astronomy

List of Star Trek: Discovery characters

List of Star Trek: Discovery characters is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand List of Star Trek: Discovery characters rather than just read about it. In short: Star Trek: Discovery is an American television series created for Paramount+ (originally known as CBS All Access) by Bryan Fuller and Alex Kurtzman. Set roughly a decade before the events of the original Star Trek series and separate from the timeline of the concurrent feature films, Discovery explores the Federation–Klingon war while following the crew of the USS Discovery.

Key takeaways

List of Star Trek: Discovery characters belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect List of Star Trek: Discovery characters to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of List of Star Trek: Discovery characters from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Star Trek: Discovery is an American television series created for Paramount+ (originally known as CBS All Access) by Bryan Fuller and Alex Kurtzman. Set roughly a decade before the events of the original Star Trek series and separate from the timeline of the concurrent feature films, Discovery explores the Federation–Klingon war while following the crew of the USS Discovery. It premiered on September 24, 2017. The series stars Sonequa Martin-Green as Michael Burnham, a Starfleet mutineer who is given a war-time field assignment as a science specialist on the USS Discovery and the adopted sister of original series character Spock. Doug Jones, Shazad Latif, Anthony Rapp, and Mary Wiseman round out the main cast. They were joined by Jason Isaacs for the first season and Anson Mount for the second. Characters seen previously in Star Trek also appear in recurring roles, including Spock's father Sarek, portrayed by James Frain, and Harry Mudd, portrayed by Rainn Wilson. The following list includes Star Trek: Discovery's main cast, as well as all guest stars deemed to have had recurring roles throughout the series, and a supplementary list of other noteworthy guests.

Overview = Main cast (credited) = Recurring cast (3+) = Guest cast (1-2)

Main characters

Michael Burnham

Michael Burnham (portrayed by Sonequa Martin-Green) is a science specialist aboard the USS Discovery. Burnham was first officer of the USS Shenzhou, where she was referred to as "number one", until she was convicted of mutiny and sentenced to life in prison. Discovery captain Gabriel Lorca, brings Burnham back to duty with a temporary wartime assignment as a scientist on his ship. Burnham was raised following Vulcan culture and traditions by Sarek, and is the first human to attend the Vulcan Learning Center and Vulcan Science Academy. Series co-creator Bryan Fuller had anticipated casting announcements for the show in October 2016, but no announcements had been made by the end of that month. The majority of the series main characters were believed to have been cast by then, but no actress had been cast for the series' lead role. This was a source of "some internal stress" at CBS, with the casting of the character deemed "a far tougher assignment" than expected. Several African American and Latina actresses were being looked at for the role, with CBS "not seeking a huge star and [preferring] a fresh face for the part." Martin-Green was cast in the role in December, which was revealed with the character's production codename "lieutenant commander Rainsford". Her casting was officially confirmed in April 2017, following the end of her run on The Walking Dead, with the character's actual name also revealed. The character has an inner conflict due to being raised by Sarek, with showrunner Aaron Harberts explaining that many of the actresses tested for the role "either went way too robotic and chilly or way too emotional", but Martin-Green was "able to be aloof but warm; logical but able to surrender her emotional side to the audience." Since Sarek's son Spock never mentioned a sister in the original series, executive producer Alex Kurtzman said that the specifics of Burnham's backstory would be revealed in a way that would not break the existing canon continuity. As the show's protagonist, Burnham was not made a starship captain, like those of previous Star Trek series, "to see a character from a different perspective on the starship—one who has different dynamic relationships with a captain, with subordinates; it gave us richer context", though she does become captain of Discovery at the end of the last episode of season three. In the first two episodes of the series (stripped of rank by the end of episode two), she is referred to as Number One to honor the character of the same name portrayed by Majel Barrett in the original 1965 Star Trek pilot "The Cage", and was initially pitched to CBS as only being called Number One in the series. Fuller deliberately gave the character a traditionally male name as he did with the female leads of three previous (non-Star Trek) productions. Martin-Green decided that the character was named after her biological father.

Saru

Saru (portrayed by Doug Jones) is a captain serving as first officer of the USS Discovery, and the first Kelpien to enter Starfleet. Saru was introduced in the series premiere as a lieutenant commander serving as chief science officer on the USS Shenzhou, which is rendered a hulk during a battle in the series' second episode. Before the events of "Context Is for Kings", Saru becomes first officer on the USS Discovery. In the Star Trek: Short Treks episode "The Brightest Star", it is revealed that Saru adapted a communication device left behind by the pre-warp Kelpien's oppressors (the Ba'ul), eventually connecting with a young Starfleet officer—Lt. Philippa Georgiou—who obtained permission to "rescue" him from his planet. Jones was cast as Saru in November 2016. Kelpiens, a new species created for Discovery, were hunted as prey on their home planet and thus evolved the ability to sense the coming of death. This skill has given them a reputation for cowardice in the Federation. Jones was excited to, "from the ground up, develop and find this character and his species" and not have to honor a previous fan-favorite representation. He based Saru's walk on that of a supermodel, out of necessity thanks to the boots he had to wear to portray the character's hooved feet forcing Jones to walk on the balls of his feet. The producers compared Saru to the characters Spock and Data from previous series in the franchise. In the Mirror Universe, Saru is a nameless slave stationed on the ISS Shenzhou.

Ash Tyler and Voq

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with List of Star Trek: Discovery characters

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what List of Star Trek: Discovery characters claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to List of Star Trek: Discovery characters before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about List of Star Trek: Discovery characters ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of List of Star Trek: Discovery characters

In research: List of Star Trek: Discovery characters appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses List of Star Trek: Discovery characters in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: List of Star Trek: Discovery characters is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Lists of Star Trek characters, Lists of Star Trek people, Star Trek: Discovery characters, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for List of Star Trek: Discovery characters outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “List of Star Trek: Discovery characters” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study List of Star Trek: Discovery characters in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what List of Star Trek: Discovery characters means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain List of Star Trek: Discovery characters out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is List of Star Trek: Discovery characters in simple terms?

Why does List of Star Trek: Discovery characters matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study List of Star Trek: Discovery characters?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on List of Star Trek: Discovery characters.