“Space: the final frontier.” These are the famous words uttered by Captain James T. Kirk in the opening sequence of Star Trek: The Original Series. Originally broadcasted in 1966, the three-season-long series recounts the numerous adventures of the crew of the Starship Enterprise as they venture into deep space. This amateur film series tells a similar, if alternative, story: “Interstellar Journey.” The films follow the crew of the USS Constitution, led by Captain John Powers, Lt. Comm. Travis, Lt. Comm. Mathews, and Lt. Comm. Traft, as they search for new life in outer space. Each episode was filmed, directed, produced, and acted by five young friends in Nacogdoches. This installment, “Star of Death,” follows the USS Constitution crew as they escape black holes and fight Saturn’s gravitational pull. O’Brien Stanley, who plays Captain Powers, later became a professor at Lamar University, focusing in film and video production, popular culture, and science fiction.

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TFC 1970s 1970’s O’Brien Stanley Stanley, O’Brien Nacogdoches Nacogdoches County short film “Star of Death” amateur film home movie spoof Star Trek sci-fi science fiction outer space space travel space interstellar journey “Interstellar Journey” Stanley Brice Mathews Hartman Production Earth Galileo Space Station Mars President planets stars galaxy set skit boys young men space ship star ship map ion engines Jupiter control panel mission control control center

navigation navigation panel computers USS Constitution voyages new life exploration year 2289 United States of America deep space deep space star ship the final frontier Captain John H. Powers ion transfer compartment Federation of Planets scientific exploration alien life mission board meeting ion engines Captain’s Log Captain’s Quarters distress signals gyroscopes black hole damage report fuel supply funeral rare blood types gravitational pull orbit James Brice Brice, James LT. Comm. John Travis Edward Hartman Hartman, Edward LT. Comm. Ed Hartman Mark Mathews Mathews, Mark Lt. Comm. Mark Mathews

Captain John Powers Bob Williams Williams, Bob Lt. Comm. Mark Traft Perry Greer Greer, Perry Nancy Alexander Alexander, Nancy Murv Potemkin Elnita Stanley Stanley, Elnita Stanley Studios SFA University G.A.F. ST/802 Kodachrome II Ektachrome 160 G Type G.A.F.ASA 25/40 Panasonic bloopers