In the Star Trek universe, Captain Kathryn Janeway is born in Bloomington, Indiana, on May 20, 2336, rises through Starfleet as a scientist, and becomes captain of the starship Voyager. In the series' pilot, after Voyager is stranded in the Delta Quadrant, Janeway learns that the technology that brought her crew across the galaxy could also send them home, but using it would leave an entire planet's population in peril, so she orders its destruction and accepts a long journey back to Earth. That choice helps define her as a leader marked by intelligence, tenacity, integrity, adaptability, and commitment to her crew, while the series explores questions of civil rights, artificial intelligence, sentience, and the value of one life over another. As the first lead woman to take the captain's chair in a Star Trek television series, Janeway broke gender barriers in 1990s television and became a symbol of possibility who inspired women and a generation of scientists, artists, politicians, astronauts, and writers. Star Trek: Voyager debuted on January 16, 1995, as the franchise's fifth television series, following Janeway and a crew drawn from Starfleet and the Maquis after both ships are flung seventy thousand light-years from home and must unite for a journey expected to last the rest of their lives, a journey that ultimately ends with Voyager returning home. The character of Janeway was developed in part by scriptwriter and executive producer Jeri Taylor, who spent part of her childhood in Bloomington, graduated from Indiana University, chose Bloomington as Janeway's birthplace, and wrote the novel Mosaic about Janeway's childhood and coming of age. Kate Mulgrew portrayed Janeway for seven years, giving the character a balance of firm leadership, compassion, scientific passion, and steadfast principles.