merchant@dartvax.UUCP (Peter Merchant) (09/13/84)
Your answers:
1) Scotty cannot blow up the rocket because it would change history.
Kirk, we discover, knows that the rocket is supposed to malfunction.
If it goes up and Scotty phasers it, it disappears in a flash of
special effects and governments start asking nosy questions. By
having it malfunction "the way it is supposed to", they don't connect
the Enterprise to it. (By the way, I think this was mentioned in the
episode.)
2) Possibly the same way they did it for "Tomorrow is Yesteday". (ie,
hit a "Black star", etc...)
3 and 4 supposedly didn't need answers, so...
5) The reason the person didn't get any credit was that she didn't have
any lines. She just sat there and looked sexy for a quick shot or two.
Hollywood is not in the habit of giving screen credit for "Extras", no
matter how good looking they are.
Which brings up my question: In "Tomorrow is Yesterday" they spotted the
Enterprise on radar because it was flying low. Supposedly, "Assignment:
Earth" was supposed to take place in the early 70s (ie, near future)
where they would have improved space tracking facilities. Why didn't
anyone notice the lumbering starship up among the heavens?
--
"What was that flash, Orville?" Peter Merchantmnw@trwrba.UUCP (Michael N. Washington) (09/17/84)
Article from Douglas Walker is essentially correct. The Enterprise could use the deflector shields to shield herself from ordinary radar beams which she did to prevent detection by '60's radar. The episode that they were detected by radar is the episode where they had to escape the black hole and were hurled through time back to the sixties. They never used Guardian to send the Enterprise back though. Guardian was only used during the episode with Joan Collins when McCoy changed history and Kirk and Spock had to undo the damage to history.