AUTHORÕS INTRODUCTION
from  the book, Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual
by Rick Sternbach and Mike Okuda  
originally published in 1991 by Pocket Books

How ÒofficialÓ is this stuff? Well, this is the first technical manual done by 
folks who actually work on Star Trek. ItÕs closely based on source material 
weÕve developed in conjunction with our writers and producers in our role 
as technical consultants for the series. In that sense it can be considered 
pretty Òofficial.Ó On the other hand, we believe quite firmly that the ÒrealÓ 
Enterprise exists in the imaginations of our audience, so it is each 
individual viewerÕs imagination that will determine the ÒtrueÓ form of the 
starship. Nevertheless, it is one of our hopes that this volume will serve as 
a reference for writers of future Star Trek scripts, novels, and other 
stories. Star Trek has always prided itself on its technical and scientific 
consistency, and we hope that this work will help further that tradition. In 
writing this book, we wanted to give an idea of the enormous complexity of 
the systems that would be required in a starship like the Enterprise. We 
wanted to fill in a few of the blanks, and to show some of the background 
that can only be hinted at in our episodes. On the other hand, weÕd like to 
make it very clear that it is not our intention for this document to serve as 
a straitjacket, limiting the options of future writers. We have deliberately 
left significant gaps to permit future writers to ÒdiscoverÓ parts of the ship 
that we havenÕt seen yet.

To would-be Star Trek writers, weÕd like to emphasize that this is NOT 
required reading. If you are writing a Star Trek story, you will probably be doing 
yourself and your audience a disservice if you use more than a very tiny 
amount of this material. Remember, Star Trek is about people; the 
technology is merely a part of their environment. As Gene points out in his 
Introduction, the real mission of the starship Enterprise is to serve as a 
vehicle for drama.

An important word of caution: All Starfleet personnel are hereby advised 
that any previous technical documentation in your possession may be 
suspect because of an ongoing Starfleet program of disinformation 
intended to confound and confuse the intelligence assets of potential 
Threat forces. Such documents should therefore be verified with 
Federation archives and this Manual for authenticity.

Acknowledgments
A lot of people have contributed to this project. We want to acknowledge 
the work of Martin ÒBuckyÓ Cameron, Doug Herring, George Peirson, Debra 
Peirson, Patrick Minyard, James Takahashi, and Daniel Gauthier, who are 
responsible for ink work on many of the illustrations in this volume. We are 
indebted to Star Trek research consultant Richard Arnold, who was an 
invaluable resource on the Star Trek scenario in general, as well as to 
Leslie Blitman, Richard Barnett, Susan Sackett, Jon Singer, Peter 
Cavanagh, Ralph Winter, Terry Erdman, Marcia Evans, Michael Lim, Guy 
Vardaman, the staff of the U.S. Space Camp in Huntsville, and the folks at 
Star Base Osaka. We also want to recognize the efforts of Dave Stern and 
Kevin Ryan at Pocket Books, as well as the indefatigable support of our 
agent, Sherry Robb. Rick wants to thank his dad, Paul Sternbach, for 
explaining machines to him at a very early age. Mike wants to specifically 
thank his wife, Denise, for her support, understanding, and love during this 
project. ItÕs bad enough when your husband is occupied full-time on a 
demanding television show, but even worse when he spends his free time 
on a book.

A special word of ÒthanksÓ  is due to the folks who served as technical 
resources for this project: Stan Starr (Boeing Corp.), David Krieger (RAND 
Corp.), G. Harry Stine (Enterprise Institute), Dr. Gregory Benford (UC Irvine), 
Sue Cometa (Rockwell International), Gordon Garb and Larry Yeager (Apple 
Computer), Naren Shankar, Steven Agid and Brian J. Young (McDonnell 
Douglas), and John O'Connor (YPS). We listened to them all but didnÕt 
always do what they suggested, so any quibbles you may have arenÕt their 
fault.

We want to express  our gratitude to Star Trek producers Rick Berman, 
Michael Piller, and David Livingston, who gave us the chance to contribute 
to the show as technical consultants. We are honored that they let us help 
with the care of what we think is an important part of the Star Trek 
universe.

We would very much like to thank the writers of Star Trek: The Next 
Generation with whom we have collaborated on technical matters. Their 
strong desire to keep our show as technically consistent as possible has 
not only improved the show but has led to much of the material in this 
volume: Hilary Bader, Dennis Bailey, Ira Steven Behr, Hans Beimler, David 
Bishoff, David Carren, Larry Carroll, Richard Danus, Dorothy Fontana, Sandy 
Fries, David Gerrold, Shari Goodhartz, Mike Gray, Maurice Hurley, Robert 
Lewin, Richard Manning, John Mason, Robert McCullough, Joe Menosky, 
Ronald D. Moore, Hannah Louise Shearer, Lee Sheldon, Melinda M. 
Snodgrass, Jeri Taylor, Tracy TormŽ, Michael Wagner, Lisa White, and 
Herb Wright.

Our colleagues (past and present) in the Star Trek art department are 
responsible for handling the enormous design challenges we face on a 
weekly basis in producing this show: Production designers Herman 
Zimmermann and Richard James, Paul McKenzie, Richard ÒSpudsÓ 
McKenzie, Jim Magdaleno, Jim Mees, Andy Neskoromny, Greg Papalia, 
Elaine Sokoloff, Cari Thomas, and Sandy (ÒWhereÕs lunch?Ó) Veneziano. 
We would be remiss if we did not acknowledge the very significant 
contributions of designer Andrew Probert to the overall look of Star Trek: 
The Next Generation and to the Galaxy class USS Enterprise in particular. 
We are all in debt to the pioneering work of Matt Jefferies, art director on 
the original Star Trek television series, in whose very large footsteps we 
follow.

