I think something that I hadn't fully appreciated before was Picard's nearly throw-away line "we work to better ourselves and the rest of humanity" as a summary of humanity's post-scarcity "purpose." It seemed at first like such a vague statement that I was sure it was the kind of hand-waving non-answer that let the writers get away with having heroes be the unambiguous "good guys" without all the baggage of them upholding an empire or a capitalist machine of exploitation or any of the problematic historical structures we're still struggling with today. But the more I thought about it, the more I wondered: Really what *would* a society based around enrichment of experience look like? How would people really behave in a post-scarcity society? And I realized that a whole species of beings who have been raised since birth to prioritize experimenting with their full potential to explore questions like "why are we here?" would absolutely have a kick-ass space exploration program. But space exploration would only be a part of humanity's goals. It happens that space exploration is one of the sexiest and best-adapted to adventure/drama television, so it makes sense why the franchise focuses on it, but there would of course be so many people working to answer these "big questions" in lots of other ways too: interspecies dialogue and exchange programs to discover how other species and their cultures see themselves in the universe; deep dives into Earth's own history to fully and honestly interrogate past humans' nature and desires and fears; imaginative story-telling and creative exploration, to attempt to touch all corners of humans' ability to see other possible worlds; and just generally deep reflection and meditation to learn how humans can conquer our own internal demons. Space exploration looks the best on screen, and cleverly it makes sense that the people who have chosen that career path and way of life may necessarily have de-prioritized those other pursuits - explaining why our hero ship crews often seem like less than stellar examples of exemplary human art, communication, relationship, and self-reflection. But that just ultimately makes them more approachable to us, the audience, living in the crummy pre-utopian era of artificial scarcity and inequity. This is obviously a stretch, but I'm pleased to be able to put their aspirations in a context that fits with canon without betraying the dream of the world they're supposed to live in. I hope we get there one day!
Very interesting observation and well put. I like how it puts to rest the claim made by Cracked that the Federation is so stagnant and aimless post scarcity that its members rely on space exploration just to give them something new to brighten their lives. On the contrary, space exploration is but one expression of a dynamic, inquiring and creative society that is exploring and experiencing everything. I might use your analysis as the centre around which different attitudes are mentioned in Star Trek series ie. Sisko explaining humanity and corporeal existence to the Prophets; The Fundamentalists and their view that the Federation is too decadent, and Janeway's fascination with Leonardo Da Vinci being interpretive, reinterpretive, constructive, deconstructive etc.
I like that we saw Jake being supported in all his writing endeavours, to further your point. One could argue his grandfather’s restaurant fulfills that in its own way too, what with continuing the history of creole cooking.
@@a.h.1358 Presumably much better than we currently do in a scarcity based society. Of course considering Risa, Wrigley's Pleasure Planet, the Holodeck, and Reginald Barclay Hedonism and unhealthy fixation certainly exists. But Roddenberry was a bit of a hedonist himself so I think he'd argue everything in moderation. As part of the utopia advanced mental services also exist and are readily available to keep people from going overboard. But hedonism and unhealthy fixation are risks in any free society.
My thoughts are very similar to that of navy aircraft carrier, which is essentially a floating/mobile city. You build it with the best technology available at the time, send it out to patrol, conduct long term studies, or render aid where it is needed. The carrier can resupply at a friendly port or at sea and it continues on the mission. Meanwhile, back at the home base they are always developing new technologies, improved reactors, more efficient propellers and building new ships. Then when a new ship is launched it can replace the old carrier and the old carrier can be brought in and overhauled while the new carrier takes over. Then launch the updated carrier and bring in another carrier for upgrades. That way you always have a modern carrier in service. The USS Enterprise (CVN 65) was in service for 51 years before it was decommissioned and one of the reasons it was decommissioned was it became a more economical to build a new one than have to speciality manufacture parts for one ship. So, launch the Constitution class on a long term mission and in five years bring it back, update it with all the new advancements and send it back out again for another five years. Rinse and repeat.
I like to think that the "5 Year Mission" is a case of "We think you're potentially ready for flag rank, so we're giving you a ship for five years to see if that's correct." Essentially, most ships did not have the same captain for that many years, but certain classes were "5YM" classes. So a captain getting a "5-Year Mission" would be a big deal, because successfully completing it to Admiralty's satisfaction would put you on the short list for flag rank. If you, say, did well on it but not necessarily well enough to get on the short list, that could be where the Commodore rank comes in and/or more 5YM assigned to a captain. I would expect it "died out" during the Golden Age in name, though in practice it was probably still around in some form.
I recall reading somewhere years ago. That the Galaxy class ships had plans to carry out 20 year missions. Hence one of the reasons why family members and other civilians were allowed on board the ship.
I think that the setup is more of that Starfleet shifted from a more military setup where they'd have people assigned for a shorter amount of time and then transfer them. With the Galaxy and similar, those could be repeated and extended without issue.
i mentioned this in another comment, but i think it was more of an endeavour to see what could be achieved in the set time than a specific mission was set, sort of that the captain/crew structure was give that timeframe to achieve something, whether that was focused influence or general volume of exploration
I think that’s from the TNG Tech Manual, and I think it was more a reference to how long a Galaxy class was meant to be in service before going in for a major overhaul and upgrade. They go out and approximately twenty years later, they dock for a year to get them all packed with all the new goodies Starfleet has invented in the meantime. This was probably where the “All Good Things” Enterprise got her third nacelle. The original intention was for the Galaxy to last a hundred years (with four major upgrade periods spaced throughout), probably being phased into more support roles like the Miranda and Excelsior before it, but still in active service.
I think it’s clear something changed in the development of TNG. Civilian family members and even kids makes sense if the Ent-D on a continuing mission rather than even the ambitious 5 year mission was basically never meant to return. Hence why they picked up their second in command on the way out to a place called Farpoint Station. Heck it’s in the names. A Galaxy class with the Next Generation(s). Even more so I think there must have been some thinking in show development that they’d even be leaving the galaxy, which would explain never coming back and why a being like Q would suddenly be so interested on this single ship on a basic mission (a mission not even that far beyond the borders of the Federation given we get back to Earth relatively soon thereafter). Fine if you are fat and happy in the Milky Way but you are about to encounter WAY more interesting things out here and there won’t be Metrons and Organians out here to hold your hand.
Great stuff - and as to there being 5 Year missions i.e. long term missions even up to The Next Generation era. I would think the Deep Space Nine episode - The Sound of Her Voice - Episode 25; Season 6. A very haunting and beautiful episode. The fact that the character they were talking to - who stated that she did not realize that Star Fleet was at war with the Dominion and no one on the Defiant questioned this shows the distance that some Star Fleet ships took.
That’s a really good question, what was the 5 year mission? In Picard era Star Trek, the Federation had a ton of ships, but in Kirk’s time the fleet was a lot smaller and the galaxy was less well known, so I can see a ship being told to explore for five years and come back.
