Matt Jefferies Walter Matthew " Matt " Jefferies , Jr . , nicknamed " Jeff " by his family and older brother to fellow " Star Trek " designer John Jefferies , was the art director and production designer on all three seasons of , including the two pilot episodes , and has done preliminary work as technical consultant on , or rather its immediate predecessor , " " . " Star Trek " . Visually , it was very much Matt Jefferies who has established the look of " Star Trek " and most of his successors on the later " Star Trek " productions were huge admirers of him , trying to preserve as much as possible of his design influences in the productions they themselves were working on . As such , his contributions had been signature and not to be underestimated , and in the process he has over the years attained a true legendary status within the " Star Trek " community . It was Jefferies who designed the original " Enterprise " studio model with its saucer - shaped hull , engineering hull , and two nacelle s , as well as the type 1 and type 2 phaser designs seen in " The Original Series " , for which he , along with brother John , did the design drawings . His signature design survived to influence starship designs in all subsequent " Star Trek " productions , as was in equal measure his bridge design . Apart from these , he designed the vast majority of the numerous sets , landscapes , props , and other ships ( most notably the Klingon ) for the original series . Trading cards company SkyBox International , honored Jefferies with an individual autograph card , number A65 , as part of their 1999 " " trading card set . As to underscore Jefferies ' importance to the creation of the " Original Series " , the company made his a rare " chase card " , that currently commands premium prices on second - hand markets , like eBay . His work on " Star Trek " earned Jefferies a 1969 Emmy Award nomination , as well as a retrospective 2000 Shooting Star Award . " The Original Series " . His involvement in the " Star Trek " franchise started in , when Gene Roddenberry asked Matt Jefferies to design a starship for his new TV series . Jefferies came to the attention of Roddenberry after the latter saw the 1957 Cold War movie " Bombers B - 52 " , on which Jefferies , as one of his earliest motion picture contributions , had served as a production designer , albeit uncredited . It was on the initiative of Roddenberry that Jefferies was unexpectedly released from the production he was working on at the time by his employer , Desilu Studios , to start work on the very first " Star Trek " pilot , . ( " The Making of Star Trek " , p . 79 ) Upon meeting in early Autumn 1964 , both men took an immediate shining to one and other , as they shared a common history . Both men had served in World War II as bomber pilots , though Roddenberry had served in the Pacific theater , whereas Jefferies had flown over Africa and Europe , and as per Jefferies , " when he came in , why , we re - fought WWII for about 20 minutes " , before getting down to business . After Roddenberry had explained what he wanted to see , and more importantly , what he did not want to see in the design of the new starship " Enterprise " , Jefferies remembered leaving the meeting elated , " " I could make him laugh , and we seemed like a perfect combination in that he was a real head - in - the - clouds dreamer , and I was a nuts - and - bolts man . " " ( " Star Trek Memories " , p . 45 ) Little did he know upon leaving the meeting , what a challenge working on the show proved to be the next four years . When Jefferies reported in for work on the first pilot , shortly after his interview with Roddenberry , he recalled , " " When I started on " Star Trek " , Gene didn ' t even have an office , much less a secretary . Only Herb " [ Solow ] " was on the lot . But Gene came to the lot most days , and at first I dealt directly with him . Then the studio brought in a man by the name of Franz Bachelin , an old - time art director . They also brought in a friend of Desi [ Arnaz ] , Art Director Pato Guzman from " The Lucy Show " . I was still a set designer , not an art director . I would have the bridge and the exterior of the ship to do and they were to do the rest . " " ( " " , p . 114 ) In the end , Jefferies spent full time the better part of two months designing the ship , or as he himself had put it years later , " " about six weeks of frustration , " " during which he " " spent a pretty good batch of Lucille Ball ' s money . " " Both Art Directors Guzman and subsequently Bachelin , brought in after the former left , were Jefferies ' superiors on " The Cage " at the time . Jefferies usually worked out his designs on paper with pencil and charcoal in black and white , but occasionally created full - color renderings , such as for the " Enterprise " – which actually sold Jefferies ' final exterior design of the ship to the producers – and the bridge , in order to give the producers a more rounded feel for the intended design . However , after " The Cage " he all but dispensed with the full - color practice for the " Original Series " ( though he did highlight a few of his later black - and - white sketches with additional colors ) . The