Star Trek is . . . Star Trek is . . . was the first draft proposal for " " that Gene Roddenberry created on as a television series pitch . After being turned down by executives of other production studios , it was in early April 1964 presented to Desilu executives Oscar Katz and Herb Solow , who picked up the proposition on behalf of their employer . ( " " , pp . 13 - 23 ) It ultimately led to the production of the first pilot . According to the draft , " Star Trek " is . . . The draft included the famous faux - Drake equation . It also claimed , famously , in reference to the long - running western television series " Wagon Train " that " Star Trek " was a " Wagon Train to the Stars " type of show . The exact phrasing is not used by Roddenberry , only mentioning it as " " a " Wagon Train " concept " " , but the in " Star Trek " - lore famed version was coined by Samuel A . Peeples ( a writing acquaintance from Roddenberry ' s earlier television days and who had reviewed the draft proposal at a private dinner ) , shortly before Roddenberry started to make his pitches to the production studios , later on appropriating the phrase as his own nevertheless . ( " " , 1st ed , p . 23 ) Incidentally , the draft proposal turned out to be both the template as well as the first draft of the internal document " The Star Trek guide " , famed in " Star Trek " - lore under its denominator " The Writer ' s Bible " . After the second pilot episode was ordered by NBC , Roddenberry set to work compiling a heavily revised and expanded second draft which incorporated all the changes between the first and second pilot . It was the third draft of 17 April 1967 , reflecting the changes between the second pilot and the first season of the regular series and compiled with the input of D . C . Fontana , which , unlike the second draft , was the one that was distributed in production circles at the start of second season , and which was the one that became ever known as " The Writer ' s Bible " . ( " The Making of Star Trek " ) The setting . The transportation was the SS " Yorktown " ( later renamed the ) . The SS " Yorktown " was described as a " cruiser class " with a 190 , 000 ton gross . It had a crew complement of 203 , and used space - warp drive ( " maximum velocity . 73 of one light year per hour " ) . It had a range of 18 years and was registered as a United Space Ship with Earth . The date was stated to be sometime in the future , possibly between 1995 and 2995 . One of the key concepts of the show would be the " parallel worlds " concept . This stated that most of the planets would have a similar physical and social evolution to Earth . This concept was used in " The Original Series " as Hodgkin ' s Law of Parallel Planetary Development . Because of the " parallel worlds " concept , they would be able to use existing studio sets , props and costumes . The characters . Many of the characters were used by TOS and " The Cage " : Captain ' s orders . Captain Robert M . April was assigned to the SS " Yorktown " , " Cruiser " - class , for a five - year mission of galactic exploration and Class M investigation . He was to patrol the " ninth quadrant " which began at Alpha Centauri and extended to the " Pinial Galaxy Limit . " The reasons for the patrol given were Earth security , scientific investigation , and assistance or aid to Earth colonies . Technology . Landings could be done using a small " recon rocket vehicle , " and the audience would view them through " telescreens . " A " telecommunicator " device would be used for communication between alien species and Humans . The cruiser would be armed with laser beams . The crew would be armed with special rifles and pistols that shot simple bullets , explosive projectiles , or hypodermic pellets which stun or tranquilize . The episodes . Many of the episodes evolved into the episodes used by TOS and later series : References . 1964 ; " 1984 " ; Alpha Centauri ; airman ; barbarism ; Blair General Hospital ; " Bones " ; Bouganville , Louis Antoine de ; bridge ; Caesar , Julius ; Capone , Al ; Carry Nation ; Chicago ; communism ; Cook , James ; crew quarters ; communication room ; crucifixion ; Class M ; cruiser class ; Dodge City ; Drake equation ; Drake , Francis ; five - year mission ; galaxy ; Garden of Eden ; Genghis Khan ; gladiator ; God ; " Gunsmoke " ; Hermes II ; Hitler , Adolf ; Hornblower , Horatio ; hypodermic pellets ; Isaac IV ; Jefferson , Thomas ; Kentucky ; " Kildare " ; laser weapon s ; Napoléon ; Native American ; Nile Valley ; Nightingale , Florence ; Old West ; " Parallel Worlds " ; pinial galaxy limit ; police ; quadrant ; Regulus ; robot ; Roman ; Satunii ; Scott , Winfield ; Sirius ; Socrates ; space - warp ; telecommunicator ; telescreen ; two - way scrambler ; Tyrannosaurus ; United Space Ship ; Viking