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Multiple realities
(covers information from several alternate timelines)
EnterpriseNX airlock

An airlock aboard the NX-01

Explosive decompression, USS Voyager

An airlock on an Intrepid-class vessel

Galaxy class airlock section

The airlock section on deck 25 aboard the Enterprise-D

Deep Space 9 airlock

One of Deep Space 9's characteristic airlocks

DS9 airlock interior

The interior of an airlock aboard Deep Space 9

An airlock was the point of entry to a space station or starship which allowed ingress and egress to empty space or another vessel which had docked at the portal.

Typically airlocks were located on the port or starboard sides of starships rather than in a ventral or dorsal position, which were usually reserved for the presence of cargo bays or shuttlebays.

A frequent threat in space travel was to be "thrown out" of an airlock into the vacuum of space.

In 2153, Jonathan Archer tortured an Osaarian for information regarding the Xindi weapon by placing him in an airlock and depressurizing it, threatening the Osaarian with suffocation if he did not provide the desired information. (ENT: "Anomaly (ENT)")

Constitution-class starship airlocks were usually covered by hull plating that extended out to reveal the airlock doors. (DIS: "Such Sweet Sorrow") However, when the class had it's final major refit as a Constitution II-class in the 2270s, the new airlock doors on the neck and secondary hull were left exposed for better access. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture)

Galaxy-class starships were also equipped with airlocks. The USS Enterprise-D had an airlock with its inner airlock door and outer airlock door on deck 25, room 5301. (TNG: "11001001")

The airlocks on Deep Space 9 had built-in weapon detectors capable of detecting military technology carried by persons boarding the station from docked starships. (DS9: "Captive Pursuit")

On DS9, airlocks were sealed and turbolifts were secured during a security alert. (DS9: "Dax")

Shortly after Starfleet had taken control of the station in 2369, most airlocks were non-functional, both due to a Cardassian attack destroying fuel conduits and damage from moving the station to the aperture of the Bajoran wormhole. (DS9: "Emissary")

In the script of "Emissary", the Cardassians had removed the interlock servos from the airlocks prior to their withdrawal, forcing Chief O'Brien to manually open an airlock when Commander Benjamin Sisko arrived.

Later that year, three Federation passengers were trapped in an airlock for about an hour. The repair crew from Deep Space 9 tried to free them. (DS9: "Babel")

Jake Sisko and Nog frequently observed Bajoran girls who left Bajoran transports from airlock three. (DS9: "Move Along Home")

Krax and Rom attempted to kill Quark in 2369 by decompressing an airlock. Quark previously threatened Rom he would toss him out of the nearest airlock because Rom had not acted as the Rules of Acquisition said he should. (DS9: "The Nagus")

Security chief Odo was able to pass a closed airlock by morphing himself into a liquid substance. (DS9: "The Nagus")

Quark once told Odo that everyone would be scared when the Starfleet officers greeted them at the airlock when he talked about Croden, who tried to avoid contact with Commander Sisko. (DS9: "Vortex")

In 2369, Kai Opaka arrived at airlock fourteen. Julian Bashir informed Commander Sisko about this surprising visit. (DS9: "Battle Lines")

When Major Kira evacuated lower pylon one, she sent a com message that all personnel had report to the outer ring airlock. (DS9: "If Wishes Were Horses")

Chief O'Brien and Commander Sisko materialized in airlock six's corridor instead of on board the Valerian transport when they beamed off ops in 2369. (DS9: "Dramatis Personae")

While investigating the murder of Ensign Aquino in runabout pad C, Neela mentioned that the airlock system was unattached. (DS9: "In the Hands of the Prophets")

In 2370, the USS Yellowstone docked at Deep Space 9's airlock 14 to drop off Ensign Melora Pazlar. (DS9: "Melora")

Elim Garak attempted to open an airlock on Deep Space 9 following an attack of claustrophobia in early 2375. (DS9: "Afterimage")

That same year Ezri found out her previous host Jadzia ordered takeout for Martok's birthday and the containers of gagh were in the cargo bay. Ezri, who has not gotten use to gagh tried to dump it out the airlock but was stopped by Odo who told her Bajoran Environmental Laws prohibited it and it would be littering. (DS9: "Prodigal Daughter")

In 2381, the Pakled "spy" Rumdar had been on a tour of the USS Cerritos when he mysteriously disappeared, somehow slipping away from Commander Jack Ransom and Lieutenant junior grade Kayshon. After searching, they found Rumdar floating out in space. Dr. T'Ana is able to revive him, who reveals he mistook the airlock for the bathroom and when he thought he had hit the flush button instead jettisoned him into space. (LD: "The Spy Humongous")

Later that same year, Ensign Beckett Mariner entered a Simulator holopod for her third attempt at passing drills and was tasked trying to save the ship as it was infected by polywater intoxication. However, the entire ship had descended into a gigantic orgy and the sight of numerous crewmembers naked was enough to force her to run to the nearest airlock in the simulation and activating it, begging for the drill to end. (LD: "I, Excretus")

Enterprise airlock flooded, 2259

An airlock being drained of water

Many of the doors on the alternate reality's USS Enterprise, launched in 2258, were airlocks, including the starboard entrance to the bridge. (Star Trek) The Enterprise could be used underwater, so its airlocks were designed to be floodable. (Star Trek Into Darkness)

The concept of submersible airlocks, using one as a solution of how to return Kirk and McCoy to the alternate reality's Enterprise in Star Trek Into Darkness, was not immediately apparent to the production staff who worked on the film. Visual Effects Supervisor Roger Guyett reflected, "One of the ideas was, 'How do these guys actually get inside the ship if they are underwater? How does that process work?' Obviously, you would need some kind of air-lock or water-lock [....] J.J. [Abrams, the movie's director] liked the idea that they swam into a chamber, and then the water was forced out very quickly." Building an area that could hold such massive amounts of water in the first place, however, meant that the challenge of depicting the effect with entirely physical methods was deemed virtually impossible to meet. (Star Trek Magazine issue 172, p. 49) Nonetheless, showing an airlock evacuating water instantaneously in the film did involve a practical effect. It was set by Special Effects Supervisor Burt Dalton and his crew of special effects technicians. "We rigged a drip system for all the walls and the opening of the hatch," Dalton related. "Then we put a dozen high-pressure air movers with accumulator tanks to blast water into a mist so thick you couldn't see through it. We used high-velocity air movers to clear the mist, and visual effects created a digital effect of water being sucked out." (Cinefex, No. 134, p. 78) Guyett commented that using these means avoided "building a physical set that [had] to withstand the pressure of 10,000 gallons of water." (Star Trek Magazine issue 172, p. 50)

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