following year , with both Guzman and Bachelin gone , Jefferies was called back to the " Star Trek " production to work on the second pilot , though now he had some bones to pick , " " There were some problems in becoming an " official " art director . The application was put in to the union and I waited . A good friend of mine who was on the executive board told me what was happening . When my acceptance came up at a meeting , the president said , " Well , we ' ll table that for the time being , until the series [ Star Trek ] is canceled – there ' s no way it will get renewed . Matt won ' t be working , and Matt isn ' t working , that will take care of the problem and we can forget him . " Well , I went and told Gene about it . Gene called Herb . Herb called me over and told me , " You ' re going to be working here as an art director until you are approved and sworn in , even if we have to keep you sweeping the stages to do it ! " Well , thanks to Herb , I stayed . It finally got sorted out , and I got my official credit , sometime after the first season of Star Trek . " " ( " " , p . 114 ) It did not restrain Jefferies however , to work on the second pilot as set designer though . Incidentally , for " The Cage " , Jefferies had already been credited as " Assistant Art Director " , though per union rules he , being formally still a " Set Designer " , was at that time not yet entitled to carry the title . But since the pilot was not aired , it never had been an issue . Now officially designated " Art Director " , Jefferies started to work on the first season regular series run , starting with the first regular series episode in . He , at first , worked under his Desilu superior , fellow Art Director Rolland M . Brooks ( who had suggested Jefferies to Roddenberry in the first place ) on the first season and the beginning of the second . After Brooks left the series , Jefferies became the sole production designer , or rather art director , for " Star Trek " . Very much one of the most influential production staff ers on the visual look of " The Original Series " , since then attaining a near legendary status , at least where the " Star Trek " community is concerned , Jefferies was held in highest regard by producers Roddenberry and Robert Justman , as well as by studio executive Solow , throughout his tenure at the franchise . Justman , as treasurer , in particularly , was deeply impressed with Jefferies ' abilities to make do with the meager means he was allocated with , especially since he was the one who had to continuously inform Jefferies that his budget was slashed , every time the studio lowered the series ' budget , and his art department was among the first where Justman looked for money to be saved . A very appreciative Justman had said this of Jefferies , " " His eyes got watery and he would find it difficult to speak when an over - budget show forced me to take away half his construction money . And I ' d demand the impossible , that he still provide us with believable sets for less money then it should cost . He ' d gulp a bit and finally said , in a very throaty voice , " Well . . . let me see what I can do . I ' ll give it a try . " So Matt would try harder " [ note : from the second season onward greatly aided by his younger brother , Set Designer John , as well as Set Decorator John Dwyer and his team , who became very adept at scavenging for any and all items that could be used in set construction ] " , and he always came through for us . And I always felt guilty , so I sent him a memo of thanks and prodded Gene to do the same . By union contract , Matt wasn ' t entitled to a raise until after his first six months as a full - fledged Art Director . I talked Gene into discussing the problem with Solow . He did , and Herb " bumped him up " immediately . " " But now , Jefferies ' hard - won battle to officially gain the " Art Director " title back - fired on him . The act of appreciation did not sit well with his own labor union after having been so recently appointed " Art Director " . Promoted to " Production Designer " , a very desirable higher status title at the time ( coming with its complementary financial amenities ) , the union effectively blocked his promotion , only allowing the use of the title on the first five aired regular series episodes ( including the aired second pilot episode , " Where No Man Has Gone Before " , for which he originally had been credited as " Set Designer " ) , where the title had already been featured . Nevertheless , Justman was determined to officially get Jefferies the title he so much believed he deserved and continued to lobby for it , though he ultimately never succeeded in doing so . ( " " , pp . 