Starfleet Academy
|
|
Starfleet_Academy,_late_2300's.jpg
In the fictional universe of Star Trek, Starfleet Academy is where the future members of Starfleet learn the skills required for their jobs. The Academy was created in the year 2161, when the United Federation of Planets was founded. The Academy's motto is "Ex astris, scientia" - "from the stars, knowledge". This is a paraphrase of the Apollo 13 motto "Ex luna scientia," - "From the moon, knowledge." In turn, the Apollo 13 motto was a paraphrase of "Ex scientia tridens," the motto of the United States Naval Academy, meaning "From knowledge, seapower."
The main campus of the Academy is located near Starfleet headquarters on Earth, in San Francisco, California, although there are other campuses located elsewhere. Lieutenant Tom Paris studied at a campus in Marseilles, France.
The Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Coming of Age" revolved around Wesley Crusher's first attempt to enter Starfleet Academy, and includes many details of the Academy's entrance exam.
The groundskeeper of the Academy is a man called Boothby, a character played by Ray Walston who is first featured in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The First Duty." Boothby has offered advice to, and taken interest in the careers of, many students, including Jean-Luc Picard and Kathryn Janeway, both later captains.
For non-Federation citizens, a letter of recommendation from a command-level officer in Starfleet is required before they can take the Starfleet entrance examination. Commander Benjamin Sisko wrote such a letter for Nog in 2371 when he applied for Starfleet in the "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" episode "Heart of Stone" .
In the prequel series Star Trek: Enterprise, the Academy does not yet exist; Starfleet officers of that time period get their training at various service academies scattered about Earth.
In 1995, a computer game with a story surrounding the Academy, called Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, was released by Interplay and High Voltage Software.