son. A subplot involves Dr. Julian Bashir discovering that his old academic rival from medical school is due to visit Deep Space Nine. Competitive and nervous, Bashir is taken aback by her apparently outright ignoring him at Quark's. After an evening getting drunk with Chief O'Brien, Bashir summons his courage and approaches the rival, who reveals that the envied assignment she took, afforded to her by her superior class rank, turned out uninspiring; furthermore, she failed to recognize Bashir due to thinking he was in fact an Andorian. Meanwhile, she has been following Bashir's work with great enthusiasm and they end the episode discussing their medical research in depth. Production The Bajoran lightship was designed by Jim Martin working under production designer Herman Zimmerman. The special effect shots were done using computer generated imagery (CGI) produced by Industrial Light & Magic. Reception The episode has been noted for being optimistic, featuring what one review called "an enthusiasm for space exploration". Screen Rant rated it the 13th most hopeful episode of Star Trek television. In 2020, Io9 said this was one of the "must watch" episodes from the series remarking that it has "emotional, important father-son time between Sisko and his son". Releases This episode was released on October 2, 1998 in Japan as part of the half-season LaserDisc box set 3rd Season Vol. 2. The episode was released on June 3, 2003 in North America as part of the season 3 DVD box set. The DVD includes the featurette "Sailing Through the Stars: A Special Look at 'Explorers'", which featured discussion with the production designer Herman Zimmerman on the design of the lightship, as well as concept art from the episode. The episode was released again in 2017 with the complete series DVD box set, which again included the "Sailing Through the Stars" featurette. It was released as on VHS tape by Paramount Home Video (catalog number VHR4145), paired with "The Die is Cast" on the same videocassette. See also Spacecraft in Star Trek Accession (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) References External links Baraka card image at the official homepage of the Star Trek CCG. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (season 3) episodes 1995 American television episodes Television episodes directed by Cliff Bole