111 , 169 , 173 ) While his designs of the " Enterprise " and the bridge were usually , and equally easily , regarded as his most signature contributions , the majority of his work was actually taken up by designing the sets of the series . Jefferies commented on this part of his work , regarding the practical considerations he had to take into account , " " The planet set would keep you busy , because we kept 20 feet on one side and one end of the set clear so that rolled equipment could be moved on it . Which meant that – and you always had to shoot into – into the far corner to get any depth of feeling . And our actors would have to move back and forward across it . So usually we would set up with foreground pieces . We could come up with four basic setups , and we shoot one and move to the next one and bt the time they went to the third one , we had converted the first two , so that every setup on the stage could come up with a different foreground piece and a bit of a different look , but still gunning into the far end . So days working on the planet , usually I rarely ever got by the office because you ' re just shifting according to eyeball or design by the toe of your shoe , I guess you could call it . " " ( TOS Season 2 DVD - special feature , " Designing the Final Frontier " ) Jefferies therefore was frequently on set , coordinating with the director for any given episode , " de facto " operating as a second - unit director to make sure that the best possible shots with the by him designed sets were achieved . D . C . Fontana , the " Original Series " script editor ( and who had conducted the very first known interview with him for a 1968 " " fanzine issue ) recollected an incident with Jefferies , that gave some insight into the character of Jefferies as a colleague , " " Matt would come up with some wonderful , wonderful drawings and renderings for the set . Then Gene would say , " Yeah I like this part , I don ' t like that part . " So , then Matt would go back to the drawing board . He had great slides of his renderings and of the sets themselves , and I believe they were donated to a museum or an university , I ' m not sure which now " [ note : Fontana was partially wrong in her recollections , Jefferies donated his aviation library , not his " Star Trek " collection – see below ] " . What he would do , and this is kind of interesting , for Christmas presents , he would buy jigsaw puzzles , and gesso them over so they were blank and the he ' d put them together and gesso them . And the he would paint scenes of his own devising on them . For fellow flyers , he would put on planes , various kinds , sometimes their own planes . For people like me , and I have one , he would do sets from " Star Trek " . But then he would , after he ' d finished painting them and they were dry , he ' d break up the puzzles into their component parts , put them in an unmarked box and give it to you , so you had to figure out what it was , putting the puzzle back together . And I happen to have the front gate of " " . ( TOS Season 2 DVD - special feature , " Designing the Final Frontier " ) As touched upon earlier , upon the departure of Rolland Brooks , Jefferies became the sole production staffer whose responsibilities encompassed both functions that were in later " Star Trek " television productions divided between on the one hand production designers / art directors and on the other hand production illustrators . As art director he was also responsible for the vast majority of the symbols and signage seen in the series ( a notable exception having been the IDIC symbol , which was designed by William Ware Theiss ) , a function which too was spun off as " scenic artist " in the later " Star Trek " incarnations . That being said , and despite the importance of his role , he never had a large department at his disposal to help him out with the work . Yet , those he had , he was very appreciative of , as he emphatically and repeatedly stated in later life , " " And of course , blessed with not only John Dwyer , who was a very talented workaholic , and Jim Rugg on special effects , and what went on upstairs in the Art Department , I could depend on brother John , or whoever else was up there , that if any questions came up out of the mail " [ note : internal ] " about how something was working , they could solve it . And with that kind of help , Hell , you can ' t lose ! I was in great shape ! ( . . . ) I think really the high point of that whole thing – there were many high points really – were the people I worked with . John Dwyer , he ' s a marvel , Al Francis was as a cameraman , and like my brother or Joe Jennings and some of the others that would occasionally work . Normally , we had a very small Art Department with " Star Trek " . Sometimes there were only two . But I think all of them enjoyed what they were doing . And Lord knows , it did for me . And with the load they picked up , it made my end possible . But that – the people have always been the big part of any of the shows I ' ve worked on . " " ( TOS Season 2 DVD - special feature , " Designing the Final Frontier " ) Designing the first " Star Trek " model kits . During the production of the second season of the " Original Series " Matt Jefferies became acquainted with Stephen Edward Poe , whom he befriended . ( " The Making of Star Trek " , p . 