Tangential, this episode reminds me of the theme that Worf seems to lose crew or ships when he's put in command of something (hence the trope, The Worf Effect).

Anyway.... yeah, the aliens plot point really did not need to be in this. It could have been fine focused on how space exploration is inherently dangerous, connecting the show to real world exploration, and then maybe leave on an upbeat note about explorers are heroes or something.