Shields (Star Trek)
| Shields | |
|---|---|
| Plot element from the Star Trek franchise | |
| First appearance |
Star Trek "Balance of Terror" (December 15, 1966) |
| Created by | (Series) Gene Roddenberry (Episode) Paul Schneider |
| Genre | Science fiction |
| In-story information | |
| Type | Defensive shields |
| Function | Protects ships, space stations, and planets from damage by hazard or enemy attack. |
In the Star Trek fictional universe, shields refer to a 23rd and 24th century technology that provides starships, space stations, and planets with limited protection against damage. They are sometimes referred to as deflectors, deflector shields, and screens (the latter during Star Trek: The Original Series).
The term 'shields' first appears in the Star Trek episode "Balance of Terror", in which they were deployed, albeit to little effect, by a Federation outpost under attack from a Romulan Warbird. The first depicted use of shields by a starship was in the Star Trek episode "Arena", in which the USS Enterprise raises its shields after being attacked by an alien warship. Shields are not referred to during the earlier seasons of the Star Trek: Enterprise series, starships instead using "polarized hull plating" to make their hull more resistant to damage.
Like most technologies in the Star Trek fictional universe, the exact operation of shield technology is never precisely described. Characters discuss its existence and manipulation, while only superficially describing its exact physics, which result in a field being projected around a ship or other body, deflecting or dispersing projectiles and energy weapons. Shields are not shown unless struck, and are then often shown briefly for dramatic effect as a translucent "field" of energy.
The Making of Star Trek states that shields are force fields similar in nature to the navigational deflector, while Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise further states that shields on post-refit Constitution-class vessels - of which the USS Enterprise of Star Trek: The Original Series is an example - were generated by the subatomic scan and replication of an alloy known as diburnium-osmium, and then projected as a force field beyond a ship's hull along the shield grid. In "That Which Survives", the alloy of diburnium and osmium is stated to be the hardest alloy known to the Federation.
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