11 ) Poe had been given unrestricted access to the production for the reference book " The Making of Star Trek " , he was writing at the time , as part of the deal he had brokered between Desilu and model kit company Aluminum Metal Toys ( AMT ) . Poe ' s primary responsibility however , was to develop a " Star Trek " model kit line for his employer and it was to this end that he was reverted by Roddenberry to Jefferies . The choice for the very first " Star Trek " model kit was an obvious one , the " Enterprise " ( No . S921 ) , released in 1966 and a runaway success right from the bat with over a million copies sold at that time according to Jefferies . ( ) Thrilled by its success , AMT immediately commissioned another one , the near equally successful 1968 Klingon battle cruiser kit ( No . S952 ) . One of the more ironic aspects of Jefferies ' work for AMT was that he designed the Klingon D7 battle cruiser exclusively for them , and not for the studio , who had not commissioned it , despite assertions and assumptions by numerous reference authors , fans and the franchise itself to the contrary afterwards ; " " It was strictly an extra - curricular activity on my part , " " stated Jefferies at the time ( " " , issue 4 , pp . 3 - 4 ) Nevertheless , under their exclusivity agreement the strapped - for - cash studio immediately appropriated one of AMT ' s master tooling models for shooting purposes . The model was subsequently turned over to the Howard Anderson Company for final detailing and filming stock footage for use in the third season of the show . As it turned out , the D7 went on to become yet another quintessential " Star Trek " design by Jefferies . It should be noted that it was Jefferies who drew up the construction plans for the first three outings in AMT ' s " Star Trek " model kit line , that of the 1974 " Galileo " Class F shuttlecraft included , in his spare time and in initial conjuncture with Poe , but that both men were excluded from any and all royalties arrangements resulting from their hugely successful sales . ( " " , 1997 , p . 173 ) From this it could be inferred that the " Galileo " model kit was slated for a release during the production of the " Original Series " , but that its cancellation had postponed the release until its renewed popularity in syndication . " Phase II " and beyond . In a move that was somewhat reminiscent of the one he made back in 1964 , Gene Roddenberry sounded Matt Jefferies out in 1977 to rejoin his efforts to revitalize the live - action franchise , or as brother Richard had put it , " " January 1977 , informed Matt that Gene had asked to " borrow " his art director for a few days . " " ( " Beyond the Clouds " , p . 250 ) Jefferies came aboard in for the " Star Trek : Phase II " television project that was just started up that month , but declined tenure as Art Director , as he was unwilling to give up his job at Landon ' s production , the television series . In his stead , he recommended the by him aforementioned Joe Jennings , who had been his assistant during the original second season , for the position and who was subsequently hired as art director the following month . Additionally , he recommended " Star Trek " veteran Jim Rugg for the special effects . On a temporary basis , as technical consultant , he did preliminary work in the summer on the redesign of the " Enterprise " , using as starting point the ship he designed for the " Original Series " , and which eventually resulted in the fabrication of detailed based on his preliminary redesign sketches for the build of the " Phase II " " Enterprise " studio model . Other things Jefferies looked into for the project , while " Little House " was in hiatus between April and September , were the bridge , the air tram station , and a redesign for the " " shuttlecraft . The operational manager for " Phase II " , Producer Robert Goodwin , noted in a progress memo dated , " " The shell " [ note : of the bridge ] " should be completed by the end of August . At the same time , Matt Jefferies , Joe Jennings and special - effects man Jim Rugg are at work designing and researching new types of instrumentation that will be used within the bridge , including new kinds of computer graphic displays , touch control switches , etc . " " ( " " , p . 36 ) Though not a science fiction fan , Jefferies had by this time taken an interest in real world spaceflight , particularly ' s space shuttle program and in no small part due to the research he was doing in the summer and autumn of 1977 for " Phase II " , when he visited NASA and on a number of occasions , sent by Goodwin on fact - finding missions , often accompanied by Jim Rugg and / or Joe Jennings . ( " " , p . 52 ) And while he was not present the year previously with the other " Star Trek " alumnni at the highly publicized unveiling of the " Enterprise " ( OV - 101 ) space shuttle orbiter , the one named for his starship , he did on NASA ' s invitation attend the first free - flight test of the shuttle on 12 August 1977 . It resulted in one of the pieces of artwork , mentioned below . ( " Beyond the Clouds " , pp . 285 - 286 ) His involvement ended permanently in early November , when the production of " Little House " was in full swing again . Still , even after " Phase II " was upgraded to " Star Trek : The Motion Picture " and a new " Enterprise " model had to be built , it was Roddenberry who ordained that the lines set by Jefferies were to be followed , vetoing any notion of a complete redesign . ( " " , p . 