Star Trek: No "space suits ... for hostile planet surfaces."

Star Trek cast members and Gene Roddenberry with
NASA officials and shuttle prototype Enterprise.
NASA photo, 1976

Harvard's Houghton Library has acquired "The Star Trek Guide," a publication that was distributed to Star Trek writers, and it's a hoot. "Captain would not hug pretty Yeoman on the Bridge of his vessel." Oh really? However, the curious phenomenon of fatalities of landing party members who wear red shirts is left unaddressed  ("Ensign So-and-So, go look behind that rock"). There are explanations for the term stardate and why so many Class-M planets were visited, as well as an answer to the question "Are you people on LSD?"

Happy birthday, Fredric Brown.

Fredric Brown, Edgar winner for The Fabulous Clipjoint (1947) featuring the sleuthing Ambrose Hunter and his nephew Ed, was born today in Cincinnati in 1906. He was well known for his writings in the pulps, and a few of his works were adapted for the screen: "Madman's Holiday" became the film Crack-up (1946), The Screaming Mimi became a film for Columbia (1958), and "Arena" became an episode of Star Trek. He also wrote for Alfred Hitchcock Presents.