I seem to remember in the episode 'Court Marital', Commodore Stone had a screen that showed Constitution class vessels that were in for repair and the time frame for it.
I would argue: five years is the length of time a major class ship was assigned to its commanding officer. It was the captain who was given the mission along with a series of assignments, not necessarily tied to a particular sector of the quadrant to explore. The CO’s senior ship’s company (medical officer, XO, engineering, etc.) could be working with the CO for the same length of time, with junior members assigned for shorter periods (ie six months) and rotated as required.
Desilu talent contracts were for 5 years. Then the show, if it survived without network cancellations would be reevaluated. Beyond that the special mission was Roddenberry basing it on the inteo soliloquy from the original executive cut of WNMHGB...where Kirk says A NEW MISSION where they are finally leaving the patrol area of Earth to explore the vast unknown. They didn't intend to air the pilots, but used them as foundations for the contributing writers. GR wrote up the familiar intro at the last minute while editing the first three episodes for broadcast (source: Solow and Justmans memoir book) Since WNMHGB was aired, that very crude intro exposition segment was removed, and the normal titles added...as well they removed the Quinn Martin style Act titles. So if you consider that, Kirk's mission was the 1st long range mission into the unknown (the Barrier and Corbomite), however they fell back to patrols amd checking on Earth colonies every 3rd episode.
Since Strange New Worlds started, I've wondered why they say they are on a five year mission, when they haven't been. They've been close to earth and in contact with with the Federation. I think that's different than TOS. And in TNG, of course, they've said on a Continuing Mission.
To me it always seemed like the five year mission was almost *entirely* decided upon by the captain in terms of where they went, when, and why, with *approval* from Starfleet but not too much actual input or even oversight in the TOS days. It would make sense in that format as having highly discretionary missions with a relatively large and extremely capable crew means you can get the most value out of the ship. If the captain is an expert at charting courses as part of the command requirements for the class anyway and they have all the info required of places Starfleet is interested in then to me it makes sense that one of the primary tasks of the command staff would be using that data to actively figure out where to go next and submitting it for aproval, which would almost always be granted, with Starfleet then 'overriding' that mission when the ship was needed and near enough to respond. It makes more sense that way too if you consider it a singular and continuous mission, for which time your captain has a mandate to take the ship and explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before. It's a whole 'period' where the captain has nearly unlimited discretion and control over the ship's actions to give them proper freedom to explore which is why it's a continuing mission and not broken up into smaller assignments where they come back for shore leave and repairs etc. They *do* all those things, but it's continuous because the captain still has that freedom assigned to them the whole time so they're *choosing* when and where to come back themselves, just with loose approval So in summary to me the 5 year mission is a period in which a captain is almost entirely free to set their own mission with large amounts of control and independence, under the primary mandate of exploration, so long as they stick within established guidelines. It's applying for and being granted 5 years of independence to explore
For some reason, I’m imagining it like the “main quest line” of Skyrim, which would take you across the region as needed, and occasionally taking you back to familiar areas, but your path inevitably allows you to encounter numerous random side quests or points of interest that could temporarily detour you from your main mission, or could happen to occur concurrently to it. Or maybe it’s more the storyline of Pokémon Arceus? You’re supposed to explore & catalog, but can advance the story as quickly or as leisurely as you like while doing other activities.
If you’re going out for that long, you’re among the top tier, so you’ll be doing whatever is necessary. Patrol, peacekeeping, law enforcement, hospitality, search and rescue, emergency response, civilian escort, etc. And on slow days, you do charting, research, technology troubleshooting, and serve as ambassadors for the Federation when attempting to extend its boundary.
Another excellent video! I have been watching Star Trek my entire life and never really understood the 5 year mission, or why the Enterprise D wasn’t on one. This was also a beautiful video with all of that great Enterprise footage. Keep plumbing the depths of the lore and the tech!
The show was supposed to be for 5 seasons, but we only got 3. The ship would be on mission for 5 years and afterwards will return to port for reassignment, refit, or sold or scrapped. However I real 5 year cycle wouldn't be out of place. A flagship/Cruiser can go with a armada group of escorts, at various rendezvous points they meet up with resupply convoys as crew and escort ships ae switched out and the cruiser remains. And in 5 years the cruiser should return to it's starting point.
I dont think the ship wouldn't be scrapped I think the 5 year mission is just general duration of current assignment and then once completed the ship will return and conduct a complex refit and overhaul before being assigned a new mission in that time you will see the command staff update starfleet and fully report and advise on encounters of note on that 5 year mission command would already know from mission reports but they can go more in depth upon return
My guess before watching is that it’s modeled after sub skipper tours; they do two 3 year tours as captain and that’s it because they tend to become over cautious or overly reckless past that time.
I played Starfleet Battles decades ago with someone who had an idea that 'Star Trek' was a project name. Project Star Trek were 5 year missions. Project Star Gazer were the earlier, 2 year missions where ships like Horizon were lost. Project Star Song was something akin to the Arecibo Observatory looking for civilizations through long range sensors. I liked her ideas very much and wished she'd published something with those ideas in them.
I'd always assumed that the 5 year mission is more of a 5 year deployment, other than replacements, most of the officers and crew would be assigned to the ship for a 5 year period before being assumed gaining reassignment. While exploring would be a chunk of it, the ship would be, largely, on the move through it to different places and different things. More specialized ships would, likely, have shorter duration assignments. I'm kind of assuming that, with the expansion of capabilities between TOS and TNG, that the total assignment duration would be, potentially, expanded
Thank you for another informative video! With all that a space-ship faring crew comes across, 5 years seems like the perfect amount so people can enjoy some serious shoreleave afterwards and get all kinds of therapy and holo-suite pleasantries.
I always thought of it vaguely like the soviet 5 year plans, in terms of having a goal of advancement, like making contact with a ser number of civilisations or mapping a certain area of space, depending on what occurred. Not necessarily that a fixed goal was met, but more that something meaningful was achieved within those 5 years
It's useful to remember that this is exploration of a three dimensional space. You can head out five light years in a specific direction, find a world to colonise there and do so... but you don't now control that entire corridor. One light year 'up' could be an entire other interstellar culture you have not met yet. There may be a lot of space inside the UFP's borders that it has never explored yet. Filling in the map seems like an important but arduous task.
🖖😎👍Very cool and very nicely greatly well done and informatively explained and executed in every detail way shape and format provided by you on the 5yr missions performed by the various many Captains and Starship's assigned to those missions!, A job very fabulously spectacularly well done indeed Sir!👌.
I assumed the 5 year mission was made up of lots of sub-missions, most of which were exploratory in specific areas of space, so the rolling back of the frontier happened gradually. Some of the missions were diplomatic, defensive, logistical, and so on. I don't think the captain ever had much discretion in where they went, other than during time-limited exploratory sub-missions. It was speculated somewhere that in the 27th century the Universe-class starships like the Enterprise J would go on decades long missions, possibly even intergenerational missions, as the Universe class is basically a mobile starbase sent to chart the space between galaxies using whatever post-warp propulsion methods Starfleet has at that time.