26 - 28 & color inset ; ) Yet , one element that Jefferies had done for " Phase II " did make it onto screen in the " Motion Picture " . On 9 September 1977 – almost one year to the day after the unveiling of the first space shuttle , whereas he himself had less than a month earlier attended its first free flight test – he received a memo from Roddenberry who , inspired by a letter he had received from a fan , wrote , " " Some fans have suggested that our new Enterprise should carry a plaque somewhere which commemorates the fact it was named after the first space shuttle launched from Earth in the 1970 ' s . This is an intriguing idea . It also has publicity advantages if properly released at the right time . It won ' t hurt NASA ' s feelings either . I ' ll leave it to you where you want it on the vessel and who should design it . " " Jefferies , the accomplished aviation artist , needed no further enticement to create the artwork for the historical vessels named USS " Enterprise " , that served as the source for the backlit transparencies seen on the wall of the recreation deck , starting yet another tradition that was adhered to in later " Star Trek " live - action incarnations . ( " " , p . 94 ) Never a science fiction fan , " Star Trek " was for Matt Jefferies an assignment like any of his others , albeit one he tackled with professionalism , and when the " Original Series " wrapped , he moved on , not giving a second thought on the work he had done on the show . He was therefore taken aback and mystified when " Star Trek " became the runaway success it did in syndication in the 1970s . He admitted in 1987 , " " I still don ' t understand it , I think if we ' d known it was gonna last so long and be studied by so many people we ' d probably have been so frightened of it we ' d never have been able to make a decision . " " ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol 17 # 2 , p . 27 ) While honored by the growing admiration , it was also a reason for him to shy away from every form of public expression of acclaim , the " Star Trek " conventions in particular , though not for want of invitations as he received a multitude of them . Only trice did Jefferies made a public " Star Trek " appearance , and the first one was already somewhat of a traumatic experience for him . A bit ushered on by the Paramount Marketing and Licensing Department , he reluctantly conceded to attend the highly - publicized 1996 Pasadena " Star Trek " convention , but once there he was mobbed by well - meaning admirers to such an extent , that he had to be delivered by police . Jefferies vowed to his wife , Mary - Ann , never to attend a convention again . ( " Beyond the Clouds " , p . 264 ) Four years later though , he relented a bit when " Star Trek " Archivist Penny Juday asked him personally to attend William Campbell ' s science fiction convention , " Star Trek " themed that year and held on 14 - 16 July , 2000 , in Los Angeles . Campbell had founded this convention as a charity for the benefit of " " , a charitable organization that offered assistance and care to those in the motion picture industry with limited or no resources . Together with a multitude of other " Star Trek " staffers he attended the Gala Awards Dinner on the 14th , and was pleasantly surprised when he was awarded by the organization with the honorary Shooting Star Award , which was presented to Jefferies by Juday . Born and raised with a deep sense of the Christian belief system , Jefferies followed up on his attendance at Campbell ' s charity event the subsequent year , when he , along with his brother John , sold off virtually all of their " Original Series " production items , including all of his design art , still in their possession in the Profiles in History " The Star Trek Auction " of 12 December 2001 , in order to raise funding for Campbell ' s charity , the " Motion Picture & Television Fund " . Prior to the auction , most of Jefferies ' " Star Trek " design art , much of which previously unseen , was published in " " and the interview issues of . The proceeds from the auction were such , that it helped to build the " Matt and Mary Ann Jefferies Wing of the Motion Picture & Television Fund Home " for destitute retirees . ( TOS Season 2 DVD - special feature , text commentary ) In addition to his reluctance of engaging in the " Star Trek " cultural phenomena , Jefferies has confessed to a lack of enthrallment for all post - " Original Series " reincarnations of " Star Trek " , having stated in a BBC interview , shortly before his death in 2003 , in regard to " The Motion Picture " , " " I went to the first movie . I was invited to the screening . I fell asleep . John Dwyer noticed it from across the screening room and said , " Matt , wake up . " Fortunately nobody else in there knew me . " " , and in regard to , " " Gene asked me how I liked the show , and I said that he had taken the bridge of my ship and turned it into the lobby of the Hilton . And I have just never watched any of them since . I ’ m lost . " " Still , he has expressed his professional admiration for his successors on the newer shows , when he exclaimed , " " I ' m dumbfounded by what you ' ve people have done ! " " at the June 2001 Visual Effects Society Festival , his third and last public " Star Trek " appearance and where he was one of the " Star Trek " visual effects guests of honor . " Star Trek " legacy . Nevertheless , it was in his honor that the crawl spaces on all Starfleet vessels were named Jefferies tube s , a reference used throughout the entire " Star Trek " franchise . The first recorded use of the nomenclature was the " SHOT – JEFFERIES TUBE " script reference in the draft of 14 September 1967 of ( scene 36 , p . 