"One of Our Planets Is Missing" is the third episode of the first season of the animated American

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

television series ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...

''. It first aired in the

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Saturday morning lineup on September 22, 1973, and was written by veteran ''

'' director

Marc Daniels Marc Daniels (January 27, 1912 – April 23, 1989), born Danny Marcus, was an American television director. He directed on programs such as I Love Lucy, Gunsmoke, Star Trek, Mission: Impossible, Hogan's Heroes, and more. Life and career Da ...

.This story was expanded into a novelette by science-fiction author

Alan Dean Foster Alan Dean Foster (born November 18, 1946) is an American writer of fantasy and science fiction. He has written several book series, more than 20 standalone novels, and many novelizations of film scripts. Career ''Star Wars'' Foster was the ghos ...

as part of the collection,
Star Trek Log One
' (1974) (). It was directed by Hal Sutherland. In this episode, the ''

Enterprise Enterprise (or the archaic spelling Enterprize) may refer to: Business and economics Brands and enterprises * Enterprise GP Holdings, an energy holding company * Enterprise plc, a UK civil engineering and maintenance company * Enterprise ...

'' must contend with a massive space cloud that eats planets, now targeting a

Federation A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...

colony of over 82 million inhabitants.

Plot

The ''

'' encounters a giant cloud that consumes planets that lie in its path. They determine it is heading for Mantilles, home to a

colony governed by retired

Starfleet Starfleet is a fictional organization in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise. Within this fictional universe, Starfleet is a uniformed space force maintained by the United Federation of Planets ("the Federation") as the principal means for conduc ...

officer Robert Wesley.Commodore Robert Wesley commanded a wargames battlegroup of starships from the USS ''Lexington'' in ''

The Original Series ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry that follows the adventures of the starship and its crew. It later acquired the retronym of ''Star Trek: The Original Series'' (''TOS'') to distingui ...

'' episode "

The Ultimate Computer "The Ultimate Computer" is the twenty-fourth episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series '' Star Trek''. Written by D.C. Fontana (based on a story by Laurence N. Wolfe) and directed by John Meredyth Lucas, it w ...

Captain Kirk James Tiberius Kirk is a fictional character in the '' Star Trek'' media franchise. Originally played by Canadian actor William Shatner, Kirk first appeared in '' Star Trek'' serving aboard the starship USS ''Enterprise'' as captain. Kirk lea ...

contacts Wesley, but he has only enough time and starships to evacuate a tiny fraction of the planet's children. When phasers have no effect, Kirk takes the ''Enterprise'' inside the cloud in an attempt to stop it. Avoiding obstacles and proceeding from one chamber to another, the ship begins to lose power. One chamber contains protrusions consisting of pure anti-matter which Chief Engineer Scott beams aboard in a special container and uses to replenish the

warp drive A warp drive or a drive enabling space warp is a fictional superluminal spacecraft propulsion system in many science fiction works, most notably ''Star Trek'', and a subject of ongoing physics research. The general concept of "warp drive" was i ...

engines. Science Officer

Spock Spock is a Character (arts), fictional character in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise. He first appeared in the Star Trek: The Original Series, original ''Star Trek'' series serving aboard the starship USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), USS ''Enterprise ...

discovers that the cloud has a brain. Kirk orders preparations be made to self-destruct the ''Enterprise'' in the creature's brain in order to kill it. Seeking an alternative to loss of life, however, he suggests Spock use a

Vulcan mind meld Vulcans, sometimes referred to as Vulcanians, are a fictional extraterrestrial humanoid species in the ''Star Trek'' universe and media franchise. In the various ''Star Trek'' television series and films, they are noted for their attempt to l ...

to communicate with the entity. Since physical contact with the entity is impossible, the ship's sensors are focused on the electrical impulses of the entity's

synapse In the nervous system, a synapse is a structure that permits a neuron (or nerve cell) to pass an electrical or chemical signal to another neuron or to the target effector cell. Synapses are essential to the transmission of nervous impulses from ...

s, translating them into thought in order to accomplish the mind meld. Spock tells it that there is life on the planet it plans to consume and allows it to perceive them through Spock's own eyes. Not wanting to kill other life forms, the cloud entity agrees to leave the ''Enterprise'' alone and return to its place of origin.

Reception

The book ''TrekNavigator'' called the episode "one of the best howsthat animated

rek REK may refer to: * Rek people, of South Sudan * Rek language * Rek, a Cambodian board game * Vitold Rek (born 1955), Polish musician * Rek or Reg, Iran, Khusf County, South Khorasan Province * Rek or Rig-e Bala Rig-e Bala ( fa, ريگ با ...

spin-off has to offer" and "a highly satisfying episode that nicely encapsulates the ''Star Trek'' philosophy." It praised the animation of the space cloud and the strong logic of the climactic mind-meld.

Tor.com ''Tor.com'' is an online science fiction and fantasy magazine published by Tor Books, a division of Macmillan Publishers. The magazine publishes articles, reviews, original short fiction, re-reads and commentary on speculative fiction. From 20 ...

rated the episode 7 out of 10.

Notes

References

External links

* * *
"One of Our Planets Is Missing"
a

"One of Our Planets Is Missing"
Full episode for viewing at

StarTrek.com ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into variou ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:One Of Our Planets Is Missing 1973 American television episodes Star Trek: The Animated Series episodes Fiction about planets Television episodes directed by Hal Sutherland