When did "five year mission" become its own thing? In the TOS intro, they have a five year mission, and that mission is to explore. But it could have been any task and any duration, like a five year mission to haul cargo or a three year mission to run border patrol. As for the exploration itself, it felt more like a "not" mission, in that they were *not* assigned to a singular task, but were instead expected to handle any short term task they were given. The "exploring" part seemed as much a wide area patrol as an actual exploration, with the Enterprise going to both "unexplored" as well as already traveled locations.
If ever there were a point that I wish star trek creators would iron out, it's the size, scope, and location of these missions in relation to the galaxy. I only ever felt like enterprise and voyager ever came close to get it worked out, but, it was always just a mystery where they were and how it relates to other powers like the Klingons or tholians. Too often warp speed was relative to the plot, and didn't mean anything, which tended to undermine the stories.
@@blockmasterscott many People should get 2-3 pair of those sunglasses when they claim some things "destroyed the lore and their youth" when one should just poke fun at something, like that the Turbolift takes the time of one dialoge to get from one Part of a ship to another but ye, to "bad" they could get away with that, if the Battlecruiser USS Enterprise would zig-zag arround the globe it would be way more obvious if they are this week in Havanna, next week discover a South Sea Island but was last week in the San Francisco Dockyards, it would raise more eyebrows P.S.my Headcannon for the First Episode is, that they went Up/down to go to the edge of the Galaxy, not rimwards
A missed episode opportunity would have been to encounter another ship doing a similar mission from a totally unknown species/alliance of species. And they could be even further out, on a ten year mission or even longer if their species are longer lived,.. or just more dedicated to the cause. So that way they're not going to be bumping into each other's territory anytime soon, but they can still exchange culture ect. And give each other heads up on other civilisations further back in their path. In TOS/SNW "So anyway, be careful of Klingons, they are here and are..." "Thanks, and this territory is the Ferengi. I really recommend you watch your back and be careful of tricks and ambushes. We make it a point to avoid it unless we have backup and want to trade." It could have been an episode or two in Voyager without messing with the Federations geopolitics, as the Federation-like society is so far away. It could have been a social episode, while Voyager itself gets some TLC from their shipyards. In TNG they could have done some interesting exposition, having the long range explorer come from far beyond the Romulans territory in a roundabout route avoid the Romulans. And informing Starfleet that the Romulans had been in a total war with yet another civilisation on the opposite border from the Federation for 50 years, but the Romulans had recently been victorious. - after a bit of a initial misunderstanding due to Vulcan crewmembers on the Starfleet ship..... In Starfleet Battles RPG there's another multi species civilisation called the Interstellar Concordium [ISC] that are even more ethical that the Federation. However they are militant about peacekeeping and would completely change the setting. In later Trek, perhaps the best option would be something similar to the early Federation, with a bit less advanced tech. So the Federation has at least one direction it can go in and meet friends and potential future allies and even future members once warp travel is fast enough to enable it.
One thing you failed to mention well 2 things really which was a continuous function was commerce as this opened up communications and diplomatic dialogues with any encountered civilization/world and technology acquisition could have been a low-key option simply because section 31 was a organization that was active even in the infancy of Federation and would have loved to "aquire" weapon or any technology it could weaponize. LLAP 🖖
What I have always wanted to know is how many '5 year missions' is typical for a captain? (Is it only 1, 2, 3 or even up 5 missions). Does it vary depending on request, capability or age? I just wanted to know what the usual standard was and then maybe then compare the individual captains of their missions e.g. Kirk, Picard, Pike etc. Also, what might happen after their time was up. I find it hard to believe that every sinlge captain becomes an admiral? Thanks
Can you do a video, based on either Alpha or Beta canon, that explains how ships are chosen by Starfleet Command to conduct rescue or humanitarian missions. I think it would be a good follow up to this video.
The Enterprise passed outside the galaxy more than once, but it hasn't happened very often, both because of the in-universe galactic barrier making it difficult to leave, and the real world massive distances between galaxies (Andromeda would take 1000 years to reach at maximum warp).
I thought the Galaxy class was intended for 20 year missions? Its just Enterprise kept getting called to deal with some crisis in UFP space and never got to most of her planned exploration zone
Even as a kid, I always figured the "five year mission" was the time between overhauls, and I assumed that the captain and other core officers were assign to it for that full period as a rule. That this had to be explained when an 8 year old could grasp it...
I know for the ships you tend to include real world information behind things. Surprised there's no addressing the idea that the original "five year mission" was just how many seasons of the original show they were hoping to produce? Would be the perfect place to have confirmation of that if it existed.
Kirk's Enterprise escorted Vulcan, Andorian, Tellarite, and other Federation dignitaries to the Federation council chambers on Babel to discuss the Coridan issue.
I think it's interesting that Starfleet thinks people would be cool with giving up on having lives in order to serve in Starfleet. I've been in the Navy for 19 years and while we give up a lot, at least we still get to come home regularly and actually have families. But five years?
That’s why TNG put families aboard because it was going to be a 20 year mission but that fell to the wayside as they just went back and forth in Federation space
You have to remember that historically, exploratory voyages on sailing ships could take several years. And, unless your family came with you, you didn't have contact with family. So I think Star Trek was trying to parallel that. Hence, in several episodes, references to having to act before receiving orders back from Starfleet Command. As it took that long for communications to travel across (sub) space. You could argue that the 5 year mission referred to how long at least the senior staff would likely to be assigned to the vessel. So giving crew some time frame to plan their lives around.
I always thought the 5 year mission was deep exploration. Such as the area you were to explore was months, or even a year of warp travel away. A year going, three years of exploration, and a year for the return trip.
There was an episode of TAS where characters went underwater using those force field belts and/or genetic modification, but I think that was involuntary. And in Star Trek Into Darkness the whole ship is submerged.
@@jimbopumbapigsticks well, the Enterprise had only been hidden in shallow waters, that's far off of "exploring the seas"' My guess//Headcannon is that the aquatic member species like the Xindi and Bottlenose Dolphins explore the waters since they are more adapt to waters (shure they ignore different salinity and ph like they do it with atmosphere) and have the ships for that that can go underwater and normal Starships have maybe an aquatic shuttle or a Deltaflyer assigned to it. to bad that Paramount Suits axed Lower Decks, it would be funny to see an Ship for an Aquatic crew with a dry human ops that could answer that
One ship type we never see in Star Trek is the tender. Basically ships that bring supplies to other ships. Food, fuel, repair parts, etc.. Perhaps it's just not practical to send one out to meet an exploratory vessel. Bulky, vulnerable, slow moving maybe?