21 , where the body of Gav was stashed ) , though it was not heard in the episode , but had already been a long - running behind - the - scenes production in - joke during the production of the " Original Series " , as Jefferies himself indicated : " " Somebody hung the name Jefferies Tube on it . It wasn ' t me , but the name stuck and I used it in some of my sketches ! " " " ( " " , p . 72 ) Successor Herman Zimmerman helped perpetuate the term into canon , as Penny Juday related in 2002 , " " The Jefferies tube is used even today . The last feature is an example , where she took the Jefferies tube and made it really big . That ' s where you see the Viceroy and you see Commander Riker fighting together , is inside a larger version of the Jefferies tube . So , Herman Zimmerman has made sure that the name sticks , and he has always idolized Matt and his work . And he has always tried to incorporate Matt ' s work and designs and to make sure that the theme is carried on into the new TV series and all of the features . Almost all the time – not in every episode of course – but when we need a crawl space , that ' s exactly what we use ; It ' s always called a Jefferies tube . " " ( TOS Season 2 DVD - special feature , " Designing the Final Frontier " ) Still , the actual canonization only occurred under the auspices of Zimmerman ' s successor , Richard James , in the " Next Generation " season three episode , . Additionally , Matt Jefferies was honored when the episode mentioned a Captain Jefferies , who was also named in his honor . Aside from Zimmerman , Jefferies became revered by numerous other later " Star Trek " production staffers , especially by those working in the art and visual effects departments , such as Doug Drexler ( whose marriage with Dorothy Duder Jefferies attended ) , Michael Okuda ( with whom Jefferies developed a friendship later in life ) , Bill George and many others . How evident this reverence was , was exemplified when Jefferies was lured to Paramount Pictures under the pretense of discussing a video chronicling the origins of " The Original Series " ( actually the TOS Season 2 DVD " Designing the Final Frontier " - special , released a year later ) . Upon entering the screening room Jefferies was greeted by a host of " Star Trek " staffers , old and new , and family members who had assembled to honor him . Hosted by Penny Juday , a humbled Jefferies made use of the surprise tribute , to again express his appreciation , but also his befuddlement , for the accolades his " Star Trek " work had gained him , " " I find it very difficult to comprehend , honestly , how design work that I did oh - so - many years ago has been accepted and continues to be accepted by millions of " Star Trek " fans throughout the world . " " The tribute took place on 15 July 2003 , a mere six days before his death . ( " Beyond the Clouds " , pp . 285 - 286 ) How special the place was Jefferies held within the " Star Trek " community , was exemplified by the fact that the documentary was also included as the " A Tribute to Matt Jefferies " - special feature on the 2004 DVD and the 2009 Blu - ray releases of , even though Jefferies had never been involved with " The Next Generation . The , in hindsight , timely and extensive interview conducted around the turn of the millennium by " Star Trek : The Magazine " Editor Ben Robinson with Jefferies , published in parts over the 2000 - 2002 run of the publication , was the most elaborate one , he has ever given on his work on " Star Trek " , and has helped to clear up some of the misconceptions that had evolved over the years on some of his work in " Star Trek " - lore , such as the origins of the ' s registry number and the " raison d ' etre " for the D7 - class studio model . The studio model of the famous starship Jefferies designed , so influential for starship designs conceived for all subsequent " Star Trek " productions , is residing in the of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC , a further testament to the influence his design work had in the awareness of American pop culture . Of all the starship bridge versions created for the franchise , his original is the one most often recreated by far , for conventions , exhibitions , attractions and even fan film s . Career outside " Star Trek " . Hailing from the East Coast and growing up in the Depression Era , Matt Jefferies graduated from the Thomas Jefferson Highs School in Richmond , Virginia and directly enrolled into the military , where he attended a number of technical classes . As he had developed a passion for aviation in the interbellum years , he wanted to join the United States Air Force to serve as pilot and on the outset of World War II switched over from the infantry which he had initially joined . Jefferies elaborated , " " I went in with an infantry National Guard unit , the First Regiment of the Virginia Greys . But I took a short discharge and re - enlisted , giving up my Tech Sergeant stripes and going back as a private in the Army Air Corps . Then I went to aircraft mechanics , engine specialist , B - 17 schools and overseas – to England first in the summer of 1942 , then to Africa , Sicily and Italy . In the last year and a half , I was in flight tests , where as a Tech Sergeant , I was engineer co - pilot in B - 17 ' s , B - 24 ' s , B - 25 ' s , and B - 26 ' s . " " ( " " , issue 4 , p . 