Saturn

Saturn (or Sol VI) is the sixth planet of the Sol system.

Location Sol system, Sol sector (Sector 001), Alpha Quadrant

Moons

The number of known moons orbiting Saturn including Janus, Mimas, and Titan. (ENT: "The Council"; TNG: "The First Duty"; ENT: "Strange New World")

Historical

During the early 21st century the first manned Earth-Saturn probe was launched, under the command of NASA's Colonel Shaun Geoffrey Christopher. (TOS: "Tomorrow is Yesterday") Accompanying Christopher were astronauts Fontana and O'Herlihy. (ENT: "First Flight")

According to Spaceflight Chronology, this mission was conducted on the UNSS Lewis and Clark. Signs of past mining activity was discovered from the second and fourth moons of Saturn, first proof of the existence of extraterrestrial intelligent life. This last detail and "One Small Step" would put the mission after 2032. By the early 24th century a shuttle route had been established "from Jupiter to Saturn and back, once a day, every day," know as "the Jovian Run." Both Edward Jellico and Geordi La Forge used to pilot shuttles on this route early in their Starfleet careers. (TNG: "Chain of Command, Part II")

In early 2367 the invading Borg cube passed Saturn on its way towards Earth. (TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II")

In 2368, the Nova Squadron was set to perform a demonstration near Saturn that was be transmitted to that year's Starfleet Academy graduation ceremonies. (TNG: "The First Duty")

[edit] Political Saturn and its moons are within Federation territory.

While it is unclear if Saturn itself is inhabited or not, a reference made, in TOS: "Mudd's Women", to Saturnius harem girls might suggest that it somehow is. The necessity of a daily shuttle run (r.f. "Chain of Command, Part II", would also seem to support this possibility.

Geographical

Saturn's rings are often considered to be the pearl of the Sol system, the origin of which is the planet's beautiful appearance together with its distinct ring-system. Like Jupiter, Saturn is a class J gas giant.

When she was a child, Rain Robinson was able to see Saturn's rings through her brother's telescope. She used to think that they looked like jewels from a pirate's treasure, All she ever wanted since then was to reach up and touch them. This was when she realized, she wanted to become an astronomer. (VOY: "Future's End, Part II")

In 1996, the Griffith Observatory featured an exhibit about Saturn. (VOY: "Future's End")

Saturn was seen on a map depicting the Sol system watched by Nomad. (TOS: "The Changeling")

Saturn was featured in a nonsense-two-line poem that Charlie Evans forced Spock to recite in 2266: "Saturn rings around my head, down a road that's Martian red. (TOS: "Charlie X")

According to Arex, the cosmic cloud encountered by the USS Enterprise in 2269 had a diameter twice that of Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune combined. (TAS: "One of Our Planets Is Missing")

An image of Saturn's rings, taken by the Voyager 2 probe in 1981, was displayed in astrometrics aboard the USS Voyager in the year 2374. (VOY: "Year of Hell", et al.)

A graphic of Saturn and the orbits of four of its moons was seen in TNG: "The First Duty" (depicted above). The outermost and largest moon was identified as Titan. The remaining three inner moons weren't named but it is very likely that they are Rhea, Dione, and Tethys, as they are the largest moons with smaller orbits than Titan (for instance, Iapetus is larger than both Tethys and Dione but its orbit is further away from Saturn than Titan's) and were all discovered in the 17th century and are well established. Teero Anaydis kept a photograph of Saturn in his home in 2377. (VOY: "Repression")