Apparently with the Doomsday Machine, the USS Constitution NCC 1071 ended it's reign as longest serving ship of it's class. USS Enterprise NCC 1701 ended up serving, per the list shown, one 5 year mission under Captain April, then possibly 3-1/2 5 year missions under Captain Pike before LT. Kirk got assigned mid-mission apparently. Then newly promoted Captain Kirk ran USS Enterprise NCC 1701 to his near 5 year mission nearing Phase 2, until Starfleet decided to call back the USS Enterprise NCC 1701 at it's mission end for the experimental refit known as the Constitution II, which was the basis for newer ships to be built up until the NX-2000 Excelsior finally came along to phase the Constitution II class out of service. Not until Star Trek: Picard did we see the evolution of said Constitution design with the Neo-Constitution III class which bore the name eventually USS Enterprise NCC 1701-G. Some theories suggest Captain Kirk received one of the first NEW Constitution II class starships at the end of "The Voyage Home", which was originally set to become the USS Yorktown, but quickly re-badged the USS Enterprise NCC 1701-A in honor of the aging but valiant crew. Even at the end of the Klingon Peace Conference debacle, Enterprise NCC 1701-A continued on nearing it's final mission to live out it's days in the Starfleet Spacedock Museum, as seen in Picard season 3.
5 year missions need a cruiser. Cruisers are synonymous with long duration stuff: - going on a cruise - cruising speed - cruising altitude - cruise control
Also cruisers generally have enough firepower and shielding strength to deal with most conceivable threats and fast enough to escape most of those threats that it can't deal with.
Has it ever been explained in cannon what a year is for Starfleet. I'm assuming other member worlds revolve around their respective stars at different rates so does it default to Earth years?
Just like how in the real world, Zulu time (GMT, I believe) is used for military multinational coorporation, at least In NATO. But I believe more broadly also, for other Alliances. Same goes I believe for both shipping, flight, banking, and computing in general. When ever coordination across timezones are needed. It would make sense, to standardise around one measurement for time, in space also. I don't think anything has been directly stated in Canon. But without thinking to much about it. In universe, e.g Earths rotation around the sun, could be used, as a basis for the measurement. As that's where many of Starfleet and UFP's most important institutions are located. But when thinking a little bit more about it. The time it takes Earth to rotate around the sun slowly changes. That's why we have Leap years now. I'd imagine though, that some of the other races would have found a better system then that, and would object. Time keeping via a specific, or set of pulsars? And then there's the relativistic effects. Time moves more slowly, the closer to the speed of light you travel. I won't pretend I understand how that works. But I bet that in universe, thats why stardates are used. Out of Universe. Stardates are to obscure how much time passes between episodes, and within a given episode. When years are specifically used, it's only to communicate a point of time passage to use Viewers. Had Star Trek been real, I don't think years would be used at all.
Btw. I understand, that Warp would probably negate the relativistic effects for starship travel. And something, something with subspace for communication. What I think here, is that stars and planets travel at different speeds through space, compared to each other. So I'd assume that time as we understand it, also moves at a different pace, depending on which starsystem you're in. Just like timings on e.g. GPS satellites needs to be corrected, because they get out of sync ever so slightly.
Well like any military deployment. 6 months on a sub or any ship in the Navy. 5 years in space, especially when ya can live for over 100 years at this point!
I love how axanar the fan film slightly includes the idea that the constitution class was also built to stand up to the D7 battle cruiser in a fight. Ah fans lol
You’re in sector 857 next to that donut and coffee place the federation council likes so pick up a large order to go and be a good captain and warp it over here PDQ.
I think something that I hadn't fully appreciated before was Picard's nearly throw-away line "we work to better ourselves and the rest of humanity" as a summary of humanity's post-scarcity "purpose." It seemed at first like such a vague statement that I was sure it was the kind of hand-waving non-answer that let the writers get away with having heroes be the unambiguous "good guys" without all the baggage of them upholding an empire or a capitalist machine of exploitation or any of the problematic historical structures we're still struggling with today. But the more I thought about it, the more I wondered: Really what *would* a society based around enrichment of experience look like? How would people really behave in a post-scarcity society? And I realized that a whole species of beings who have been raised since birth to prioritize experimenting with their full potential to explore questions like "why are we here?" would absolutely have a kick-ass space exploration program. But space exploration would only be a part of humanity's goals. It happens that space exploration is one of the sexiest and best-adapted to adventure/drama television, so it makes sense why the franchise focuses on it, but there would of course be so many people working to answer these "big questions" in lots of other ways too: interspecies dialogue and exchange programs to discover how other species and their cultures see themselves in the universe; deep dives into Earth's own history to fully and honestly interrogate past humans' nature and desires and fears; imaginative story-telling and creative exploration, to attempt to touch all corners of humans' ability to see other possible worlds; and just generally deep reflection and meditation to learn how humans can conquer our own internal demons.
Space exploration looks the best on screen, and cleverly it makes sense that the people who have chosen that career path and way of life may necessarily have de-prioritized those other pursuits - explaining why our hero ship crews often seem like less than stellar examples of exemplary human art, communication, relationship, and self-reflection. But that just ultimately makes them more approachable to us, the audience, living in the crummy pre-utopian era of artificial scarcity and inequity.
This is obviously a stretch, but I'm pleased to be able to put their aspirations in a context that fits with canon without betraying the dream of the world they're supposed to live in. I hope we get there one day!
Better question, how does one better and enrich themselves post-scarcity without devolving into hedonism and unhealthy fixation?
Very interesting observation and well put. I like how it puts to rest the claim made by Cracked that the Federation is so stagnant and aimless post scarcity that its members rely on space exploration just to give them something new to brighten their lives. On the contrary, space exploration is but one expression of a dynamic, inquiring and creative society that is exploring and experiencing everything. I might use your analysis as the centre around which different attitudes are mentioned in Star Trek series ie. Sisko explaining humanity and corporeal existence to the Prophets; The Fundamentalists and their view that the Federation is too decadent, and Janeway's fascination with Leonardo Da Vinci being interpretive, reinterpretive, constructive, deconstructive etc.
Can you shorten this?
I like that we saw Jake being supported in all his writing endeavours, to further your point. One could argue his grandfather’s restaurant fulfills that in its own way too, what with continuing the history of creole cooking.
@@a.h.1358 Presumably much better than we currently do in a scarcity based society. Of course considering Risa, Wrigley's Pleasure Planet, the Holodeck, and Reginald Barclay Hedonism and unhealthy fixation certainly exists. But Roddenberry was a bit of a hedonist himself so I think he'd argue everything in moderation. As part of the utopia advanced mental services also exist and are readily available to keep people from going overboard. But hedonism and unhealthy fixation are risks in any free society.
Bro actually justified “only ship in range”.
Biggest accomplishment of this video tbh
My thoughts are very similar to that of navy aircraft carrier, which is essentially a floating/mobile city. You build it with the best technology available at the time, send it out to patrol, conduct long term studies, or render aid where it is needed. The carrier can resupply at a friendly port or at sea and it continues on the mission.