2 ) As B - 17 co - pilot over Africa , Jefferies famously survived a mid - air collision with a German fighter plane . His war time services earned him the Air Medal ( as it had Roddenberry ) and the Bronze Star . Directly after the war Jefferies served as a Tech Inspector for the air force until his enlistment was up . His brush with death in the war did nothing to dampen his enthusiasm for aviation after the war , and in the post - war years he personally restored his own plane , a 1935 Waco YOC . Its registry , NC17740 , has in " Star Trek " lore given rise to a decades long myth that the USS " Enterprise " received its registry from his plane , a notion Jefferies finally dispelled himself in 2000 . ( ) Upon his discharge from the service he , after an apprenticeship under New York illustrator William Heaslip , became an aviation illustrator at the aircraft manufacturer Erco , followed in 1948 by an illustrator ' s position at the Library of Congress . A detailed cutaway drawing of a Seversky P - 35 airplane , he did for the magazine " Air Trails HOBBIES for Young Men " earned Jefferies his first nation wide recognition . ( " Beyond the Clouds " , p . 209 ) Jefferies ' first brush with the motion picture industry came in 1956 , when he was asked by Warner Brothers for technical input on the X - 2 Bell experimental rocket plane for the movie " Toward the Unknown " . Less than a year later , he received a phone - call from his younger brother , Hollywood Art Director Philip and the first of three brothers to work in the motion picture industry , who was looking for an art director for another Warner Brothers aviation movie , the earlier mentioned Cold War movie " Bombers B - 52 " . The studio was , at a time when art directors / production illustrators were relatively sparse in Hollywood , looking for an illustrator with detailed knowledge on the bomber , and as Matt Jefferies , the aviation enthusiast , had an extensive library of B - 52 manuals , he was hired on the spot . Matt was the first of the Jefferies brothers , Philip persuaded to make the move to Hollywood , the youngest , John , being brought over later by him in 1962 . ( " Beyond the Clouds " , pp . 211 , 213 , 222 ) Before " Star Trek " he further worked for Warner Brothers on the movies , " The Old Man and the Sea " ( 1958 , as production illustrator ) , " Wreck of the Mary Deare " ( 1959 , as set designer ) and " The Crowded Sky " ( 1960 , as set designer ) , all uncredited . In 1960 he moved over to Desilu Studios , where he worked as set designer on the television productions , " Mission : Impossible " , and , the series – which was not Desilu property , but produced on their lot nevertheless – from which he was unexpectedly pulled by his employer , after he returned from a holiday , only to find himself working on the new " Star Trek " show . It gave him a scare though , as he recalled , " " I had been working for Desilu as a sort of assistant art director in " Ben Casey " . And during the run of that show I ' s taken four weeks off , during which time I went to the New York World ' s Fair and visited with family in Virginia . At the end of my vacation I came back to work , walked into my little cubicle and found it empty . My drawing board and my drafting tools were gone . So I went into my boss ' s office and said , " I don ' t know where all my stuff is , but where the hell is the next Casey script ? " He said , " Forget it , you ' re not on the show anymore . " So I figured , " Well , I guess that serves me right for being a smartass and taking a month off . " But as it turned out , my boss wasn ' t firing me at all . " " The boss who mischievously gave Jefferies such a scare was Rolland Brooks , having just recommended him to Roddenberry . ( " Star Trek Memories " , pp . 44 - 45 ) In between the first and second pilot of " Star Trek " Jefferies did , " " ( . . . ) the pilot for and then a lovely little western called " The Long Hunt of April Savage " . Herb Solow was in charge of both of those " [ note : and both brought in by Solow for Desilu as accompanying properties for " Star Trek " , though " April Savage " did not make it beyond its pilot episode ] " . Then I was loaned out to Disney to do a set for one of their movies , after which I returned to " Star Trek " . " " ( " " , p . 