 On stardate 3141 @.@ 9 , the Federation starship USS Enterprise finds the derelict SS Botany Bay floating in space . Botany Bay was launched from Earth in the 1990s . A landing party comprising Captain James T. Kirk ( William Shatner ) , Doctor Leonard McCoy ( DeForest Kelley ) , Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott ( James Doohan ) , and historian Lieutenant Marla McGivers ( Madlyn Rhue ) beams over to the freighter . The landing party finds a cargo of 84 humans , 72 of whom are alive in suspended animation after nearly 200 years . McGivers identifies the group 's leader . The occupant begins to revive , but Kirk brings him to Enterprise for a medical examination when his chamber fails . 