Meanwhile, back at the home base they are always developing new technologies, improved reactors, more efficient propellers and building new ships.
Then when a new ship is launched it can replace the old carrier and the old carrier can be brought in and overhauled while the new carrier takes over. Then launch the updated carrier and bring in another carrier for upgrades. That way you always have a modern carrier in service.
The USS Enterprise (CVN 65) was in service for 51 years before it was decommissioned and one of the reasons it was decommissioned was it became a more economical to build a new one than have to speciality manufacture parts for one ship.
So, launch the Constitution class on a long term mission and in five years bring it back, update it with all the new advancements and send it back out again for another five years. Rinse and repeat.
That is a really good description of how Kirk’s Enterprise was handled! 👍💪👊
That’s CVN-65
The Enterprise CV 6 is a different vessel. Yes there is a huge difference between CV and CVN
Another reason was the reactor vessels themselves had reached the end of safe useful life due neutron embritlment. Not economical to replace.
@@whirledpeaz5758I think you meant the nuclear WESSELS, yes?😆
@@allthingsnerd.4484 Funny that in that movie, the "reactor" was actually the deaireating feed water tank(DFT)
I like to think that the "5 Year Mission" is a case of "We think you're potentially ready for flag rank, so we're giving you a ship for five years to see if that's correct." Essentially, most ships did not have the same captain for that many years, but certain classes were "5YM" classes. So a captain getting a "5-Year Mission" would be a big deal, because successfully completing it to Admiralty's satisfaction would put you on the short list for flag rank. If you, say, did well on it but not necessarily well enough to get on the short list, that could be where the Commodore rank comes in and/or more 5YM assigned to a captain.
I would expect it "died out" during the Golden Age in name, though in practice it was probably still around in some form.
I recall reading somewhere years ago. That the Galaxy class ships had plans to carry out 20 year missions. Hence one of the reasons why family members and other civilians were allowed on board the ship.
I think that the setup is more of that Starfleet shifted from a more military setup where they'd have people assigned for a shorter amount of time and then transfer them. With the Galaxy and similar, those could be repeated and extended without issue.
i mentioned this in another comment, but i think it was more of an endeavour to see what could be achieved in the set time than a specific mission was set, sort of that the captain/crew structure was give that timeframe to achieve something, whether that was focused influence or general volume of exploration
I think that’s from the TNG Tech Manual, and I think it was more a reference to how long a Galaxy class was meant to be in service before going in for a major overhaul and upgrade. They go out and approximately twenty years later, they dock for a year to get them all packed with all the new goodies Starfleet has invented in the meantime. This was probably where the “All Good Things” Enterprise got her third nacelle.
The original intention was for the Galaxy to last a hundred years (with four major upgrade periods spaced throughout), probably being phased into more support roles like the Miranda and Excelsior before it, but still in active service.
I think it’s clear something changed in the development of TNG. Civilian family members and even kids makes sense if the Ent-D on a continuing mission rather than even the ambitious 5 year mission was basically never meant to return. Hence why they picked up their second in command on the way out to a place called Farpoint Station. Heck it’s in the names. A Galaxy class with the Next Generation(s). Even more so I think there must have been some thinking in show development that they’d even be leaving the galaxy, which would explain never coming back and why a being like Q would suddenly be so interested on this single ship on a basic mission (a mission not even that far beyond the borders of the Federation given we get back to Earth relatively soon thereafter). Fine if you are fat and happy in the Milky Way but you are about to encounter WAY more interesting things out here and there won’t be Metrons and Organians out here to hold your hand.
3 years in space, 2 years of paperwork, 20 years begging to go out again
More like 3 years paper work.
@scottb7539 no, that's the post-mission debrief.
It's a mission that takes 5 years
Or was it a 5 years that takes a mission?
Or 5 missions that take a year?
does it shine blue?
Fascinating
Clearly It is a mission year which takes 5
To boldly go where no one has gone before?
Maybe they'd need, To explore strange new worlds.
@@Stormcrow_1They might just seek out new life and new civilizations.
You mean in your pants?
voyager did a involuntary 7 year mission i bet that was fun😊
Great stuff - and as to there being 5 Year missions i.e. long term missions even up to The Next Generation era. I would think the Deep Space Nine episode - The Sound of Her Voice - Episode 25; Season 6. A very haunting and beautiful episode.
The fact that the character they were talking to - who stated that she did not realize that Star Fleet was at war with the Dominion and no one on the Defiant questioned this shows the distance that some Star Fleet ships took.
That’s a really good question, what was the 5 year mission?
In Picard era Star Trek, the Federation had a ton of ships, but in Kirk’s time the fleet was a lot smaller and the galaxy was less well known, so I can see a ship being told to explore for five years and come back.
I seem to remember in the episode 'Court Marital', Commodore Stone had a screen that showed Constitution class vessels that were in for repair and the time frame for it.
We don’t know the classes of those ships.
We just had the registry numbers. Some of which were not quite distinct due to the resolution of TV. We do not know the classes of the ships though.
I would argue: five years is the length of time a major class ship was assigned to its commanding officer. It was the captain who was given the mission along with a series of assignments, not necessarily tied to a particular sector of the quadrant to explore. The CO’s senior ship’s company (medical officer, XO, engineering, etc.) could be working with the CO for the same length of time, with junior members assigned for shorter periods (ie six months) and rotated as required.
Desilu talent contracts were for 5 years. Then the show, if it survived without network cancellations would be reevaluated.
Beyond that the special mission was Roddenberry basing it on the inteo soliloquy from the original executive cut of WNMHGB...where Kirk says A NEW MISSION where they are finally leaving the patrol area of Earth to explore the vast unknown. They didn't intend to air the pilots, but used them as foundations for the contributing writers.
GR wrote up the familiar intro at the last minute while editing the first three episodes for broadcast (source: Solow and Justmans memoir book)
Since WNMHGB was aired, that very crude intro exposition segment was removed, and the normal titles added...as well they removed the Quinn Martin style Act titles.
So if you consider that, Kirk's mission was the 1st long range mission into the unknown (the Barrier and Corbomite), however they fell back to patrols amd checking on Earth colonies every 3rd episode.
Since Strange New Worlds started, I've wondered why they say they are on a five year mission, when they haven't been. They've been close to earth and in contact with with the Federation. I think that's different than TOS. And in TNG, of course, they've said on a Continuing Mission.
To me it always seemed like the five year mission was almost *entirely* decided upon by the captain in terms of where they went, when, and why, with *approval* from Starfleet but not too much actual input or even oversight in the TOS days. It would make sense in that format as having highly discretionary missions with a relatively large and extremely capable crew means you can get the most value out of the ship. If the captain is an expert at charting courses as part of the command requirements for the class anyway and they have all the info required of places Starfleet is interested in then to me it makes sense that one of the primary tasks of the command staff would be using that data to actively figure out where to go next and submitting it for aproval, which would almost always be granted, with Starfleet then 'overriding' that mission when the ship was needed and near enough to respond.
