Lee Kelso Lieutenant Lee Kelso was a male Human Starfleet officer in the 23rd century . He served in the operations division aboard the in 2265 , under the command of Captain James T . Kirk . He was one of the ship ' s navigator s . He was on a first - name basis with Kirk and helmsman Gary Mitchell , the latter whom Kelso referred to as " Mitch " . Kelso was on duty when the " Enterprise " encountered the barrier at the edge of the galaxy , during its mission to probe out of the Milky Way . Upon encountering the barrier , the " Enterprise " sustained serious damage to her warp engine s , and Mitchell was affected in such a way that he began to develop extraordinary psychic abilities . Kelso visited Mitchell in sickbay , who informed Kelso that the ship ' s starboard impulse pack was burned out . As there was seemingly no way Mitchell could have known this , Kelso initially assumed that Mitchell was joking . Mitchell insisted , however , prompting Kelso to double - check the impulse pack , confirming that Mitchell ' s report was accurate . In an attempt to repair their warp engines , the " Enterprise " traveled to Delta Vega , in the hopes that they could adapt some of the power packs from the automated lithium cracking station on the surface . Kelso was put in charge of the operation , and was able to successfully repair the engines . During the repair process , Captain Kirk ordered Kelso to rig a self - destruct switch that would destroy the entire station , should Mitchell , whom Kirk was planning to strand on the surface due to his increasing instability , escape his captivity from the station ' s brig . Kirk then planned to meet Kelso and Dr . Mark Piper in the control room , from which they would all transport back to the " Enterprise " . Meanwhile , Kelso was in the midst of a conversation with Montgomery Scott in which the chief engineer praised Kelso ' s ability to recognize the correct parts they needed , calling him " a talented thief . " The lieutenant expressed his pleasure with the work his team had done . His conversation was interrupted by Mitchell , who telekinetically strangled him to death with a large cable in order to stop him from enacting the self - destruct . Prior to Kelso ' s death , Kirk had noted a commendation for Kelso and the rest of the engineers salvaging parts on Delta Vega in his captain ' s log . ( ) Appendices . Background information . Lee Kelso was portrayed by actor Paul Carr . In the first draft script of " Where No Man Has Gone Before " , Kelso ' s first name was given as " Leroy " ( " Larry " for short ) , he was referred to as a lieutenant junior grade , and was described thus ; " " He is in his late twenties , pleasant - looking rather than handsome . " " In the final draft of the script , Kelso had the first name " Lee " , had the rank of full lieutenant ( no j . g . ) , and was described as " late twenties , a sharp and intelligent professional , " details which remained the same in the revised final draft of the script . Decades after portraying Kelso , Paul Carr remembered how he was cast in the part ; " " I had worked for [ Gene ] Roddenberry " and " for [ Director ] Jimmy Goldstone before , and they called me to do [ ' Where No Man Has Gone Before ' ] . " " ( " Starfleet Access " for " Where No Man Has Gone Before " , TOS Season 1 Blu - ray special features ) Regarding Lee Kelso ' s death , a humored Paul Carr remarked , " " I was – I guess , officially – the first person killed on " Star Trek " [ . . . ] If it hadn ' t been for [ Mitchell actor ] Gary Lockwood , I ' d probably still be on that series . " " In fact , just before the filming of the death scene , Carr spoke to Lockwood about how he wished to remain on the series . While then being lifted in the air and violently shaken by Gene Roddenberry , the actor was told some plans for his character that , ultimately , were never realized . " " [ He said ] ' Don ' t worry about it , kid . We ' re gonna freeze you and bring you back ! ' And they never did . " " ( " Starfleet Access " for " Where No Man Has Gone Before " , TOS Season 1 Blu - ray special features ) Herbert F . Solow expressed his judgment of the Lee Kelso role , saying it " wasn ' t much of a part . " ( " " , p . 75 ) Dave Rossi , VFX Line Producer for Remastered TOS , disclosed similar feelings , stating , " " I think that a character that really gets a short shrift on the show [ i . e . ' Where No Man Has Gone Before ' ] is Lee Kelso . " " Rossi also said of his fellow makers of Remastered TOS , " " We really like Lee Kelso and , moreover , we really like Gary Mitchell ' s reactions to him . " " ( " Starfleet Access " for " Where No Man Has Gone Before " , TOS Season 1 Blu - ray special features ) Chief Kelso , from , was named by writer Naren Shankar as an homage to this character . ( ) It was popular belief that Kelso was the helmsman of the " Enterprise " while Mitchell was the ship ' s navigator , as suggested by their positions at the conn . However , on - screen evidence suggests otherwise . Firstly , Mitchell ' s responsibilities aboard the " Enterprise " – neutralizing warp speed and piloting the ship , for example – are those of a helm officer . Secondly , when Mitchell was knocked out of his chair after being " zapped " by the energy barrier , Kirk yells out , " " Helmsman ! " " , an exclamation aimed at Mitchell . Third , Kelso himself was credited as " Navigator " in early cuts of the episode . In this early episode , the stations are reversed : Mitchell ' s post was the navigator ' s station and Kelso ' s the helm station . It was never explained – either on - screen or from behind the scenes – why their positions at the conn were reversed . Kelso wore an operations division beige Starfleet uniform , even though helmsmen and navigators usually ended up wearing the gold uniform of the command division in the rest of TOS . The division insignia on his assignment patch was the stylized globe symbol that was later used exclusively for sciences division personnel . Apocrypha . DC Comics ' non - canon biography of Kelso in " Who ' s Who in Star Trek 1 " stated he was born in San Francisco , California , and studied at the Palo Alto Technical Institute and at Starfleet Academy , where he was a classmate of James Kirk . In IDW " " comic " Where No Man Has Gone Before , Part 2 " , the native to the alternate reality , like his prime universe counterpart , died as a result of the alternate - reality Gary Mitchell ' s transformation . Instead of being strangled , however , Kelso was forced to shoot himself with his own phaser after confronting Mitchell with the weapon .