Moore grew up to be a writer who co-wrote the screenplay for the 1996 film "Star Trek: Generations," in which Kirk went to his death.

Despite killing one of the biggest heroes in the "Star Trek" franchise, Moore professes, "I have always been a huge fan of the series, especially the original 'Star Trek' series."

That interest sparked Moore's career as a television writer and producer. He mainly works on science-fiction programs.

"I became a science-fiction writer, but I don't consider myself a science-fiction writer. I am a writer who just keeps working on this particular canvas," Moore says between sips of coffee during a July meeting with television critics. The award-winning writer's latest sci-fi project is an updated version of the '70s television series "Battlestar Galactica." The four-part miniseries launches at 9 p.m. today on the Sci Fi cable channel.

Moore watched the original "Battlestar Galactica." He was familiar with the show's story about the last survivors of a planet cruising the galaxies in search of a new home.

He knew the 21st century version of "Galactica," produced in a post-9/11 world, would have to be different. His approach was to have the updated version explore humanity. He wanted it to examine in detail what happens to a people in the face of an unimaginable catastrophe.

"You wake up one morning and your world has changed forever. What happens next to you? What do you do? How do you react to it? What does it say about you?" Moore says. "This was going to be an opportunity and a challenge to write something that would be meaningful in science fiction." The new approach was the reason that veteran actor Edward James Olmos agreed to portray Commander Adama, the role first played by Lorne Greene.

"Ron wrote a very, very strong script that dealt more with the humanity in the characters than it did with the special effects and the ongoing understanding of sci-fi," Olmos says. "This story is not your normal storytelling. It's more character-driven than plot-driven. The characters are not the normal kind of heroic heroes that you would see. They're ordinary people that are cast into situations that are extraordinary."

An example of Moore's updated approach is the change of gender for one of the major characters. In the original series, the charismatic Dirk Benedict played the womanizing Starbuck. He and best buddy Apollo (Richard Hatch) roamed the universe conquering females.

The new Starbuck is played by Katee Sackhoff. Moore made the change because he thought the idea of having Starbuck continue to be a macho rogue pilot was too much of a cliche.

"It's become more part and parcel of the way things are done in today's world but hasn't been explored very often on camera," Moore says of his approach to showing women in the military. "It seemed a richer place to go."