It makes more sense that way too if you consider it a singular and continuous mission, for which time your captain has a mandate to take the ship and explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before. It's a whole 'period' where the captain has nearly unlimited discretion and control over the ship's actions to give them proper freedom to explore which is why it's a continuing mission and not broken up into smaller assignments where they come back for shore leave and repairs etc. They *do* all those things, but it's continuous because the captain still has that freedom assigned to them the whole time so they're *choosing* when and where to come back themselves, just with loose approval
So in summary to me the 5 year mission is a period in which a captain is almost entirely free to set their own mission with large amounts of control and independence, under the primary mandate of exploration, so long as they stick within established guidelines. It's applying for and being granted 5 years of independence to explore
For some reason, I’m imagining it like the “main quest line” of Skyrim, which would take you across the region as needed, and occasionally taking you back to familiar areas, but your path inevitably allows you to encounter numerous random side quests or points of interest that could temporarily detour you from your main mission, or could happen to occur concurrently to it.
Or maybe it’s more the storyline of Pokémon Arceus? You’re supposed to explore & catalog, but can advance the story as quickly or as leisurely as you like while doing other activities.
If you’re going out for that long, you’re among the top tier, so you’ll be doing whatever is necessary. Patrol, peacekeeping, law enforcement, hospitality, search and rescue, emergency response, civilian escort, etc. And on slow days, you do charting, research, technology troubleshooting, and serve as ambassadors for the Federation when attempting to extend its boundary.
I honestly thought when you started the 5-year mission statement it was just going to be the opening lines of the TV show 😆
Another excellent video! I have been watching Star Trek my entire life and never really understood the 5 year mission, or why the Enterprise D wasn’t on one. This was also a beautiful video with all of that great Enterprise footage. Keep plumbing the depths of the lore and the tech!
This video is getting me pumped for some new episodes of strange new worlds!
The show was supposed to be for 5 seasons, but we only got 3.
The ship would be on mission for 5 years and afterwards will return to port for reassignment, refit, or sold or scrapped.
However I real 5 year cycle wouldn't be out of place. A flagship/Cruiser can go with a armada group of escorts, at various rendezvous points they meet up with resupply convoys as crew and escort ships ae switched out and the cruiser remains. And in 5 years the cruiser should return to it's starting point.
I dont think the ship wouldn't be scrapped I think the 5 year mission is just general duration of current assignment and then once completed the ship will return and conduct a complex refit and overhaul before being assigned a new mission in that time you will see the command staff update starfleet and fully report and advise on encounters of note on that 5 year mission command would already know from mission reports but they can go more in depth upon return
My guess before watching is that it’s modeled after sub skipper tours; they do two 3 year tours as captain and that’s it because they tend to become over cautious or overly reckless past that time.
I played Starfleet Battles decades ago with someone who had an idea that 'Star Trek' was a project name. Project Star Trek were 5 year missions. Project Star Gazer were the earlier, 2 year missions where ships like Horizon were lost. Project Star Song was something akin to the Arecibo Observatory looking for civilizations through long range sensors. I liked her ideas very much and wished she'd published something with those ideas in them.
Can I just say that Anson Mount looks so good as Pike. Never has a man of the modern day looked so "Star Trek".
Please explain how does he look like"star trek"?
@@blacknrd05 the haircut, his facial expressions, his facial structure. He reminds me of a cast member of the original 60s Trek.
He has the 'square jawed' look and exudes that calm yet confident and even cheerful manner of some of the better role-models of the post-war era.
Anson Mount also a Star Trek name.
I really like him, he seams to fit the part well.
I'd always assumed that the 5 year mission is more of a 5 year deployment, other than replacements, most of the officers and crew would be assigned to the ship for a 5 year period before being assumed gaining reassignment. While exploring would be a chunk of it, the ship would be, largely, on the move through it to different places and different things.
More specialized ships would, likely, have shorter duration assignments.
I'm kind of assuming that, with the expansion of capabilities between TOS and TNG, that the total assignment duration would be, potentially, expanded
Thank you for another informative video! With all that a space-ship faring crew comes across, 5 years seems like the perfect amount so people can enjoy some serious shoreleave afterwards and get all kinds of therapy and holo-suite pleasantries.
I always thought of it vaguely like the soviet 5 year plans, in terms of having a goal of advancement, like making contact with a ser number of civilisations or mapping a certain area of space, depending on what occurred. Not necessarily that a fixed goal was met, but more that something meaningful was achieved within those 5 years
A mission to stay on TV long enough to make enough episodes to qualify for syndication…
It's useful to remember that this is exploration of a three dimensional space. You can head out five light years in a specific direction, find a world to colonise there and do so... but you don't now control that entire corridor. One light year 'up' could be an entire other interstellar culture you have not met yet. There may be a lot of space inside the UFP's borders that it has never explored yet. Filling in the map seems like an important but arduous task.
I liked the video during the ad. I am that excited for this video and yes it's going on while I type.
🖖😎👍Very cool and very nicely greatly well done and informatively explained and executed in every detail way shape and format provided by you on the 5yr missions performed by the various many Captains and Starship's assigned to those missions!, A job very fabulously spectacularly well done indeed Sir!👌.
I assumed the 5 year mission was made up of lots of sub-missions, most of which were exploratory in specific areas of space, so the rolling back of the frontier happened gradually. Some of the missions were diplomatic, defensive, logistical, and so on. I don't think the captain ever had much discretion in where they went, other than during time-limited exploratory sub-missions.
It was speculated somewhere that in the 27th century the Universe-class starships like the Enterprise J would go on decades long missions, possibly even intergenerational missions, as the Universe class is basically a mobile starbase sent to chart the space between galaxies using whatever post-warp propulsion methods Starfleet has at that time.
When did "five year mission" become its own thing? In the TOS intro, they have a five year mission, and that mission is to explore. But it could have been any task and any duration, like a five year mission to haul cargo or a three year mission to run border patrol. As for the exploration itself, it felt more like a "not" mission, in that they were *not* assigned to a singular task, but were instead expected to handle any short term task they were given. The "exploring" part seemed as much a wide area patrol as an actual exploration, with the Enterprise going to both "unexplored" as well as already traveled locations.
Thank You Very Good and Interesting ;
Will SNW end after S5 to fulfil the 5 year mision or does the beep chair incident happened first?
S1 and S2 takes place the same year. Since S2 ended in a cliffhanger, will not be surprised if S3 takes place in the same year.
@@ukiyasenpaithey gotta budget their years since pike has an end date.
Pretty ambitious for them to assume they have 5 seasons to work with.
The beep chair comes after pike is no longer the captain, and is training cadets.
