«'''Звездный Путь'''» () вот уже более сорока лет будоражит умы поклонников научной фантастики. Впервые появившийся в 1966 году, Star Trek стал, без сомнения, одним из самых популярных научно-фантастических сериалов с детально проработанной вселенной, собственной культурой и миллионами поклонников по всему миру. Поэтому не удивительно, что «Звездный путь» оказал влияние на современную культуру.

== Телевидение и кинематограф ==
На протяжении многолетней истории эпопеи на телевизионные экраны вышло пять сериалов (в сумме содержащих порядка 726 серий), мультипликационный фильм и десять полнометражных картин.

Эти произведения не остались незамеченными и вошли в историю мирового кинематографа. Фильмы и сериалы неоднократно номинировались на крупные кинематографические премии, в числе которых такие известные, как «Оскар» и «Хьюго». Также «Звездный Путь» знаменит тем, что в его съемках применялись самые передовые технологии и спецэффекты.

Именно сериал ''(с которого, собственно, и началась история Star Trek)'', а в последствии и полнометражные фильмы, составляют основу всей вселенной «Звездного Пути».

Киноистория эпопеи продолжается. В 2008 году на экраны должен выйти одиннадцатый полнометражный фильм — «Звездный путь XI» ().

Также известно как минимум пять полноценных неофициальных фильмов:
* Trekkies
* Trekkies-2
* America Loves Star Trek
* Roddenberry on Patrol
* Star Wars vs Star Trek

«Звездный путь» стал основой для многочисленных пародий.

== Литература ==
Детально проработанная вселенная «Звездного Пути» стала отличной основой для литературных произведений. Известные и не очень фантасты издали более 300 романов по мотивам «Star Trek», а также множество новелл и рассказов.

Не остаются безучастными и поклонники эпопеи. Многочисленные авторы-любители создали бесчисленное множество рассказов, новелл, cлэшей и прочих произведений малой прозы. Выпущено несколько сборников подобных рассказов. Также их можно найти в сети Интернет (в том числе, и на русском языке).

Полный список изданных рассказов и новелл можно ''найти в англоязычной части Википедии''.

== Поклонники ==
thumb|right|Американская почтовая марка, посвященная Star Trek
::: ''Подробнее см. статью «Треккеры»

''Star Trek'' is one of the most culturally influential television shows – and perhaps the most influential science fiction TV series – in history. The original series, which aired in the late franchise (now owned by CBS Paramount Television).

==''Star Trek: The Original Series''==
starship ''Enterprise'' (NCC-1701), the format of the TV show borrowed heavily from the 1955 movie ''futuristic situations as analogies for current problems on Earth and rectifying them through US White House booklet on space produced after the ''Sputnik'' flight in 1957.

The central trio of Kirk, McCoy was modeled on classical mythological storytelling. The show was unique, however, in terms of its portrayal of diversity and unity among the wider cast of characters. At a time when there were few non-white or foreign roles in American television dramas, Roddenberry created a multi-ethnic African woman, a Scotsman, a Japanese American, and – most notably – an alien, the half-Vulcan Spock. In the second season, reflecting the contemporaneous Russian crewmember.<!--  Commented out because image was deleted: thumb|235px|The diverse main cast (command crew) of [[Star Trek: The Original Series|''Star Trek'', the original series.]] --> Although the show is sometimes chided today for cheesy effects and campy acting, ''TOS'' was a groundbreaking show which garnered multiple The Twilight Zone'', ''TOS'' was the first series aimed at adults that told of science fiction authors, and many of its production values – particularly costuming – were of high caliber.

During its initial run from 1966 to 1969, ''TOS'' did not garner substantial TV ratings and was almost canceled after its second season. A letter-writing campaign by fans, unprecedented in television, prompted network executives to reverse their decision and renew the series for a third season. NBC put the show in a disadvantageous timeslot, and ''TOS'' was finally canceled after its third season. Soon afterward, however, marketing personnel of the network complained to management that the series' cancellation was premature. It turned out that after using new techniques for profiling demographics of the viewing audience, they found the ''Star Trek'' audience was highly desirable for advertisers to the point where they considered the series a highly profitable property. Unfortunately, that revelation came too late to resume production of the series.

