Washington, D.C. -- Beams Yourself Up To Star Trek Exhibit

WASHINGTON - We took a carship to the starship, proceeding at less than warp speed.

Lt. Libby was the helmsperson. Science Officer Alex searched for signs of life and a place to eat. Communications Officer Minna communicated to Visiting Communications Officer Esther.

I - Capt. Kibitz - was in charge, at least when they let me be.

We were in the van on our way to the "Star Trek" exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum, an exhibit based on the Star Trek television series.

No one in my family is a Trekkie. I cannot quote from the show's scripts, am quite sure that Tribbles are a breakfast cereal, and most likely will think "Doctor," not "Mister," if somebody mentions the name Spock. But I thought the exhibit wonderful.

The "Star Trek" exhibit is so popular that free same-day passes printed with specific times are required to enter - the only Air and Space museum exhibit ever to have such restrictions. There are sometimes morning lines of people waiting on Independence Avenue outside the museum.

We learned from an exasperated woman that the first passes available were for 5 p.m. And that just four passes remained. So we split up, taking two 5 p.m. passes and three for 5:15.

Forty-five minutes later, there were no passes left.

There is no simple way to avoid this passes snaggle without arriving early or buying tickets in advance through Ticketmaster outlets in Washington D.C. for $2.50. (If you do not live in the Washington area, the only other option is ordering tickets - a maximum of four - at least 10 days in advance of your visit by calling 1-800-551-7328. The price is $3.50 per ticket plus a $1 handling charge per order. They will be mailed to you.

The Air and Space folks are moving about 2,500 people a day through the exhibit and say it would not be safe to push more through. They suggest trying to arrive a little before opening time to get morning tickets.

No one has been turned away for same-day tickets if he or she has arrived before the museum opens. Getting there after noon increases the possibility of being shut out for that day, and advance tickets are not available at the museum.

But if you're flexible, buying in advance really shouldn't be necessary. Even though we had nearly five hours to kill, there's plenty to do at the Air and Space museum and there are six other Smithsonian institutions nearby.

Both my children had been to the Air and Space museum before, so the multitude of planes and spaceships were of little interest. Instead, we chose lunch and a walk across the mall to visit the National Museum of American History.

With our helmsperson navigating and tourist maps of the Smithsonian institutions displayed at street corners, getting lost was all but impossible. Besides, there were thousands of tourists just like us, walking to and from museums. Just follow someone and you'll be led to a museum.

We walked the seven or eight blocks through the mall to the American History Museum. By the way, there's a Natural History Museum as well, so don't confuse them.

At the American History museum, Minna was chosen to demonstrate an 1874 printing press invented in Philadelphia. She and Esther oohed at Dorothy's ruby red slippers from "The Wizard of Oz," and at the biggest doll house I've ever seen. Alex and I were more interested in a World War II exhibit of Japanese incarceration on the West Coast.

There was more to see, but the clock was ticking. Time to walk back and see the Starship Enterprise.

In the end, Minna liked it more than Alex and I liked it more than both of them.

I liked the fact that the props were ingenious and cheesy at the same time - some of Dr. McCoy's medical instruments were pieces of painted wood; Spock's ear tips could have been made with Play-Doh; the Tribbles - those cuddly, little furry creatures - looked like discarded fur muffs.

I liked that the costumes were dated and futuristic at the same time: McCoy's medical tunic, the Miranda Jones dress worn by actress Diana Muldaur in the episode called "Is There in Truth No Beauty?" and a jumpsuit worn by actress Sherri Jackson in "What Little Girls are Made Of."

There were also Capt. James Kirk's gold shirt, black pants, belt, holster and phaser; Lt. Uhura's very short communications officer skirt, and uniforms of the Klingons and Romulans, other peoples of the galaxy.

The transporter room, where Engineer Scott followed Kirk's order, "Beam me up, Scotty," is re-created with life-size photos of Kirk, Spock and McCoy, and space for you and your family to beam up (or down) as well - or, at worst, have a picture taken of you doing it. (Please note that you will not be beamed anywhere. More than one youngster began stamping on the floor, waiting for something, anything, to happen. Nothing happens.)

Models of the Enterprise and a Klingon battle cruiser, tricorders and communicators, photographs of scenes from the 1966-69 television series and script pages drew the attention of adult visitors more than that of children, who flitted about.

A 25-minute film mixes snatches of episodes, and actors, writers, producers and creator Gene Roddenberry talking about the show and the creative process. Visitors watch it quietly, almost reverentially. The film has Uhura, the black communications officer, talking about television's first interracial kiss between her and Kirk - all rather tame stuff now.

The film, the models, the clothes, the photographs: Somehow "Star Trek: The Exhibition" involves the visitor, drawing him or her like a tracking beam. I don't want to wax too philosophical about the social relevance of "Star Trek," of its shows about civil rights and the Vietnam War, because I'm not sure how significant they really were.

But this show has undeniably become part of the language, part of the culture. Actor James Doohan, who played Engineer Scott, has said that he often gets stopped by people who say they became an engineer because of him. ---------------------------------------------------------------

If you go:

The National Air and Space Museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m daily. From now until Labor Day, the hours will be extended - 9:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Admission is free. The exhibit runs through Labor Day.

For information on the museum or any of the Smithsonian institutions, or for a calendar of summer exhibitions, call 1-202-357-2700.