 A Galaxy class starship docked at one of Deep Space 9's upper pylons |
 A Vor'cha class starship docked at an upper pylon. |
 A Danube class runabout at an upper pylon. |
The Defiant narrowly misses a lower docking pylon. |
  Deep Space 9 missing a upper pylon. |
A pylon is a large area of Cardassian space stations such as Deep Space 9 and Empok Nor. These types of stations have six pylons, known as upper and lower pylons.
At the end of the pylons are docking bays, where large starships can dock with the station.
The Starfleet and Bajoran crew of Deep Space 9 often had trouble with that station's pylons. Miles O'Brien was often instrumental in getting them working again. (DS9: "Whispers" et al)
The upper pylons, especially Upper Pylon Two, were popular with people wanting to get a good view of the Bajoran wormhole and ships departing the station. (DS9: "Crossfire", "The Visitor", "By Inferno's Light")
A few weeks after the Federation took control of the station in 2369, upper pylon three had to be shut down for maintenance for forty-eight hours. Several weeks after that, a failed power transfer grid caused all the upper pylons to lose power. (DS9: "Past Prologue", "A Man Alone")
Later that year, when a computer program called "Pup" inhabited the station's computer, Odo and Lwaxana Troi were trapped in a turbolift in Upper Pylon Three. (DS9: "The Forsaken")
In early 2370, the Tygarian freighter Nanut docked at Upper Pylon Two. Several weeks later, all of the airlocks on Deep Space 9's pylons were sealed due to a plasma disruption. (DS9: "The Homecoming", "Invasive Procedures")
Later that year, the Cardassian freighter Bok'Nor docked at Upper Pylon One. Shortly after leaving the pylon, it was destroyed by a Maquis bomb. (DS9: "The Maquis, Part I")
In early 2371, Jadzia Dax spent many hours an upper pylon, installing a new sensor relay. (DS9: "Equilibrium")
In an alternate timeline, a Romulan warbird decloaked off Lower Pylon Two and disabled Deep Space 9's shield generators. (DS9: "Visionary")
When the Klingons invaded Deep Space 9 in early 2372, one the areas they beamed into was Lower Pylon Three. (DS9: "The Way of the Warrior")
The IKS Drovana was towed to Upper Pylon Three by the USS Defiant after it was mysteriously disabled. (DS9: "Sons of Mogh")
In late 2372, a rogue Jem'Hadar group planted and detonated a bomb in Upper Pylon Three, destroying it. (DS9: "To the Death")
The Defiant narrowly missed hitting a pylon in 2373, after the starship's systems were damaged by Michael Eddington's cascade virus. The ship was being manually piloted by Jadzia Dax who was able to make the ship do a half roll, missing the pylon. (DS9: "For the Uniform")