Alden

Alden was a male Human Starfleet officer who lived during the mid-23rd century. He served in the sciences division, where he was assigned as one of the communications officer aboard the under Captain James T. Kirk. 
In 2265, Alden, manned the helm as the Enterprise approached the edge of the galaxy, in preparation for an exploratory expedition into extra-galactic space, before he relinquished the position back to Lieutenant Commander Gary Mitchell, subsequently taking over the communications station.
After the Enterprise received heavy damage following contact with the galactic barrier, Alden assisted Lieutenant Lee Kelso with repairs to the navigation console.
When the Enterprise later reached Delta Vega, Alden joined the engineering staff's repair party and continued to assist Kelso, this time in rerouting cables and adapting the equipment and technology from the Delta-Vega Station for use aboard the ship, while still keeping the station functional. He was successfully able to remove a 203-R console from the station's control room, and returned with it to the Enterprise.
Once aboard, Alden assisted Montgomery Scott with replacing the damaged match at one of the engineering stations. Following the completion of repairs, Kirk noted him a commendation for his work, in the captain's log.
When the Enterprise was finally able to depart Delta Vega, Alden manned the navigation console, replacing the since-deceased Kelso, as the ship continued onto its next mission. ()
== Appendices ==
=== Background information ===
Alden was played by actor Lloyd Haynes, one of many African-American actors who read for "Where Man Has Gone Before" due to the fact that Gene Roddenberry agreed with a certain long-standing NBC policy: that the network's "creative associates" make a concerted effort to cast performers of ethnic minorities. As such, Alden was one of the first important roles, in a network television pilot, to be played by an African-American actor. (Inside Star Trek: The Real Story, pp. 75-77) Haynes was brought in to audition for the part by Director James Goldstone, a friend of the actor. (The Star Trek Interview Book, p. 105)
The uniform Alden wore had one braid, indicating an officer rank less than captain; the Star Trek Concordance (p. 124) and , state his rank as lieutenant, though this wasn't specified on screen. He also wore a blue uniform with an assignment patch bearing (command division) stars, indicating the sciences division.
His position as communications officer in "Where No Man Has Gone Before" was from the script. Publicity material also referred to him as the communications officer, whereas NBC's early- press brochure, depicting the new Star Trek series, described him thus:
Communications officer Alden refuses to be awed by the demanding task of establishing and maintaining contact across vast distances. One of the youngest members of Kirk's staff, he also is one of this talented group's most respected technicians.
After the series was later accepted by NBC, their first move was to drop Alden, Dr. Piper, and from the format. These changes were not immediate, as he was still on the active-duty roster in NBC's "Advance Information on 1966-1967 Programming: 'Star Trek.'" booklet. The Star Trek Compendium (pp. 25-26) summarized the following: 
Communications Officer Alden is described as an efficient, respected, and vital young technician who performs duties vital to the ship's welfare, and who also contributes constant computations and speculations. The emphasis on both mathematics and scientific guesswork suggests other talents added to Spock's characteristics.
Alden was at one point intended to appear in the first season installment , as a communications officer, with his name appearing in the episode's first draft, dated . In a series of research notes (dated ), however, Kellam de Forest included a reminder that Dave Bailey was meanwhile being conceived as the communications officer in . (Eventually, neither officer appeared in "What Are Little Girls Made Of?".)
=== Apocrypha ===
Nyota Uhura's biography in DC Comics' "Who's Who in Star Trek 2" states that Uhura succeeded Lt. "Richard Alden" as chief of communications on stardate 1313.2. 
The calls him "Daniel Alden", while the novella "A Less Perfect Union" refers to him as "Phil Alden". The novel Captain's Peril names him "Lloyd Alden", after the actor who played him.
=== External link ===
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Category:Humans
Category:Starfleet sciences personnel
Category:USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) personnel