Space, as they say, is big. Really big. Frank Sidebottom also says that Space is ace, and we can’t really argue with that, can we? Space is also, by its very nature, three dimensional.

This seems to passed by the writers of Star Trek. Events always seem to occur within a set plane. For example, Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country begins with the an explosion on the Klingon Moon Praxis producing a shockwave which only seems to travel in two dimensions.

The Praxis Wave

This wave progesses through space until it is encountered by the USS Excelsior and Captain Sulu, who turn into the wave rather than dodging out of its way. Surely the former helmsman of the Enterprise should remember about Up and Down?

The Excelsior, not going up or down.

Ok, I’ll concede that the Praxis wave is a pretty effect, but that is no excuse for ignoring the third dimension.

Time and agin, when ships rendezvous or do battle, they do so sharing a common idea of up and down.

All the right way up!

Now maybe this should be the case during diplomatic meetings, but it does seem a mite strange for a battle situation.

Klingons on the, erm, Port Stern!

In fact, the only instances I can find where ships are not aligned like this is when one of the ships is either out of control or has been disabled.

Can anyone actually give me a valid reason why this always happens, or alternately find an example that contradicts this?

More ships, just for good measure.