M-11 was an inhabited world in the Alpha Quadrant. This world was located in Federation space and was the home of Starbase 11 from the 23rd to the late 24th centuries. M-11 was located near O'Ryan's Planet, Benecia, and Beta Niobe. It was six days' travel at maximum warp from the Talos star group, approximately two light years away.
The busy orbit of M-11
The world was illuminated by at least one sun, and located very close to several other bodies, including a large world with an imposing ring system which dominated its sky. It had a breathable atmosphere, but the surroundings of the starbase appeared bleak and lifeless.
The USS Enterprise visited M-11 on two occasions in 2267, once on stardate 2947.3 and again on stardate 3012.4. (TOS: "Court Martial", "The Menagerie, Part I"; SNW: "Strange New Worlds")
Appendices[]
Background information[]
This planet's quadrant of origin is inferred based on the position of Starbase 11 as seen in the star chart appearing in the Star Trek: Picard episode "Maps and Legends".
The original planetscape
Despite appearing in two episodes, this planet was not directly named on-screen. The planet was identified as "M-11" in the script for "The Menagerie", where originally the starbase was called "Starbase M-11". The name was evidently carried over from "Court Martial", which features an establishment there named the M-11 Starbase Club, which does display the name "M-11" on-screen. However, that episode's first draft story outline (dated 2 May 1966) and a revised draft story outline (dated 26 June 1966) referred to the planet as "811" (while the base was named "Star Base 811" and the episode itself had the working title "Court Martial at Star Base 811"). The first draft of the story outline also depicted the planet as being protected by armed patrol ships.
In a six-page memo of script notes that Gene Roddenberry sent Gene L. Coon (on 15 August 1966), Roddenberry proposed depicting this planet as a background in a matte painting which he imagined appearing in "Court Martial" (meanwhile still titled "Court Martial at Star Base 811"). He also used the document, which concerned the first draft script of the episode, to suggest using a planet set on Desilu Stage 10 to feature as views of the planet surface seen from windows in the starbase. Roddenberry, in yet another note from the memo, also commented on the use of orbital shots of the planet, stating they were to be stock shots. He added, "We cannot handle the night and day routine unless it became absolutely vital to a script."
Judging by on-screen evidence only, it seemed quite plausible that the starbase was on a moon of a larger, ringed planet, visible in the sky in "The Menagerie". However, the scripts of "Court Martial" and "The Menagerie" described this world itself as a planet. In the revised final draft script of "Court Martial", a "special note" at the start of the script stated, "All Planet Locations – though not presently indicated in body of script – are NIGHT." Furthermore, the script of "The Menagerie" characterized M-11 as a "dead world" with weird and desolate purple landscape.
The surface of the planet was depicted with a matte painting, which was created by Matte Artist Albert Whitlock. He painted the image with oils on Masonite. (Star Trek: The Original Series 365, p. 089)
Apocrypha[]
This world was named Yko in Decipher's Star Trek Roleplaying Game supplement Starfleet Operations Manual.
External link[]
- Yko at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works