Star Trek: 10 Things You Need To Know About Transporters

10. They Were Invented To Save Money And Time

The earliest pitches for Star Trek had to deal with the challenge of getting the crew down to the planets each week. Support shuttles were suggested, as was landing the Enterprise itself, though both would have proven prohibitively expensive in the beginning. So, the producers were backed against a wall and came up with the idea of the matter transporter.

This became part of the pitch, and part of the reason that Star Trek was given the green light - twice. It helped sell The Cage first of all. Now, rather than committing to large-scale models for a pilot that may or may not take off (spoiler: it didn't), this fantastic new technology could be used instead. When The Cage failed to make any traction, the show was given a new pilot - Where No Man Has Gone Before - though it was actually The Man Trap that helped Star Trek survive.

The depiction of the transporter in this episode excited the network so much that they bumped it up for broadcast, meaning that it was shown to audiences - before the first episode.