Star Trek: 10 Devices That Every Starfleet Ship Has

While writing notes to prepare for the original Star Trek pilot in 1964, the show's creator, Gene Roddenberry had a number of discussions with professional scientists to get their ideas on how to make his universe more realistic and believable. This was the origin of many devices such as phasers, shields, and tractor beams.

Another product of these early notes was the deflector dish. Some scientists noted that flying into any tiny dust particles, no matter how small, while travelling at warp speed would be catastrophic for the ship. While going that fast, the impact from hitting these particles would be like a gunshot. For this reason, Gene and his scientist consultants created the deflector dish.

It works by projecting out an energy field that deflects any interstellar particles away from the ship. It can also be modified to project a number of other forms of energy. One downside of the deflector, however, is that it decreases the effectiveness of the Bussard collectors as the deflector is used for pushing particles away and the collectors are used for pulling them in.