Saturn Saturn ( also known as Sol VI ) was the sixth planet of the Sol system . It was well known for its rings ( ; ) and was orbited by many moons ; three of which were Mimas , Rhea , and Titan . ( ; ; ) It was also orbited by navigational control satellite s . ( ) Saturnian rings . An image of Saturn ' s rings , taken by the " Voyager 2 " probe in 1981 , was displayed in astrometrics aboard the in the year 2374 . ( , " et al . " ) The rings of Saturn generated magnetic distortions . These distortions could make a starship invisible to another starship if the vessel could jump out of warp behind one of the planet ' s moons . ( ) Location . In 2267 , the position and orbital path of Saturn were depicted on " Chart 14A : The Sol System " , stored in the library computer . The chart was scanned by the probe " Nomad " in Auxiliary Control . ( , " production art " ) History . Before the invention of the telescope , Human s discovered Saturn in the night sky . ( , " okudagram " ) In the mid - 20th century , Saturn was depicted on the mission insignia for " Apollo 17 " . On the insignia the sun god Apollo was looking toward Saturn . ( ) On September 1 , 1979 , the space probe " Pioneer 11 " became the first Earth spacecraft to visit this planet , having traveled six and a half years and 3 . 2 billion kilometers . The probe discovered that this planet had a magnetic field and a magnetosphere . ( , " okudagram " ) When she was a child , Rain Robinson was able to see Saturn ' s rings through her brother ' s telescope . She used to think that they looked like jewel s from a pirate ' s treasure . All she ever wanted since then was to reach up and touch them . This was when she realized that she wanted to become an astronomer . ( ) In 1996 , the Griffith Observatory featured an exhibit about Saturn . A picture of the planet also decorated Rain Robinson ' s offices . ( ) During the early 21st century , the first manned Earth - Saturn probe was launched under the command of NASA ' s Colonel Shaun Geoffrey Christopher . ( ) Accompanying Christopher were astronauts Fontana and . ( ) An image of Saturn was contained in the library computer aboard the . This data was flashed on a viewscreen when the Talosian s scanned the " Enterprise " computer in 2254 . ( ) Saturn was featured in a nonsense two - line poem that Charlie Evans forced Spock to recite in 2266 : " " Saturn rings around my head , down a road that ' s Martian red . " " ( ) According to Arex , the cosmic cloud encountered by the in 2269 had a diameter twice that of Jupiter , Saturn , and Neptune combined . ( ) By the early 24th century a shuttle route had been established " " from Jupiter to Saturn and back , once a day , every day , " " know as " " the Jovian Run . " " Both Edward Jellico and Geordi La Forge used to pilot shuttles on this route early in their Starfleet careers . ( ) In early 2367 , the invading Borg cube passed Saturn on its way towards Earth . ( ) In 2368 , the Nova Squadron was set to perform a demonstration near Saturn that was be transmitted to that year ' s Starfleet Academy graduation ceremonies . ( ) Teero Anaydis kept a photograph of Saturn in his home in 2377 . ( ) Appendices . Background information . According to the , Saturn has a " " mass 95 times greater than that of Earth " " and " " a diameter of some 120 , 800 kilometers , and orbits its sun at a mean distance of 1 . 4 billion kilometers " " . Additionally , the " Star Trek Encyclopedia " ( 4th ed . , vol . 2 , p . 149 ) , " " ( p . 39 , " United Federation of Planets I " ) , and classified Saturn as a class J planet . This planet was a charter member of the United Federation of Planets in 2161 . Saturn was named after the titan ( son of Uranus ) from Roman mythology . It was unclear if Saturn itself was inhabited or not , though a reference made to Saturnius harem girl s in might suggest that it somehow was . The necessity of a daily shuttle run would also seem to support this possibility . The Janus loop training program may be named after or related to , another moon of Saturn . A graphic of Saturn and the orbits of four of its moons was seen in ( depicted to the right above ) . The outermost and largest moon was identified as Titan . The remaining three inner moons weren ' t named but it was very likely that they were , , and , as they are the largest moons with smaller orbits than Titan ( for instance , was larger than both Tethys and Dione but its orbit was further away from Saturn than Titan ' s ) and were all discovered in the 17th century and are well established . According to " Spaceflight Chronology " , the Earth - Saturn probe mission was conducted on the UNSS " Lewis and Clark " . Signs of past mining activity was discovered from the second and fourth moons of Saturn , first proof of the existence of extraterrestrial intelligent life . This last detail and would put the mission after 2032 . A painting seen in , according to Rick Sternbach , was meant to show Saturn as seen from its moon . Saturn was one of the planets seen in both versions of the opening sequence of beside the Earth , Luna , Sol , and Jupiter , shortly before the " Enterprise " - D started its exploration of the unknown space . According to the of , the " Enterprise " passed through the Saturnian system on its course to intercept " V ' ger " . This was changed to the Jovian system for the film .