Prime Directive, The - A moral and military code of behavior on the sci-fi series STAR TREK/NBC/1966-69. Also known as Starfleet General Order 1, the prime directive established rules of protocol for the members of the Federation of Planets as they traveled throughout the galaxy seeking out new life and civilizations. The prime directive emphatically forbid any Starfleet personnel from intervening in the normal cultural development of another planet.

There were occasions, however, when the prime directive was not followed. For example, on episode No. 54 "Omega Glory" Captain Ronald Tracey provided phaser weapons to warring peoples on the planet Omega IV.

Other episodes featuring violations of the prime directive included "Return of the Archons," "A Taste of Armageddon," "The Apple," "A Private Little War," "Justice," "Pen Pals," "Who Watches The Watchers," "Devil's Due," "Bread & Circuses" and "Captive Pursuit."

Other Starfleet general orders and regulations include:

• General Order 7 - Forbids contact with planet Talos IV-death penalty imposed on trespassers

• General Order 12 - Take precaution when approaching unknown spacecraft.

• General Order 15  - No flag officer shall beam into hazardous area without armed escort.

• General Order 24 - Destroy a planet's surface within a certain period of time-unless countermanded.

• Regulation 46A - If transmissions are being monitored during battle, no un-coded messages on an open channel.

• Order 104, Section B - Chain of Command rule that enables an officer to relieve an other officer from duty.

• Order 105, Section C - Enables ship's physician to declare an officer unfit for duty.

In later episodes of the STAR TREK franchise, a "Temporal Prime Directives" was initiated. This rule forbid anyone who traveled into the past or future to reveal any particulars from that timeline, because such information could possible influence or contaminate the current timeline. The Temporal Directive was used on the Star Trek Voyager episode #157  "Shattered." The plot: Voyager passes through a spatial rift and Chakotay discovers that different parts of his spacecraft are existing in different timelines. After he rallies crew members from past and future to return the ship to its originals state, he refuses to tell Captain Janeway what happened declaring a "Temporal Directive" prerogative. See also - ROBOTS: "Robocop"