How well-known would each crew be to the public?

[maneth]

Members of Starfleet and the higher ranks of civil servants and politicians of the Federation would certainly learn about key events in Starfleet/Federation history, as well as the people who made them happen. But I doubt the general public would be aware of more than the most significant events in fairly recent history.

 

[at Quark's]

To approach this from a slightly different angle: suppose they are sufficiently well known to warrant the UFP equivalent treatment of getting a interview in some glossy magazine/ become a talkshow guest, how willing would the different captains be? (i.e. how would they respond to being famous, (and therefore what are the odds of them staying in the public spotlights by giving that public what they want)).

Archer: probably quite willing to participate in a talkshow, at least in the first 2 seasons.
Kirk: Hard to judge, I have the feeling he wouldn't care too much either way (whether he is or stays famous or not)
Picard: very private man, he probably would be very reluctant in giving those kinds of interviews, only when Starfleet commands him to participate
Sisko: again, I have the feeling he wouldn't care too much either way
Janeway: I think she would enjoy being a celebrity.

 

[UssGlenn]

Number One might be of legal significance in the future, but that's about it.

Number One is on Starfleet recruitment posters a century later, so she's Audie Murphy level famous.

 

[Jayson1]

All of them because they don't have tv in the future so future humans actually I think would be more interested in this stuff and knowing all of the details of the most famous ships and bases. Also I am sure everyone has had a holdeck program made after them and books written about them.

 

[Forbin]

I find it amusing that out of all the periods in history you could have chosen, you picked the one subject that I've probably spent more time reading, watching YouTube videos, listening to Podcasts, than any other.

This is what usually happens to me when I try to prove a point.
Okay, who was commander of the third ship to the left of Themistocles' trireme at Salamis?

 

[aquova]

Number One is on Starfleet recruitment posters a century later, so she's Audie Murphy level famous.

That's a good point, I had forgotten about that.

 

[Nerys Myk]

This is what usually happens to me when I try to prove a point.
Okay, who was commander of the third ship to the left of Themistocles' trireme at Salamis?

Audie Murphy

 

[fireproof78]

All of them because they don't have tv in the future so future humans actually I think would be more interested in this stuff and knowing all of the details of the most famous ships and bases. Also I am sure everyone has had a holdeck program made after them and books written about them.

While I would agree on the books and such why would the average citizen care about a ship's exploits?

Is life that boring?

 

[Victoria]

This is what usually happens to me when I try to prove a point.
Okay, who was commander of the third ship to the left of Themistocles' trireme at Salamis?

"But we don't know the exact deployment of the Greek fleet at Salamis" thought I...and then got out Herodotus to check. Sometimes, I am just...sad.

(The Athenian ships were to the left - exact order and commanders seem to be unknown. Really got suckered into this...)

 

[DonIago]

Audie Murphy

Correct!

What significant contribution to bioengineering was made on the Loonkerian outpost on Klendth?

 

[Nerys Myk]

Correct!

What significant contribution to bioengineering was made on the Loonkerian outpost on Klendth?

Whiskey

 

[Jayson1]

While I would agree on the books and such why would the average citizen care about a ship's exploits?

Is life that boring?

I think holodeck adventures would be what movies and tv and video games are to us. While I don't know if they would be into that stuff as much as we are in our culture I think even future humans still need fun and escapism, even if some of is more high brow escapism. Alien planets not in the federation I think would love it as well because it would be means of seeing what Starfleet is all about without having to be part of it, in the real world.

 

[fireproof78]

I think holodeck adventures would be what movies and tv and video games are to us. While I don't know if they would be into that stuff as much as we are in our culture I think even future humans still need fun and escapism, even if some of is more high brow escapism. Alien planets not in the federation I think would love it as well because it would be means of seeing what Starfleet is all about without having to be part of it, in the real world.

I mean, yes I am not disagreeing on the fun and escapism. But, just like military video games are one subset of video games I would expect the same in the far future. The mission logs and such might be of interest to some, but not all, and certainly not have the cultural movement to present as common knowledge, save for maybe captains.

