The Golden Gate Bridge was a suspension bridge in California on Earth that connected San Francisco to Marin County, passing over a strait linking the North Pacific Ocean to San Francisco Bay. Noted for its unique orange color, the bridge was built in the early 20th century and still stood as of the 32nd century, though its span had been modified several times. An iconic landmark of San Francisco, the bridge was often pictured in the logos of organizations situated in the city, such as Trans Francisco and Starfleet Academy.
History[]
The bridge was seen in the background of a photograph of the California Clipper flying over the bay in 1939. (ENT: "Broken Bow", "Fortunate Son")
In an alternate 1944, as Shuttlepod 1 was flying to San Francisco, a World War II-era aircraft carrier was entering the bay from the North Pacific Ocean. The warship passed under the bridge. (ENT: "Storm Front")
In 1986, its location was labeled on a MUNI map. Later that year, while visiting San Francisco after traveling from the 23rd century with a group of Starfleet officers, James T. Kirk and Spock were passengers on a MUNI bus that traveled over the bridge. Upon the group's return from 1986, a Klingon Bird-of-Prey they had captured, HMS Bounty, nearly crashed into the bridge. (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)
After Benjamin Sisko and Julian Bashir were thrown back in time from 2371 to 2024, the sight of the bridge confirmed to them that they were in San Francisco. (DS9: "Past Tense, Part I")
The Golden Gate Bridge was visible from Starfleet Academy and was pictured on its emblem. (TNG: "The First Duty", "Time's Arrow"; VOY: "In the Flesh"; Star Trek)
During the mid-23rd century, the bridge was fitted with tubes.
By 2258, the bridge's tubeway appeared to be covered in solar panels. (DIS: "Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2")
In 2258 of the alternate reality, after receiving a distress call from Vulcan, shuttles ferrying Academy cadets to the starships docked at Starbase 1 flew over this bridge. Later, while preparing to demolish Earth, the Romulan mining vessel Narada fired its drilling beam next to the bridge, right over the inlet of San Francisco Bay. When the rig's tether was destroyed and the drilling platform fell, it barely missed hitting the bridge. (Star Trek)
In 2259, still in the alternate reality, Golden Gate Bridge was seen on a map of the San Francisco Metropolitan Area. This map was part of a collection of graphics and video media that were displayed on a powerwall in Admiral Christopher Pike's office at Starfleet Headquarters. That same year, the bridge was seen in the background as a 7 News news presenter reported a status update for unrest on Andoria Prime. As the Takayama left the city, the bridge was seen with vehicular traffic moving across the bridge. (Star Trek Into Darkness)
The bridge was seen from an office Admiral Leyton occupied before he attempted to overthrow Federation President Jaresh-Inyo in 2372. (DS9: "Homefront", "Paradise Lost")
During the Dominion War, the bridge was heavily damaged during the Breen attack on Earth in 2375. The damage had been repaired by the following year. (DS9: "The Changing Face of Evil"; VOY: "Pathfinder")
While frustrated at being unable to help her mother Carol Freeman in 2381, Beckett Mariner insulted the Golden Gate Bridge, calling it a "big dumb red thing" and ranting, "Nobody drives anymore, why do you need a bridge?" Her father Alonzo Freeman protested that he and others liked the bridge. (LD: "Grounded")
In 2384, a shuttlecraft containing the crew of the USS Protostar landed in bay the next to the bridge. (PRO: "Supernova, Part 2")
By 2384, the roadways of the bridge were covered in solar panels. The panels would still be in place in 3189. (PRO: "Supernova, Part 2", DIS: "People of Earth")
In 2385, the bridge could be seen from the dormitory in which Lil resided. (ST: "Children of Mars")
In the 2394 of an alternate timeline, the USS Voyager performed a "victory lap" over the bridge. (VOY: "Endgame")
Appendices[]
Appearances[]
- Star Trek films:
- TNG:
- DS9:
- VOY:
- "Non Sequitur"
- "In the Flesh" (Species 8472 recreation)
- "Pathfinder"
- "Endgame"
- ENT:
- "Broken Bow"
- "Fortunate Son"
- "Shadows of P'Jem"
- "Regeneration"
- "First Flight"
- "The Expanse"
- "Zero Hour"
- "Home"
- "Affliction"
- "Demons"
- "Terra Prime"
- DIS:
- ST:
- PIC:
- LD:
- PRO: "Supernova, Part 2"
Background information[]
The Golden Gate Bridge has only been referenced by name in dialogue twice – in DS9: "Past Tense, Part I" and LD: "Grounded" – but is seen in virtually every establishing shot of San Francisco. Coincidentally, the first time it was mentioned by name was one of the few times it was not seen in an establishing shot of the city.
The ruins of the Golden Gate Bridge were at one early point to be shown in 23rd century San Francisco, as opposed to the intact bridge, in Star Trek: The Motion Picture. For that film's director's edition DVD release, real footage of the Golden Gate Bridge was incorporated by Foundation Imaging. (Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 2, Issue 8, pp. 97 & 53)
The only time that Star Trek actors have visited the real Golden Gate Bridge for production purposes was during the making of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, when William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy rode across the bridge on a bus. The words "Golden Gate" are also spoken during the film, but in reference to Golden Gate Park.
When planning the crash of the USS Enterprise-D's saucer section for Star Trek Generations, the Golden Gate Bridge, measuring 1.2 miles long, was used as a scale reference for the saucer section. (The Art of Star Trek, p. 290)
Upon conceptualizing San Francisco from the 2250s of the alternate reality for the film Star Trek, the Golden Gate Bridge was featured in several different versions of how the city might look. The bridge was imagined as existing merely as a monument, since it was conceived that people used hovercars rather than continuing to require bridges. However, one concept image – an illustration of the Narada's laser drill firing into the San Francisco Bay, clearly incorporating a contemporary photo of the bridge – showed the structure supporting fossil-fueled automobiles. (The Art of Star Trek, pp. 50-51 & 150-151) The Golden Gate Bridge, as shown in the Star Trek movie, contained no futuristic-looking CGI adornments, unlike much of the rest of San Francisco. The bridge was integrated into plates intact, projected onto two-dimensional cards. Shots that the bridge was inserted into include footage set in the grounds of Starfleet Academy, with the bridge added to the background. Aerial plates taken above the bridge were used by Industrial Light & Magic when they were generating shots of the Narada's massive drill falling into the San Francisco Bay. (Cinefex, No. 118, pp. 60 & 70)
Similar to how they had imagined the Golden Gate Bridge in the film Star Trek, the filmmakers of Star Trek Into Darkness decided, while designing San Francisco for that film, that nothing had much changed about the bridge since contemporary times, even following the Narada's attack in the previous film. (Cinefex, No. 134, p. 72)
Apocrypha[]
In the novel Articles of the Federation, a memorial museum dedicated to those killed during the Dominion War was opened on the bridge in 2379.
External links[]
- Golden Gate Bridge at Wikipedia
- Golden Gate Bridge at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works