"The timeline is my favorite," said Morgan Gambill, a special exhibitions assistant at the science center.

The costumes, all of which were actually used in the show or film they represent, are displayed throughout the exhibition. Visitors can see everything from Uhura’s maroon uniform from the original TV show and Khan’s chest-baring garment from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan to uniforms worn by Klingons, Romulans and pretty much everyone of significance who ever served the star fleet.

Models including three Enterprise ships and the Borg sphere show the detail that was necessary to create a realistic illusion in the days before computer use was prevalent.

"The intricacy that goes into the costumes and some of the early filming models is just really incredible," Totoraitis said. "Because of course, back then they didn’t have CGI to create whatever they needed to create. They had to actually build what they needed to film. The Borg sphere, for example, it’s like four inches deep with detail, because the filming had to go that far in."

From communicators that look similar to modern cellphones to an iPad-like device on the desk in a recreation of Captain Picard’s cabin, past science fiction is becoming current science fact. There is even a display showing how something such as an invisibility cloak, like some of the Star Trek alien villains used to conceal their ships, might be possible some day.

"It’s just another thing that was in Star Trek and might be in our future," Totoraitis said.

The attention to detail—to making replicas look just like they did on TV or in film—is impressive. Picard’s cabin, for instance, has several nice touches including wine from the French vineyard his family owned on Earth and Data’s first painting.

"He was the android on board, and in an effort to become more human, he was taking up hobbies like painting," Gambill said.

There’s even a flute from a famous episode of The Next Generation.

"Things that die-hard fans of Next Generation would go, ‘Oh, the flute. I loved that episode,’" Gambill said.

The wall opposite Picard’s cabin has the same schematics seen in the hallways of the Enterprise, with a twist many fans may not be aware of.

"When they first made the ship’s schematics, they put what we in the geeky world like to call Easter eggs in here," Gambill said, pointing to the wall. "So they put little images in here to see if you’d notice. I think they probably hoped someone would stop the VCR, whip out the magnifying glass and go, ‘What is that?’ I see a car, rat, ducky, plane, syringe and so forth, in with this very official looking, scientific schematic. You’re like, ‘Wait a minute.’ We get a kick out of that one."

The exhibition also uses video clips to give visitors a behind-the-scenes look at how the costumes and makeup were done.

"I love these videos, especially the costumes and makeup," Gambill said. "They’re awesome. The costumes and the makeup must be the most popular videos we have. People go ‘Ah haaa aaa ahhh.’"

Many of the makeup creations, perfected by Emmy-nominated makeup designer Michael Westmore, took two to five hours to apply to an actor, Totoraitis said. The makeup section of the exhibition is a spectacular display of monstrous alien creatures, most of which threatened the star fleet, with a few peculiar allies as well. Many of the alien creations were modeled after animals, but the collection of alien heads is still a creepy delight.

Also sure to please fans is the painstakingly re-created bridge of the Enterprise from The Next Generation, complete with chairs for Picard, his right-hand man (seated to his right) and the navigators.

"It’s pretty neat," Gambill said. "Those of us who watched The Next Generation feel like we’re actually on the ship."

With the exhibition covering 45 years of Star Trek, there is something for everyone in the family to appreciate.

"Regardless of age, you can see your favorite parts of the franchise," Totoraitis said. "Everyone who’s come through has loved it."

The exhibition includes special features like a hands-on "Discovery Room" for children and a "Boldly Go Explore" trivia hunt in which participants comb the science center seeking answers to questions about Star Trek and other science-related facts.

Admission to  for Science Center members is $8.75 for adults, $7.75 for senior and $6.75 for children. For non-members, the cost is $17.50 adults, $15.50 seniors and college students and $13.50 children and military. On Veterans Day all military are allowed in at half the normal admission price for "Star Trek" and other science center attractions.

To get there, take Highway 40 east to Oakland Avenue, which can be accessed at the Hampton Avenue exit. Continue east on Oakland. The Science Center—5050 Oakland Ave., will be on the right. Parking is available at $10 per vehicle.