Exhibition beams into Tech Museum and hearts of Star Trek fans

"Space … the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before."

If that phrase sends shivers up your spine, grab your "Spock Ears" and beam down to The Tech Museum of Innovation for an exhibit that will delight despite a few reservations.

Star Trek the Exhibition began a limited engagement at The Tech on Oct. 23 and runs through January.

The curators of the exhibit envisioned long lines to this traveling show, so pictures of different, real, celestial bodies dotted the waiting line.

Luckily, I attended the show early Thursday afternoon to a mostly empty house.

As I walked into the first section, I was greeted with a blast of dark purple colors and whirls and blips that comprise the sound effects of a "Star Trek" episode.

Tall glass tubes, containing costumes from the original Trek, surrounded the outer portion of the first room - Uhura, Scotty and Bones were all represented in this area.

I found it interesting how cheap the costumes looked upon close inspection. Insignia frayed. Cloth threadbare. Time has not been kind.

I also enjoyed the cases containing different artifacts from the original shows.

I've always found the original to be superior -cue Comic Book Guy's voice from "The Simpsons" - and I owned disc-shooting replicas when I was a child.

Shockingly, the props looked like cheap, plastic replicas.

As I rounded the corner, I found my true object of desire, a true-to-scale replica of the original bridge. Score.

Here's where it started to go south, though.

No cameras. Think about that for a minute.

The Tech charges $25 for this exhibit, and I can't take a picture of myself in Kirk's chair? Worst move ever.

Well, never fear intrepid Trekkie - Star Trek: The Exhibition has you covered. Photographers were on hand to snap pictures for a fee. These guys were strategically placed throughout the exhibit.

Honestly, I would not have paid for the pictures. I would have sucked it up and moved on to the next prop, muttering expletives under my breath.

Luckily for me, one of our staff photographers was able to snap a couple of shots.

After leaving the bridge, tubes containing Capt. Kirk and Mr. Spock's costumes softened my transition into the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" section.

Jean-Luc Picard's personal quarters contained his duty uniform and his dress uniform. The guy was tiny.

The second best moment appeared just around the corner - the transporter room.

The organizers created a replica of The Next Generation's transporter room, which they happily let you mount.

Once on the transporter, a kind soul flipped a switch, and I saw my body fade away and reappear on a small flat-screen TV.

Again, snap-happy guides will charge for a picture of you on the transporter.

On the way out of the exhibit, I was tempted with a virtual reality ride - like the ones seen in malls around the country - again for a fee. No thanks.

I can see two types of audiences for this show.

Trekkies will love every minute of this exhibition. If you kill at Trek Trivia, experience it now.

Twenty-Five bucks for this exhibit seems a bit high. But, die-hard fans will probably not quibble with the price.

Another potential audience would be anyone who studies costume or set design. Seeing these iconic costumes and props in person was a revelation.
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