In the Star Trek fictional universe, a phaser is a beam (or directed-energy) weapon most commonly used by the Federation Starfleet. According to The Star Trek Encyclopedia, the term phaser stands for phased energy rectification and describes the general process involved in its energy release (see Mechanics). In the original scripts for Star Trek: The Original Series (TOS), the energy weapons first used by the crew were laser. However, this was ch...
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In the Star Trek fictional universe, a phaser is a beam (or directed-energy) weapon most commonly used by the Federation Starfleet. According to The Star Trek Encyclopedia, the term phaser stands for phased energy rectification and describes the general process involved in its energy release (see Mechanics). In the original scripts for Star Trek: The Original Series (TOS), the energy weapons first used by the crew were laser. However, this was changed to phaser shortly after the first pilot episode, "The Cage", was filmed (and becoming a weapons innovation in the late 23rd century), on the grounds that a laser could not possibly produce the explosive effects seen in the episode. Earliest series outlines describe the standard sidearm as a projectile weapon that had a rotating cylinder which held different bullets for different needs, much like the DS Gun from Logan's Run). Phasers are available in a variety of sizes, ranging from small hand-held units to large phaser.
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