"Blink of an Eye" is the twelfth episode from the sixth season of the science fiction television series Star Trek: Voyager, 132nd episode overall. The show is set in the 24th century of the Star Trek universe, aboard the USS Voyager spaceship on a decades long journey back to Earth. The episode follows the crew's interaction with a world where time passes rapidly, allowing them to witness most of its inhabitants' history. For the inhabitants, Voyager is fixed in the night sky, inspiring them as the eons pass. The science-driven aspect of this concept is time dilation, which is a real-world physical effect that must even be accounted for regarding the time of communications signals from satellites in Earth orbit. This television episode debuted on United Paramount Network (UPN) on January 19, 2000. Plot The starship Voyager approaches an alien world which is enveloped in a tachyon field, giving it an odd temporal nature. To learn more about the planet, Captain Kathryn Janeway orders the ship to move closer, but Voyager becomes trapped in orbit by the planet's magnetic field. While the crew concocts an escape plan, Seven of Nine surveys the planet and discovers that Voyagers presence is causing occasional quakes. Further scans reveal that time passes at a much more rapid rate on the planet and it is inhabited by primitive humanoids. As hours on Voyager pass, centuries pass on the planet and its humanoid inhabitants reach a level of technology similar to 20th-century Earth. As the crew discusses the unusually rapid technological progress of the species, a radio message is broadcast at Voyager. Tom Paris wants to reply but Tuvok points out that the species has not developed warp technology; a reply would be a violation of the Prime Directive. Janeway suggests a covert one-person mission to the planet. As he would not be affected by the change in the passage of time because he is a hologram, the Doctor volunteers for the mission, which, due to the time differential, lasts three years from the Doctor's perspective, even though he is only gone from the ship for minutes. Upon returning, he reports that Voyager, simply by its presence, has encouraged the society to advance as the humanoids attempt to contact the "sky-ship". While some strive to establish peaceful contact, others are developing increasingly powerful weaponry to shoot down Voyager and stop the earthquakes. The humanoids develop technology