 

[Citiprime]

• Kirk - His send-off tour of the Enterprise-B in Generations is a major media event, which seems to indicate he's a famous figure. Kirk is at the center of at least THREE major interstellar incidents (i.e., the V'GER encounter, the controversy over the Genesis Device and Planet, and facilitating the Khitomer Accords). He would be a major statesman/military figure of the late 23rd century. The closest equivalent of recent memory is probably someone similar to Colin Powell in the public conscious.
• Picard - I have a feeling that post-"Best of Both Worlds," Picard was a mix of infamous and sympathized. Sisko couldn't have been the only one that held onto bitter feelings about the Borg invasion. And given the state of the media we see in Picard season 1, his messages as Locutus demanding Starfleet's surrender would be played over and over in the aftermath where the pundits and journalists would speculate about the meaning of the whole thing.
• Sisko - Nog states that all of the cadets are aware of Sisko given his place in the Dominion War. And since the Dominion War is basically Trek's World War II and the public did know the major commanders of World War II, it's possible Sisko is known in the same way that Patton, Montgomery, and Eisenhower became known in the public consciousness. General Douglas MacArthur, which Ross quotes at the signing of the armistice that ends the Dominion War, is still remembered and has statues and parks named after him.
• Janeway - I would take it as an indication of how famous and much that Janeway's journey captures the public's interest that in every alternative timeline where the ship makes it home there are MASSIVE public celebrations welcoming the crew (e.g., Voyager doing flybys of the Golden Gate Bridge while fireworks go off and massive crowds cheer it on).
• Archer - The launch of the NX-01 is a major event, it's return after the Xindi incident is celebrated is celebrated, and I believe it's implied Archer is either the first or one of the first presidents of the Federation (i.e., I can't remember but I believe the graphic about Archer found on the USS Defiant's computer gives info along these lines).

 

[Jayson1]

I mean, yes I am not disagreeing on the fun and escapism. But, just like military video games are one subset of video games I would expect the same in the far future. The mission logs and such might be of interest to some, but not all, and certainly not have the cultural movement to present as common knowledge, save for maybe captains.

Granted we got to consider lots of the love for them have often been from Starfleet people. So while the General Public might know about Picard even 20 to 30 years it is possible someone like TRoi might not be known, except to people in Starfleet who if they joined Starfleet likely have a love for it and thus a greater appreciation of some of it's legends. Then with Worf he is basically the Jackie Robinson of Klingons, with being the first one in Starfleet so that is something also likely to be remembered in the history books. Nog will likely also have a same legend as well.

 

[Sci]

Since the Rigel system is apparently the most densely-populated system in Federation space per Spock's lines in "The Doomsday Machine" and contains at least three or four inhabited planets, I think that Captain Kirk and the Enterprise would probably have become very famous after defeating the Planet Killer. That's the equivalent of a U.S. Navy ship saving New York. This would only be reinforced after saving Earth from V'Ger and then again from the Whale Probe.

 

[Henoch]

Since the Rigel system is apparently the most densely-populated system in Federation space per Spock's lines in "The Doomsday Machine" and contains at least three or four inhabited planets, I think that Captain Kirk and the Enterprise would probably have become very famous after defeating the Planet Killer. That's the equivalent of a U.S. Navy ship saving New York. This would only be reinforced after saving Earth from V'Ger and then again from the Whale Probe.

I wonder if Kirk would push for Commodore Matt Decker and the Constellation to get the "credit" for defeating the Planet Killer? A similar but bigger incident occurred in "The Immunity Syndrome" where the Enterprise saves the entire galaxy from the space ameba. Again, I wonder if the Intrepid would get much of the "credit"? Probably not, after all, living heroes are better PR than dead ones. YMMV .

 

[The Wormhole]

Decker maybe, it was his suicide run into the Machine that led to the Enterprise crew figuring out how the Machine could be defeated. The Intrepid crew, doubtful, they were just victims that didn't really contribute to the eventual victory. And their all Vulcans anyway so they wouldn't be interested in meaningless credit for purely sentimental reasons.

 

[Forbin]

"But we don't know the exact deployment of the Greek fleet at Salamis" thought I...and then got out Herodotus to check. Sometimes, I am just...sad.

(The Athenian ships were to the left - exact order and commanders seem to be unknown. Really got suckered into this...)

Now I have to try to dig up more obscure examples.

 

[DonIago]

Since the Rigel system is apparently the most densely-populated system in Federation space per Spock's lines in "The Doomsday Machine" and contains at least three or four inhabited planets, I think that Captain Kirk and the Enterprise would probably have become very famous after defeating the Planet Killer. That's the equivalent of a U.S. Navy ship saving New York. This would only be reinforced after saving Earth from V'Ger and then again from the Whale Probe.

Doesn't that kind of assume the Rigelians were aware of the threat? IIRC, when Enterprise realizes the risk to Rigel they're no longer able to communicate with Starfleet, and that lasts until they've defeated the DDM.

We never really get a sense of how widely-known Enterprise's exploits were at the time, or which missions might have been classified. Starfleet/the Federation government may have felt that sharing the existence of one and possibly more planet-killing machines wasn't in the general interest.