==Cancellation and aftermath==
thumb|235px|In 1976, a letter-writing campaign compelled [[NASA to name the inaugural (and test) space shuttle ''Enterprise'' after the fictional eponymous starship. In this image, ''Enterprise'' is rolled out of the Palmdale manufacturing facilities with ''Star Trek'' television cast members and creator Gene Roddenberry in attendance.]]
After its cancellation, ''Star Trek'' took on a life of its own, becoming more popular and reaching a much wider audience than when it had originally aired. In the early convention featuring the original actors: hundreds were expected, but thousands arrived.

In 1976, following another fan-organized letter-writing campaign, space shuttle orbiter, ''Enterprise'' (OV-101), after the fictional starship. The ''Enterprise'' was used in a number of flight tests, but NASA's plans to make it spaceworthy were canceled as impractical. ''Enterprise'' was occasionally used for engineering tests and was also used to investigate the 2003 ''Columbia'' accident, but has spent much of its life in storage and is now displayed at the Smithsonian Institution's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center outside Washington, DC. The opening sequence of the later series ''Star Trek: Enterprise'' (2001) features a shot of this real-life space shuttle in homage, intending to show it as a namesake for other eponymous ships in the Star Trek universe.

NASA also employed actress talked out of this decision by Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., who told her that a show that depicted a black woman working alongside whites in a position of importance helped further the goal of racial equality.

A possibly direct follow-on to Nichelle Nichols' inspiration was once stated by Whoopi Goldberg, as she had once been quoted as saying that Nichols' role as Uhura was her inspiration to get into acting. In the movie Trekkies It is told that as a child seeing Star Trek for the first time, Ms. Goldberg ran around the house screeming "hey Mom! Look! There's a negro woman on TV and she ain't cooking dinner!" Ms. Goldberg was eventually to portray the recurring El-Aurian female character Guinan on The Next Generation.

==Waxing and waning==
In the mid-seventies, encouraged by the burgeoning fan base for the show, Roddenberry sought to start a second television series (''$80 million, and spawned several more movies during the fifth Federation starship ''Enterprise'' (NCC-1701-D) more than seventy years after events in the earlier series and related movies. Unlike ''TOS'' – which often reflected a bold, interventionist American philosophy – ''TNG'' had a less aggressive and more socially liberal message. This show, unlike its progenitor, was syndicated and sold to individual local TV stations rather than a nationwide network. It became the number one syndicated TV show, lasting seven seasons, and spawned two sequels, a prequel, four movies, and a vast marketing business.

''Star Trek'' and its spinoffs have proved highly popular in television repeats, shown endlessly on TV stations in the US and worldwide. The Star Trek franchise is similarly prolific: arguably, only ''Star Wars'' has had as significant an influence as a science fiction and pop culture phenomenon. According to ''Forbes'' magazine:

* the five live-action Star Trek series have garnered 31 Emmys and 140 nominations, and at least nine specials have been produced
* the ten movies have cumulatively grossed $1.76 billion at the box office: the most successful movie was ''Oscar wins despite a combined nine nominations for four films
* at least 120 compact discs and 40 video games contain "Star Trek" in their titles; the CDs are mostly soundtracks and audio books but also Klingon language instruction
* about 70 million books are in print
* the franchise entails a merchandising business with a total lifetime gross of about $4 billion from companies including Playmates Toys, Hallmark, and Hasbro
* resorts include rides and attractions at Paramount-owned amusement parks as well as ''Star Trek: The Experience'' at the Las Vegas Hilton

Star Trek conventions have become popular, though waning and now often meshed with conventions of other genres. Fans coined the terms "fanon material like fanzines with fiction, art and songs. 