100th 5YM book from S&S

[Stevil2001]

Discovery referenced it in connection with Pike's Enterprise. It was explained at the start of season 2 that the Enterprise was uninvolved in the Klingon War because it had been out on the frontier conducting its 5-year mission.

Ah, thanks, I forgot that. I'd hardly call one throwaway line in one show, "every show that takes place in the 23rd century wants to use it as some Holy Grail"!

That assumption was around long before the Okudachron. References to Constitution-class ships having 5-year missions as a standard date back at least to the 1979 Spaceflight Chronology. IIRC, the fanzine article collection The Best of Trek 6 from 1983 reprinted a fan chronology (based largely on the SFC) that mentioned Pike having two 5YMs on the Enterprise.

Ah, interesting; I didn't know that.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Yes, but that's still conjecture, not hard evidence. A possibility is not a proven fact.

I will have to dig up the quotes then.

Melinda Snodgrass was also there, IIRC.

 

[ryan123450]

By that math we're already over capacity by almost 50. You have to account for the TV episodes too!

And the fact is 2267, 2268, and 2269 have had WAY more stories than 2266.

 

[TheAlmanac]

The chronology by Jeffrey W. Mason in The Best of Trek 6 doesn't mention five-year missions at all, either in the chronology entries themselves or in its mini-bios of April, Pike, and Kirk.

 

[Christopher]

The chronology by Jeffrey W. Mason in The Best of Trek 6 doesn't mention five-year missions at all, either in the chronology entries themselves or in its mini-bios of April, Pike, and Kirk.

Hm. Well, something did. I thought it predated the Okudachron, but maybe not.

 

[Damian]

Because they heard the phrase in the title narration every time they watched an episode, and it got driven into their minds.

I know. I guess I just get frustrated that some assume that 5YMs happened over and over again. One's done, let's do another. I always thought of it as a one time thing. I can even accept multiple ships in the 2260s having 5YMs. It's just this idea that April had a 5YM, then Pike (probably 2) then Kirk, 2 more if you include the post-TMP mission. Sort of like over-saturation. It feels less unique.

Part of it is also I always assumed WNMHGB was pre-5YM. Yes, partly because in the syndicated packages and video releases it's the only episode not to have that introductory narrative (so before I ever hear of canon/continuity I assumed WNMHGB was not part of the 5 YM) and partly that helps explain the production design changes in story. I felt sort of like Friedman described--in story the 5YM program started and the ship went back to Earth (or even another starbase) to get a refit in preparation. Before Discovery I never thought there were 5YM's prior to Kirk. I figured the missions were just more indeterminate. Probably less than 5 years at a clip but perhaps 2 or 3 years, or however long they needed for a mission or when they had to get to a base for upgrades and crew transfers.

But my feelings notwithstanding it really doesn't matter I guess. It's established in canon that there were multiple 5YM's. Though you can still probably say WNMHGB pre-5YM. Perhaps they sent Kirk on sort of a shakedown cruise on his new command before starting him on his first 5YM.

 

[JD]

I've always thought that 5 years was pretty much the standard for the kind of long term exploratory missions that the Enterprise was on. I guess it's just because I never really saw the Enterprise as anything that special before Kirk took command, so at the time there really wasn't anything unique about what they were doing.