Jefferies Tube

Jefferies Tube

Jefferies tubes, in the Star Trek fictional universe, are narrow tunnels or corridors inside a starship. They can be vertically or horizontally oriented, and form a network that allows travel throughout large volumes of a starship even when the turbolifts are not functioning.

The term "Jefferies tube" was originally an inside joke among the original Star Trek production staff, a reference to Original Series art director Matt Jefferies, the man who designed the original starship Enterprise. The term was used frequently throughout Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. and Star Trek: Voyager.

Another in-joke reportedly appearing in the Jefferies tube sets on the original Star Trek series are labels on the pipes marked "G.N.D.N.". This stands for "Goes Nowhere, Does Nothing." The labels are usually written so small as to be invisible to the audience, but can be seen in certain scenes from the Star Trek films.