I just love you talking over footage from Star Trek Online! 😅
Well, you see, it's a mission
A mission that takes five years to complete
If ever there were a point that I wish star trek creators would iron out, it's the size, scope, and location of these missions in relation to the galaxy. I only ever felt like enterprise and voyager ever came close to get it worked out, but, it was always just a mystery where they were and how it relates to other powers like the Klingons or tholians.
Too often warp speed was relative to the plot, and didn't mean anything, which tended to undermine the stories.
I totally agree on there being no continuity in time and distance. More than once I had to put on my “it’s only a story” sunglasses.
@@blockmasterscott many People should get 2-3 pair of those sunglasses when they claim some things "destroyed the lore and their youth" when one should just poke fun at something, like that the Turbolift takes the time of one dialoge to get from one Part of a ship to another
but ye, to "bad" they could get away with that, if the Battlecruiser USS Enterprise would zig-zag arround the globe it would be way more obvious if they are this week in Havanna, next week discover a South Sea Island but was last week in the San Francisco Dockyards, it would raise more eyebrows
P.S.my Headcannon for the First Episode is, that they went Up/down to go to the edge of the Galaxy, not rimwards
I think if they ever do make those starships will probably explore space in a more circular spiral pattern rather than flying in long straight lines
A missed episode opportunity would have been to encounter another ship doing a similar mission from a totally unknown species/alliance of species.
And they could be even further out, on a ten year mission or even longer if their species are longer lived,.. or just more dedicated to the cause.
So that way they're not going to be bumping into each other's territory anytime soon, but they can still exchange culture ect.
And give each other heads up on other civilisations further back in their path.
In TOS/SNW
"So anyway, be careful of Klingons, they are here and are..."
"Thanks, and this territory is the Ferengi. I really recommend you watch your back and be careful of tricks and ambushes. We make it a point to avoid it unless we have backup and want to trade."
It could have been an episode or two in Voyager without messing with the Federations geopolitics, as the Federation-like society is so far away. It could have been a social episode, while Voyager itself gets some TLC from their shipyards.
In TNG they could have done some interesting exposition, having the long range explorer come from far beyond the Romulans territory in a roundabout route avoid the Romulans. And informing Starfleet that the Romulans had been in a total war with yet another civilisation on the opposite border from the Federation for 50 years, but the Romulans had recently been victorious.
- after a bit of a initial misunderstanding due to Vulcan crewmembers on the Starfleet ship.....
In Starfleet Battles RPG there's another multi species civilisation called the Interstellar Concordium [ISC] that are even more ethical that the Federation. However they are militant about peacekeeping and would completely change the setting.
In later Trek, perhaps the best option would be something similar to the early Federation, with a bit less advanced tech.
So the Federation has at least one direction it can go in and meet friends and potential future allies and even future members once warp travel is fast enough to enable it.
One thing you failed to mention well 2 things really which was a continuous function was commerce as this opened up communications and diplomatic dialogues with any encountered civilization/world and technology acquisition could have been a low-key option simply because section 31 was a organization that was active even in the infancy of Federation and would have loved to "aquire" weapon or any technology it could weaponize. LLAP 🖖
What I have always wanted to know is how many '5 year missions' is typical for a captain? (Is it only 1, 2, 3 or even up 5 missions). Does it vary depending on request, capability or age? I just wanted to know what the usual standard was and then maybe then compare the individual captains of their missions e.g. Kirk, Picard, Pike etc. Also, what might happen after their time was up. I find it hard to believe that every sinlge captain becomes an admiral? Thanks
6:29 this is must be why by the time of the Galaxy class it had been renamed a Continuing mission
Can you do a video, based on either Alpha or Beta canon, that explains how ships are chosen by Starfleet Command to conduct rescue or humanitarian missions. I think it would be a good follow up to this video.
crazy to think all of this lore in all of the films and tv shows that Starfleeet still hasn't been out of the galaxy
The Enterprise passed outside the galaxy more than once, but it hasn't happened very often, both because of the in-universe galactic barrier making it difficult to leave, and the real world massive distances between galaxies (Andromeda would take 1000 years to reach at maximum warp).
@@raze3297 I never thought of the distance for even a warp powered ship to go to Andromeda. Good point.
The Traveler on the Enterprise-D did it, but that was part of an experiment where they didn't intend nor expect to go THAT far.
I thought the Galaxy class was intended for 20 year missions? Its just Enterprise kept getting called to deal with some crisis in UFP space and never got to most of her planned exploration zone
Even as a kid, I always figured the "five year mission" was the time between overhauls, and I assumed that the captain and other core officers were assign to it for that full period as a rule. That this had to be explained when an 8 year old could grasp it...
I know for the ships you tend to include real world information behind things. Surprised there's no addressing the idea that the original "five year mission" was just how many seasons of the original show they were hoping to produce? Would be the perfect place to have confirmation of that if it existed.
Kirk's Enterprise escorted Vulcan, Andorian, Tellarite, and other Federation dignitaries to the Federation council chambers on Babel to discuss the Coridan issue.
That makes sense. 🙂
I think it's interesting that Starfleet thinks people would be cool with giving up on having lives in order to serve in Starfleet. I've been in the Navy for 19 years and while we give up a lot, at least we still get to come home regularly and actually have families. But five years?
That’s why TNG put families aboard because it was going to be a 20 year mission but that fell to the wayside as they just went back and forth in Federation space
You have to remember that historically, exploratory voyages on sailing ships could take several years. And, unless your family came with you, you didn't have contact with family. So I think Star Trek was trying to parallel that.
Hence, in several episodes, references to having to act before receiving orders back from Starfleet Command.
As it took that long for communications to travel across (sub) space.
You could argue that the 5 year mission referred to how long at least the senior staff would likely to be assigned to the vessel. So giving crew some time frame to plan their lives around.
I always thought the 5 year mission was deep exploration. Such as the area you were to explore was months, or even a year of warp travel away. A year going, three years of exploration, and a year for the return trip.
9:40 A *5* Year mission, *extragalactically*, did they have a method to cross the barrier?
One thing I'm curious about is if there is any lore in Star Trek on how they explore water worlds.
Pretty sure Voyager just used a shuttle underwater.
@@Uruz2012 How would an impals engine work under water?
There was an episode of TAS where characters went underwater using those force field belts and/or genetic modification, but I think that was involuntary. And in Star Trek Into Darkness the whole ship is submerged.
@@jimbopumbapigsticks well, the Enterprise had only been hidden in shallow waters, that's far off of "exploring the seas"'
My guess//Headcannon is that the aquatic member species like the Xindi and Bottlenose Dolphins explore the waters since they are more adapt to waters (shure they ignore different salinity and ph like they do it with atmosphere) and have the ships for that that can go underwater and normal Starships have maybe an aquatic shuttle or a Deltaflyer assigned to it.
to bad that Paramount Suits axed Lower Decks, it would be funny to see an Ship for an Aquatic crew with a dry human ops that could answer that
Its a committment to a 5 year tv show. Hopefully.
