When Star Trek first aired on September 8, 1966, its vision of the future seemed firmly rooted in science fiction. The crew of the USS Enterprise communicated through handheld devices, spoke to computers, scanned distant worlds with portable instruments and produced objects on demand.
Six decades later, some of those ideas no longer look quite so futuristic.
As Star Trek marks 60 years, its legacy is not only in television and popular culture, but also in the way it imagined what technology could become. Some of its fictional devices have acquired real-world counterparts, while in other cases, the franchise's ideas helped inspire the scientists and engineers who developed new technologies.
The communicator is perhaps the most recognisable example. The handheld device used by the crew of the Enterprise anticipated the idea of a portable wireless communicator decades before mobile phones became commonplace. Martin Cooper, the Motorola engineer credited with creating the first handheld mobile phone, has cited the Star Trek communicator as one of the inspirations for his work.
That kind of influence extended beyond the design of the device itself. NASA has repeatedly documented the relationship between Star Trek and the people developing real-world space technology. In a NASA lecture on the physics of Star Trek, astrophysicist and franchise science adviser Erin Macdonald discussed how ideas once presented as science fiction have moved closer to reality, as well as the franchise's influence on scientists and engineers.
The show's computer also looks surprisingly familiar. In the original Star Trek series, the crew of the USS Enterprise could interact with the ship's computer using spoken commands — an idea that has echoes in today's voice assistants. The Computer History Museum has noted that Star Trek's vision of a voice-controlled computer has influenced generations of researchers and technology developers.
The same pattern can be seen in the franchise's portable computers. The Personal Access Display Devices, or PADDs, were thin handheld screens used to access information and perform computing tasks. Modern tablets are not direct descendants of the fictional devices, and there is no need to treat them as a specific technological prediction. But the basic concept is familiar: a portable, connected screen that puts computing and information in the user's hands.
Perhaps the clearest example of science fiction moving towards reality is the replicator.
In Star Trek, replicators could produce food, clothing, tools and other objects on demand. A machine capable of creating almost anything remains science fiction. But the underlying concept of manufacturing objects from digital designs has entered the real world through 3D printing.
NASA has explicitly compared its work in additive manufacturing with the Star Trek replicator. In 2014, NASA sent the first 3D printer to the International Space Station, where astronauts could manufacture tools and other objects in orbit rather than waiting for replacements to arrive from Earth.
The connection has also been personal. NASA's Spinoff programme profiled engineer Chance Glenn, who traced the inspiration for his 3D electronics printer directly to the Star Trek replicator. His system can manufacture electronic components such as sensors and lights on demand.
Then there is the tricorder — the handheld device used by Star Trek characters to scan people, environments and other worlds. A fully functioning tricorder does not exist, but NASA research shows how parts of the idea are moving closer to reality. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory developed a 'Chemical Laptop', a compact laboratory designed to analyse samples for chemical compounds associated with life. Researchers explicitly compared it with a Star Trek tricorder, while noting that the real instrument still needs a sample to analyse.
NASA's planetary missions also demonstrate how some of the functions imagined by the tricorder have become possible. Mars rovers carry instruments that can analyse the chemical composition of rocks and soil as scientists investigate whether Mars once had conditions suitable for life.
Yet the most important legacy of Star Trek may not be any individual gadget.
The franchise's influence can also be seen in the relationship it developed with the real-world space programme. NASA has described the franchise as an inspiration for scientists and engineers and documented its long relationship with the agency. In 1976, after fans campaigned for NASA to name its first space shuttle orbiter after the fictional starship, the vehicle was named Enterprise. The orbiter was a test vehicle and never flew into space, but its name became an early and highly visible symbol of the relationship between NASA and Star Trek.
NASA has also documented how the franchise inspired scientists working in astronomy and planetary science, with researchers describing Star Trek as an influence on their interest in exploring the universe.
Not every Star Trek invention has crossed that boundary. Transporters that can instantly move people remain science fiction. Warp travel at faster-than-light speeds remains beyond demonstrated technology. Even the replicator remains far more ambitious than today's 3D printers.
But that may be beside the point.
Star Trek did not necessarily predict the future with perfect accuracy. Instead, it imagined possibilities, gave them a visual form and showed audiences what a technologically advanced future might look like. In some cases, scientists and engineers later worked towards similar ideas.
Sixty years on, the more interesting question may therefore not be how accurately Star Trek predicted the future, but how much its vision helped inspire people to build it.