London’s Science Museum Sets Phasers To Fun With The Star Trek Warp Trail
TheStar TrekWarp Trail at London, England’s Science Museum is celebrating 60 years ofStar Trek, and a quick holiday by yours truly has given TrekMovie the chance to send an away team to check it all out. What. . .
TheStar TrekWarp Trail at London, England’s Science Museum is celebrating 60 years ofStar Trek, and a quick holiday by yours truly has given TrekMovie the chance to send an away team to check it all out. What is the Warp Trail?As the Science Museum itself details, the Warp Trail isn’t an single feature but a series of additions to the museum’s larger offerings. “It’s not an exhibition, but it is an exciting free trail around the museum where you can see iconic objects from the Star Trek archive, including screen-used costumes and props as well as replicas from the franchise, and find out how they link to the real-world science in our free galleries,”reads an FAQ on the Science Museum’s website. What that actually translates to is eight Star Trek pop-ups scattered throughout the Science Museum itself, all inside permanent exhibitions, placed according to relevance. B-4’s head, as seen inStar Trek: Nemesis, is found within the Engineers exhibit, while PADDs and communicators sit within the Information Age exhibit. All items in the trail are on loan from the CBS and Star Trek archives, so are film- and TV-used props and costumes. The Star Trek Warp Trail guide folds out to display an Enterprise that never made it to film or TV screen. (Image: Steve Wright)All available Star Trek Warp Trail pop-ups are as follows, as detailed in the same order as per the trail guide:The U. S. S. Enterprise: Main entrance, level 0Power sources: Energy Hall, level 0Interstellar flight: Flight, level 3Making contact: Information Age, level 2Artificial Intelligence: Engineers, level 1Medicine in space: Medicine (The Welcome Galleries), level 1Survival beyond Earth: Space, level 0Fandom: Pop-up Shop, level MWhile the Star Trek Warp Trail takes about 45 minutes to complete if you’re walking directly from pop-up to pop-up, I believe the exhibits are best enjoyed when actually taking in the Science Museum itself. In Space, as an example, you’ll learn about the United Kingdom’s contributions to space exploration, looking at suits used by real astronauts before viewing an EV suit worn by Sonequa Martin-Green as Michael Burnham inStar Trek: Discovery. With that in mind, I’d set aside at least two hours to enjoy the full experience. What exactly is found on the Star TrekWarp Trail?If you’re pressed for time or just want to check out specific pop-ups, here’s what can be found, and where (numbered to match the pop-up list above):A model ofStrange New Worlds‘ U. S. S. EnterpriseA photon collector fromStar Trek IV: The Voyage Home; a spore canister fromStar Trek: DiscoveryZefram Cochrane’s civilian attire fromStar Trek: First ContactStarfleet, Bajoran, and Cardassian PADDs fromStar Trek:Deep Space NineandStar Trek: Voyager;Starfleet communicators fromStar TrekandStar Trek: Enterprisethrough toStar Trek: PicardandStar Trek: Lower DecksB-4’s head fromStar Trek: NemesisMedical equipment fromStar Trekthrough toStar Trek: VoyagerAn EV suit fromStar Trek: DiscoveryStarfleet uniforms fromStar Trek(2009),Star Trek: Strange New WorldsandStar Trek: Picard;tribbles fromStar Trek; an interactive recreation of the captain’s chair fromStar Trek: Discovery;pop-up merch shopMedical instruments fromStar Trekthrough toVoyager. (Image: Steve Wright)Each pop-up is relatively easy to find inside the Science Museum’s larger exhibits, with“Star Trek 60″-clad, yellow-orange LCARS graphics to denote each special display. While some exhibits are easy to photograph — including the medical instruments above — others likeStrange New Worlds’Enterprise andFirst Contact’s Zefram Cochrane costume are set inside very light or very dim conditions, making them harder to capture. But what about the merch?The final stop on the Star Trek Warp Trail, “Fandom,” is also home to a large pop-up shop with a range of merch to purchase. The shop is accessible by (rather slow) lifts, but can also be accessed by a large set of stairs found within the main gift shop on the museum’s ground floor. As for what’s in the shop? Something for everyone, really!Just some of the Star Trek merch on offer. (Image: Steve Wright)“You can purchase a range of exclusive products including a limited-edition anniversary collectible coin, an exclusive silver embroidered cap, sew-on patch and much more,”reads the Science Museum’s website. “Plus, you can explore a hand-picked selection of official Star Trek homeware, collectibles and books. ”I opted to grab two special Star Trek 60 t-shirts for myself (and carried them home in a special Star Trek 60 tote bag, all totaling £54. 00, or approximately $70), though a range of hats, pins, patches, toys, starship models, and movie posters — and books likeNana Vistor’sStar Trek: Open a Channel: A Woman’s Trekwere certainly enticing. Even if you don’t plan on buying anything, a trip up to the pop-up shop is worth it to see costumes worn by Simon Pegg, Anson Mount, and Patrick Stewart across Trek movies and shows, and to take a seat inStar Trek: Discovery‘s captain’s chair. Let’s fly? Hit it? Engage? The choice is yours. (Image: Steve Wright)While you can obviously see what the empty captain’s chair looks like above, I need to stress here that the gift shop attendants were so very lovely and offered me, a solo traveler, the chance to take a picture seated in the chair. I don’t like how I look in those particular photos, so I’ll be keeping those to myself. TheStar TrekWarp Trail also boasts all feature films in IMAXIf the pop-ups weren’t enough, the Warp Trail also offers the opportunity to watch each and everyStar Trekfeature film, including the Kelvin universe but (thankfully?) not includingStar Trek: Section 31, in IMAX. At the time of writing,Star Trek: Nemesiswill screen on May 28, followed byStar Trek(2009) on June 3, and so on. For more on what’s airing when, and to book tickets for your favorite films,head to the Science Museum’s website. You’ll find Burnham’s EV suit where you can also buy tickets to watchTrekfilms in IMAX. (Image: Steve Wright)TheStar TrekWarp Trail runs through to 8 September 2026. If you’re in London and have 1-2 hours to check out the exhibition, I’d highly encourage you do — butremember to first register for free tickets to the Science Museum before you go. The museum is wholly accessible, with no-step access to enter and lifts throughout the building. Image at top: Science Museum Group. A special thanks to Chris Gibson for his hospitality. Steve Wright is a longtime Trek fan, an experienced Australian-based games journalist, and the editor-in-chief ofStevivor. com, the country’s leading independent video games site. He’s recently opened up his own personal portfolio, available atSWright. au.