Am I misremembering that Kirk's Enterprise gained its legendary status because it was the first to complete a 5 year mission?
One ship type we never see in Star Trek is the tender. Basically ships that bring supplies to other ships. Food, fuel, repair parts, etc.. Perhaps it's just not practical to send one out to meet an exploratory vessel. Bulky, vulnerable, slow moving maybe?
More than other video topics, this one makes me want to re-watch TOS.
Apparently with the Doomsday Machine, the USS Constitution NCC 1071 ended it's reign as longest serving ship of it's class. USS Enterprise NCC 1701 ended up serving, per the list shown, one 5 year mission under Captain April, then possibly 3-1/2 5 year missions under Captain Pike before LT. Kirk got assigned mid-mission apparently. Then newly promoted Captain Kirk ran USS Enterprise NCC 1701 to his near 5 year mission nearing Phase 2, until Starfleet decided to call back the USS Enterprise NCC 1701 at it's mission end for the experimental refit known as the Constitution II, which was the basis for newer ships to be built up until the NX-2000 Excelsior finally came along to phase the Constitution II class out of service. Not until Star Trek: Picard did we see the evolution of said Constitution design with the Neo-Constitution III class which bore the name eventually USS Enterprise NCC 1701-G.
Some theories suggest Captain Kirk received one of the first NEW Constitution II class starships at the end of "The Voyage Home", which was originally set to become the USS Yorktown, but quickly re-badged the USS Enterprise NCC 1701-A in honor of the aging but valiant crew. Even at the end of the Klingon Peace Conference debacle, Enterprise NCC 1701-A continued on nearing it's final mission to live out it's days in the Starfleet Spacedock Museum, as seen in Picard season 3.
I'm curious about the Matt Dekker one, wasn't his first command supposed to be the USS Enterprise?
Basically not set rules but a flexible foray.
If 5 year missions were so normal and successful, why did Janeway talk about Kirks famous 5 year mission so enthusiastically?
I think it was that fact that Kirk accomplished more in 5 years that most captains could in 20.
FASA games stated the Enterprise was the only ship of that class that completed its 5 year mission.
Originally, it was called "5-season mission", but that name got cancelled.
a mission that lasts for 5 years, this has been rick signing off
0:43
Nog: What does that mean exactly?
5 year missions need a cruiser. Cruisers are synonymous with long duration stuff:
- going on a cruise
- cruising speed
- cruising altitude
- cruise control
Also cruisers generally have enough firepower and shielding strength to deal with most conceivable threats and fast enough to escape most of those threats that it can't deal with.
@@RocketHarry865 "Outgun anything you can't outrun, outrun everything you can't outgun." - the Cruiser Motto
What's the name of the music at the start of he video?
I went on my 5 year mission right after the Dominion War.
when dose it stat that by the 32nd century did they stop 5-year missions?
5 years is 1,826 days. Unless there’s two leap years in that span of 5 years,… then add one more day.
Has it ever been explained in cannon what a year is for Starfleet. I'm assuming other member worlds revolve around their respective stars at different rates so does it default to Earth years?
Just like how in the real world, Zulu time (GMT, I believe) is used for military multinational coorporation, at least In NATO.
But I believe more broadly also, for other Alliances. Same goes I believe for both shipping, flight, banking, and computing in general. When ever coordination across timezones are needed.
It would make sense, to standardise around one measurement for time, in space also.
I don't think anything has been directly stated in Canon.
But without thinking to much about it.
In universe, e.g Earths rotation around the sun, could be used, as a basis for the measurement. As that's where many of Starfleet and UFP's most important institutions are located.
But when thinking a little bit more about it.
The time it takes Earth to rotate around the sun slowly changes.
That's why we have Leap years now.
I'd imagine though, that some of the other races would have found a better system then that, and would object.
Time keeping via a specific, or set of pulsars?
And then there's the relativistic effects. Time moves more slowly, the closer to the speed of light you travel.
I won't pretend I understand how that works.
But I bet that in universe, thats why stardates are used.
Out of Universe.
Stardates are to obscure how much time passes between episodes, and within a given episode.
When years are specifically used, it's only to communicate a point of time passage to use Viewers. Had Star Trek been real, I don't think years would be used at all.
Btw. I understand, that Warp would probably negate the relativistic effects for starship travel.
And something, something with subspace for communication.
What I think here, is that stars and planets travel at different speeds through space, compared to each other. So I'd assume that time as we understand it, also moves at a different pace, depending on which starsystem you're in.
Just like timings on e.g. GPS satellites needs to be corrected, because they get out of sync ever so slightly.
So too, which star date?
Well like any military deployment. 6 months on a sub or any ship in the Navy. 5 years in space, especially when ya can live for over 100 years at this point!
Explore and trade in unknown regions for scientific/ technical and cultural enrichment and expand federation / galactic unity
A mission one day longer than 4 years, 364 days
I always thought it was a mission that lasted about 5 years
It's long enough for the show to go into syndication 22-24 eps x 5
Always thought it was how long the creators of TOS hoped the series would last before getting canceled. NBC sure torpedoed that dream.
4:30 Scarlett Johansson was in TOS?
She still looks great at 83, no?
30 months out and back is 5 years
I love how axanar the fan film slightly includes the idea that the constitution class was also built to stand up to the D7 battle cruiser in a fight. Ah fans lol
"What was a 5-year mission?"
It was the most amount of time Roddenberry thought CBS would give the show before pulling the plug 😂.
That's probably the most pragmatic answer 😂
The only “real” 5 year mission was Voyager.
Captains April, Pike, and Kirk would highly disagree with you.
@@carlousmagus5387 yea but you know what I mean lol
And that was only supposed to be a three hour tour
So, there is flexibility to work in a 2 week Romulan Ale run.
Also see if it could be done.
🖖
You’re in sector 857 next to that donut and coffee place the federation council likes so pick up a large order to go and be a good captain and warp it over here PDQ.
NCC-1701 is a coded 911.
5 years is 1825 days. 🖖🙂
It's more like a 5 year deployment, NOT a 5 year mission then?
Whats with the rocket exaust the nacelles were warp ffeald generators the fusion engines on the saucer pushed the ship forward.
CAPTAIN APRIL 1ST. 2ND CAPTAIN PIKE 3RD CAPTAIN KIRK
Forgive me but, did you not just describe protocol?
Next question: Why is a 5-year mission?
TOST never made the 5 year mission.
I thought 5 yrs was the life of dilithium crystals.
Decker cannot be the first 5 year. enterprise had 3 before kirk got his they didn't seem that different in age
I read somewhere a long time ago that Galaxy-class vessels were actually on 15-year missions.
Roddenberry was hoping the series would run for five seasons. End of theorization.
Go find new resources. New forms of resources/ matter. The seven states of matter that we now know of could be say 98 or more forms of matter etc.