We want to recognize our enormously talented and hardworking co-
workers on the staff and crew of Star Trek, at Paramount Pictures, and our 
contractors, all of whom have helped shape the Enterprise and the 
universe she explores. It is on their work that this Technical Manual is 
built: Camille Argus, Burt Armus, Kim Bailey, Tom Barron, Brett Bartlett, 
Daryl Baskin, Jim Becker, Melinda Bell, Tom Benko, Greg Benson, Alan 
(ÓQuiet!Ó) Bernard, David Bernard, Ramsey Bieber (and her amazing 
singing frog), Bob Blackman, Cha Blevins, Paula Block, Cliff Bole, Adriene 
Bowles, Buddy Bowles, Rob Bowman, Brooke Breton, Ed Brown, Jr., Dick 
Brownfield, LeVar Burton, Ruth Carpenter, Chip Chalmers, Mandy 
Chamberlin, Ed Charnock, Jesse Chavez, Joe Chess, Richard Chronister, 
Ray Clarke, James Crawford, Denise Crosby, Rhonda Crowfoot, Dan Curry, 
Dick DÕAngelo, Andy Davis, Larry Davis, Helen Davis, Doug Dean, Michael 
Dorn, Monty deGraff, Charlie Drayman, Joel Dreskin, Susan Duchow, Anet 
Dunne, Syd Dutton, Wilson Dyer, Carol Eisner, Manuel Epstein, J.P. Farrell, 
Lolita Fatjo, Kelly Ferguson, Sharyl Fickas, Marian Fife, Wilbur Finks, Fred 
Fish, Kim Fitzgerald, Don Foster, Jr., Jonathan Frakes, Steve Frank, Sam 
Freedle, Debbie Gangwer, Cosmo Genovese, Ken Gilden, Dave Glick, Bill 
Gocke, Whoopi Goldberg, Mike Green, Walter Hart, June Haymore, Dennis 
Hoerter, Ed Hoffmeister, Steve Horch, Merri Howard, Bill Hoy, Tom Hudson, 
Gary Hutzel, Tim Iacofano, Fred Iannone, and Phil Jacobson.

Also: Greg Jein, Ralph Johnson, Heidi Julian, Bob Justman, Eric 
Kuehnapfel, Jon Koslowsky, Andy Krierger, Carol Kunz, Les Landau, Peter 
Lauritson, Bob Lederman, Don Lee, Rob Legato, Nora Leonhardt, Bob 
Lewin, Joe Longo, Junie Lowry, Tim ÒSpikeÓ McCormack, Gates 
McFadden, Scott McKnight, Scott Marcus, Terri Matinez, Elaine Maser, 
Mace Matiosian, Joe Matza, Colm Meany, Tom Meininger, Lorine 
Mendell, Bob Metoyer, Ed Miarecki, Eddie Miklis, Brian Mills, Ronald D. 
Moore, Peter Moyer, Eric Nash, Emi Negron, John Nesterowicz, Wendy 
Neuss, Ernie Over, Diane Overdiek, Frank Palinski, John Palka, Bill Peets, 
Price Pethal, Vince Pope, Steve Price, Tom ÒThe Happy CamperÓ, J.R. 
Quinonez, Jerry Quist, Maricella Ramirez, Ed Reilly, Tomaz Remec, Mel 
Renning, Maury Rosenfeld (Endeavour  pilot), Wendy Rosenfeld, ÒMadÓ 
Marvin Rush, Charles Russo, Richard Sabre, Richard Sarstedt, Stew 
Satterfield, Michael Schoenbrun, Fernando Sepulveda, Dick Sheets, Adele 
Simmons, Alan Sims, Marina Sirtis, Al Smutko, Bob Sordal, Brent Spiner, 
David Sterner, Patrick Stewart, Eric Stillwell, Mark Stimson, Janet Strand, 
Babu Subramaniam, Bart Sussman, David Takemura, Bill Taylor, Bill 
Theiss, Kim Thompson, Bill Thoms, Tomi Tomita, Tim Tommasino, Dennis 
Tracy, Steve Tucker, Elaina Vescio, Jana Wallace, Lazard Ward, Charlie 
Washburn, James Washington, Michael Westmore, Wil Wheaton, Dana 
White, Cecil Wilson, Murphy Wiltz, Bill Wistrom, James Wolvington, 
Durinda Wood, Edmond Wright, and Brad Yacobian. (It takes a lot of people 
to make a television show, especially one as complex as Star Trek. And 
believe it or not, this is not a complete list.)

Finally, a very special Òthank youÓ to Gene Roddenberry, creator and 
executive producer of Star Trek. Thanks for letting us play on your starship, 
Gene!

Ñ Rick Sternbach

Ñ Michael Okuda

This book was written on Apple Macintosh computers using Microsoft 
Word software. Page layout were diesgned using the Aldus Pagemaker 
program. Illustrations were mostly done with conventional pen-and-ink 
drawing techniques with a little help from Adobe Illustrator and Swivel 3D.

Æ