114 ) Though mostly remembered for his work on " Star Trek " , at the time , it was but a small part of his career , and he has always considered it as such . It was aviation that has always been and remained his true passion . Afterwards he worked on productions such as the 1970s - 1980s television series " Love , American Style " , " Little House on the Prairie " , " Father Murphy " and , with the television movie " The Killing Stone " ( 1978 , and like " Little House " and " Father Murphy " , a Michael Landon production , with whom Jefferies had always enjoyed a close working relationship ) , also being his last recorded motion picture work . He particularly enjoyed working for " Little House " , which , apart from being a higher paid job and his close working relationship with Landon , also resonated with his childhood during the Depression Era , according to his brother Richard , and it was therefore that he choose not to accept tenure on the revitalized " Star Trek " franchise . Richard further stated in this regard , elaborating on the fact that Matt , like most of his kin , valued strong family ties , " " Matt often said that he enjoyed his work on " Little House on the Prairie " more than anything else he had done in the film industry . Matt was a history buff . He derived great pleasure from remembrances of days and events of the past . He marveled at the entrepreneurial zeal of the pioneers . The men and women who settled in the great plains and in the West were a sturdy and resourceful lot . Matt admired their spirit of adventure . Designing the sets for the mythical town of Walnut Grove brought to mind their ominous hardships . Michael Landon and John Hawkins shared Matt ' s passion for bringing to screen a true representation of family life on the prairie . " " ( " Beyond the Clouds " , p . 245 ) After his retirement , Jefferies became a prolific aviation artist , also remaining otherwise active in the world of aviation . While renowned in " Star Trek " lore , Jefferies likewise had something of a standing in aviation circles , as his brother Richard attested to , when Matt attended a forum held at the American Airlines C . R . Smith Museum , " " A neatly attired man threaded his way through the crowd , reached out to shake Matt ' s hand , and said , " I feel honored to meet you . I have admired your work since I was a boy . I am head of this department . It is because of you and your extraordinary work that I became an engineer . " Needless to say Matt was overcome by the adulation . He later remarked that never in his wildest dreams did he think that his work would inspire one to choose engineering as a profession . " " ( " Beyond the Clouds " , p . 272 ) Survived by his wife Mary - Ann , Matt Jefferies died of congestive heart failure ( as did Roddenberry ) after a fight with cancer , the illness his younger brother Phil had already succumbed to years earlier . Matt Jefferies had a third , by eighteen months younger , sibling , the aforementioned Richard , who has written a biography on his brother , published in 2008 ( see below ) . He was spurred on to write the work , not only by " Star Trek " fans , but by aviation fans as well , he met after the funeral service of his brother . On its title , " Beyond the Clouds " , Richard had stated in an interview , " " When my brother was a little boy , he said , " Some day , I ' ll fly away , way , way beyond the clouds . " " " His beloved Waco YOC airplane is currently owned by the Virginia Aeronautical Historical Society and resides at the Virginia Aviation Museum , Richmond , Virginia . Prior to his death , Jefferies had donated in 1999 his extensive aviation library to the Wright State University , Ohio , where it is as the " Walter Matthew Jefferies Aviation Collection " part of the Special Collections and Archives . " Star Trek " Awards . Matt Jefferies received the following award and nomination for his work on " Star Trek " , incidentally the only award considerations he has ever received for his work in the motion picture industry . Emmy Award Nomination . As " Art Director " , Matt Jefferies was the only television " Star Trek " production illustrator ever considered as such for an Emmy Award , even though the latter title did not yet exist in the franchise at the time . The between visual effects and did not yet exist , and only came slowly into being from the mid - 1980s onward . Until then the design of these were lumped together under the denomination " Art Director " / " Production Designer " . This echoed what Jefferies himself had said in 1968 when he was asked to describe his duties , " " I ' m responsible for everything they photograph , except the people . It entails the initial designs of the sets , supervising the building , colors , painting , everything that ' s on the stage or location , having it ready for the camera and within the budget . It calls for working with the director , set decorator , carpenters , painters , special effects , the whole ball of wax . " " ( " " , p . 2 ) After the split production designer was the title for the designers of special effects , such as props and , most notably , sets . But even though visual , and special effects are currently separate departments , production illustrator is a subordinate position under production designer , at least in the " Star Trek " franchise , and considered Art Department . Shooting Star Award . Jefferies received the following honorary Shooting Star Award from the FantastiCon Science - Fiction Convention