SEATTLE —It’s been 50 years since the Starship Enterprise began its five-year mission to boldly go where no man had gone before, and Seattle’s EMP Museum is marking the anniversary with an exhibition honoring “Star Trek” and its influence on pop culture and society.

“Star Trek: Exploring New Worlds” opens Saturday and is filled with geeky artifacts from all the Star Trek series and movies – from sections of the original Enterprise bridge to a costume worn by Benedict Cumberbatch in the latest movie.

Seattle's EMP Museum is shining the spotlight on plenty of memorabilia and on the cultural influence of "Star Trek." David Scrivner/Iowa City Press-Citizen via AP)

One uniform worn by every captain and one of only two phasers still in existence from the original series is on display among more than 100 props and artifacts. Keep an eye out for the tribbles that apparently escaped from their display case. There are half a dozen scattered around.

Some of the set pieces are clearly showing their age, which curator Brooks Peck says is a sign of the less-than-ideal way some of them have been stored in garages and transported from collector to collector.

But the new exhibit is much more than artifacts and costumes. The museum does its best to illustrate how Star Trek was both a reflection of its times and a catalyst for social change – from a starring role by a black actress to a Russian character featured during the Cold War and interracial and same-sex relationships.

The exhibit opens the same week that CBS released a teaser for the new Star Trek TV series and a few months before a new Star Trek movie premiers.

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