Skip to main content

star trek - What is Starfleet protocol for disposing of an unclaimed body?


In the ST:TNG episode "Heart of Glory", an Enterprise away team rescues three Klingons from a battle-damaged, derelict freighter. One of the Klingons soon dies from his injuries, prompting the two other Klingons and Worf to howl heaven-ward in the Klingon Death Ritual.


This exchange then happens:



Crusher: "Is there any special arrangement you'd like for the body?"


Klingon: "It is only an empty shell now. Please treat it as such."


Crusher nods in agreement and understanding




What would she do with the body?



Answer



For the record we do see a graveyard in TNG's Sub-Rosa, and in DS9's "The Ship" we see Sisko order a funeral detail. However in space burial in the ground is clearly not an option. ST burials in space seem to be based loosely on the Navy's tradition of burials at sea. As Richard mentioned, the space burials we see all involve a body being placed in a torpedo casing, draped with a flag, and launched into space. A few examples:



  • TOS movies: Spock's funeral (try not to cry) (HT: Richard)

  • TNG: Ira Graves' funeral (HT to Richard)

  • Voyager: Lyndsay Ballard died and was 'buried in space' as we find out after the fact.

  • Voyager: We see this happen at Janeway's funeral in Coda (even though it's not real of course).

  • DS9: We see Muniz's body in a torpedo casing, although it's not clear what will happen to it - it's possible it will be turned over to his family for burial elsewhere.



Now I have to respectfully disagree here with Richard. Given Crusher's Federation-bred respect for all beings there's no way she's just vaporize the body or even transport it into pure energy, even if the Klingons didn't care. Even if there was no funeral service, I feel like she would still have put the body in a casing and had it beamed into space to be buried there.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

What is Tolkien trying to say in this letter?

In a draft of a letter, later recorded as #246, Tolkien makes a strange statement. I am interested in the first few sentences of the letter, but I will include the remainder for the sake of context. In the 'Mirror of Galadriel', 1381, it appears that Galadriel conceived of herself as capable of wielding the Ring and supplanting the Dark Lord. If so, so also were the other guardians of the Three, especially Elrond . But this is another matter. It was part of the essential deceit of the Ring to fill minds with imaginations of supreme power . But this the Great had well considered and had rejected, as is seen in Elrond's words at the Council. Galadriel's rejection of the temptation was founded upon previous thought and resolve. In any case Elrond or Galadriel would have proceeded in the policy now adopted by Sauron: they would have built up an empire with great and absolutely subservient generals and armies and engines of war, until they could challenge Sauron and destroy ...
Post a Comment
Read more

tolkiens legendarium - Was Galadriel's temptation of Boromir instrumental to his fall?

We know Galadriel tempted the members of the Fellowship, did she tempt Boromir with visions of taking the Ring and saving Gondor? In the books, Boromir willingly accepts the judgement of the council that the Ring should be destroyed, but after the meeting with Celeborn and Galadriel his personality seems to change. Was the temptation offered by Galadriel in some way responsible for Boromir's fall? Answer It's likely, but not certain I believe it is likely Galadriel tempted him with the ring, and in doing so re-ignited a pre-existing idea to take the ring, but to be clear lets break this down into three parts. Boromir at the Council of Elrond Boromir after setting off Boromir after being tempted Boromir at the Council of Elrond Boromir pleas for the ring to go to Minas Tirith, to help Gondor in its defense against Mordor. “ Why should we not think that the Great Ring has come into our hands to serve us in the very hour of need? Wielding it the Free Lords of the Free may surely...
Post a Comment
Read more

harry potter - What is the difference between Diffindo and Sectumsempra?

In the Harry Potter books, Diffindo is called the 'Severing Charm' and it’s most commonly used to cut ropes and the like. However, in the last book Hermione uses it on Ron but misses, creating a 'slash in his jeans' and his knee gets cut, causing him to 'roar in pain'. We've only seen Sectumsempra used once on screen when Harry directly uses it on Malfoy in the sixth book, but there it's mentioned that he is 'waving his wand wildly'. Wouldn't Diffindo, if used in such a fashion also cause a similar effect? Similarly, if it was able to cut Ron, it would also be able to, say, chop off an ear (George's)? In that case, how are these two spells different, except for Sectumsempra seemingly used exclusively to hurt humans? Answer While Diffindo and Sectumsempra both can be countered by other spells, Diffindo is far more easily countered. Reparo, a relatively common spell, can completely reverse its effect when used once. “He pulled the old cop...
Post a Comment
Read more