Treknicalities

In 1964 some students at Pamona College put forth the theory that 47 was the most common random number there is. It became something of an inside joke at the campus until one day when Pomona College alumnus Joe Menosky began writing for Star Trek: The Next Generation in the show’s fourth season. Joe started including the number 47 in his stories and before long other writers were doing the same thing, ensuring that 47 is, in fact, the most common random number in the Star Trek universe.

The number 47 (and its reciprocal, 74) occurs randomly in Star Trek before TNG‘s fourth season, however, if you see the number 47 after the TNG episode, “Family”, it was probably put there as a reference to the Pamona College in-joke. Here are 47 47s from Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Family

1. When drinking wine at dinner with his brother’s family, Picard thinks he’s drinking the ’46, but it’s really the ‘47.
2.  At the end of the episode, Picard’s brother gives him a bottle of the ‘47.

Brothers

3. Data’s made-up access code contains a few 47s. “1-7-3-4-6-7-3-2-1-4-7-6-Charlie-3-2-7-8-9-7-7-7-6-4-3-Tango-7-3-2-Victor- 7-3-1-1-7-8-8-8-7-3-2-4-7-6-7-8-9-7-6-4-3-7-6-lock.”

Legacy

4. The escape pod is located on level 3C, section 547.

The Loss

5. Data says a velocity of warp six will bring them to T’lli Beta in 6 days, 13 hours, 47 minutes.

Data’s Day

6. Data orders feline supplement 74.

Devil’s Due

7. Stardate: 44474.5.

Clues

8. Ensign McKnight said at one time: “…direction 285 point 147.”

Identity Crisis

9. The recording of the log played in this episode commenced on stardate 40164.7, as stated by the officer recording it and as shown on the screen.
10. Geordi asks for a replay of time index 1447-1458.

The Nth Degree

11. The probe will overload the shields in 47 seconds.
12. Midway through the episode, the stardate is 44705.3, and at the end it is 44721.9.

Qpid

13. During his talk on Tagan archaeology, Picard states that to date, there had been 947 expeditions to Tagus, and 74 of them revealed findings of importance.

The Drumhead

14. Picard convenes the hearing on Simon Tarses on stardate 44780.

The Mind’s Eye

15. LaForge, under the influence of brainwashing techniques, orders the power flow of a transporter rerouted. The computer replies, “Acknowledged. Power has been rerouted through auxiliary power distribution system code number 44762.”

In Theory

16. The ship at one point is 4.7 million kilometers from the perimeter of the nebula.

SEASON FIVE

Darmok

17. This episode takes place on Stardate 45047.2.
18. Worf reports a particle gradient of 4 over 7 from the shuttle.
19. There are 47 entries for the word “Darmok” in the ship’s computer.

Disaster

20. Look closely at the small panel Riker taps in Engineering for a tiny 47.

The Game

21. When Wesley encounters her in the turbolift, Ogawa says she is on level 47 of the game.

New Ground

22. Riker says they will have to evacuate sections 24 through 47 on decks 35 and 38.
23. At one point, Geordi talks about how Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier on October 27, 1947.

Conundrum

24. The Cliffs of Heaven are holodeck program 47C.
25. There are 47 sentry pods guarding the Lysian central command.
26. When Data and Geordi are working in engineering, the second button from the top on the screen Data is typing on is a 47.

The Outcast

27. Riker views the J’Naii building with a pair of binoculars; the viewing field has a small number ending in 47 in the upper-right-hand corner.

Cause and Effect

28. When Worf folds in the poker game he is showing an ace, a seven and a four.
29. There is a button labeled “947” on a console in Engineering seen when Data is keying in a string of 3s on the monitor.
30. At the end of the episode, Worf states that they have been caught in the time loop for 17.4 days.

The First Duty

31. Captain Satelk explains that the NAVCON satellite shot of the Nova Squadron’s ships in the Kolvoord formation was taken 7 seconds after they finished the Yeager loop. The accident occurred 4 seconds later.

Imaginary Friend

32. The nebula is labeled FGC-47.
33. Data says an irregular lattice composed of approximately 47 million strands of energy is within the nebula.

I, Borg

34. The invasive program image is labeled “topological anomaly 4747“.

SEASON SIX

Time’s Arrow, Part II

35. Twain tells Picard to to use quantum setting .047 on the phaser to activate the portal.

Relics

36. Dr. Crusher deadpans, “Not bad for a man of 147,” about Scotty’s health. (This is a coincidence; he really was 147, according to the birth date speculated in the Star Trek Chronology before the episode was produced.)

Schisms

37. Lieutenant Hagler’s quarters are Deck 9, Section 19–the numbers on the door are “09 1947.”
38. When the group is on the holodeck trying to recreate their memories of the alien lab, the computer states there are 5,047 designs of tables on record.

True Q

39. Amanda already knows she is on “deck 7, section 4.”
40. Data says “the temperature in the reaction chamber has increased by 47 percent.”

Rascals

41. This episode features a computer animated fish known as a humuhumunukunukuapua’a on a monitor in Classroom 7. To the right of this monitor, there is a row of numbered blue buttons. The second button from the top is, of course, 47.

A Fistful of Datas

42. The computer system affected by Data’s malfunction is subroutine C-47.

Chain of Command, Part II

43. LaForge uses quantum resonance scan 047 on the Cardassian ship.

Aquiel

44. Aquiel is stationed at Relay Station 47.

Birthright, Part I

45. Data is unconscious for 47 seconds.
46. 73 Klingons live in the compound. Worf’s arrival makes it 74.

Frame of Mind

47. Riker is being held in ward 47.

This is by no means a complete list. There are not-necessarily random 47s in every Star Trek series and movie made after The Next Generation, as well as a few genuinely random 47s in The Original Series. There is a more complete list of 47s at schlock.net.

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