The holodeck character Badgey is a parody of the unpopular Microsoft Office virtual assistant Clippie, which was introduced in 1997 and discontinued in 2007.
The ship that Fletcher gets promoted and transferred to, the U.S.S. Titan, is commanded by Captain William T. Riker which he earned at the conclusion of Star Trek: Nemesis (2002). The Titan is a Luna-class starship, which were designed shortly after the discovery of the Bajoran wormhole specifically for exploring the Gamma Quadrant. However initially only the prototype for the class, the U.S.S. Luna, was built due to the outbreak of the Dominion War and Starfleet needed to focus on building starships that were of a proven design. After the end of the war the Luna-class program was restarted, with some design upgrades, and the first ship in the new program to be built was the Titan. The Luna-class is 450 meters in length with a crew of 350, a maximum speed of warp 9.99, the latest sensors and science labs, six phaser banks, two photon torpedo launchers and a forward quantum torpedo launcher the Luna-class combined the speed, maneuverability and exploration capabilities of an Intrepid-class with the firepower and tactical capabilities of a Sovereign-class starship making the Luna-class an excellent all-around ship for deep space exploration, reconnaissance, science and long-range tactical missions.
The character of the Scavenger Captain is voiced by actor J.G. Hertzler who played Klingon General (and then Chancellor) Martok in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993), Star Trek: Armada (2000), Star Trek: Armada II (2001) and Star Trek Online (2010). He also played Advocate Kolos in Judgment (2003), a Bird-of-Prey captain in Borderland (2004), Lurok in Star Trek: Elite Force II (2003), a Hirogen fighter in Tsunkatse (2000), Laas in Chimera (1999) and Captain of the U.S.S. Saratoga in Emissary (1993)
The wrecked freighter is an Antares type freighter as seen in Charlie X (1966), The Ultimate Computer (1968) and More Tribbles, More Troubles (1973).
Rutherford and Tendi are trapped in a blizzard on the holodeck because of a computer glitch; similar to how McCoy, Uhura, and Sulu were trapped on the Enterprise's recreation deck in The Practical Joker (1974).