Another "Five Year Mission" Thread

[RookieBatman]

I was thinking about how some books have the Enterprise crew going back to Earth for shore leave during the five-year mission, and this kinda bothers me, because I've always thought of the whole thing of the 5YM being that they're "out there" far enough out that it would take them months to get back to Earth, so they can't just go back for a little break whenever they want. The discussion is then about the nature of the "Five Year Mission." Based on only the onscreen evidence and not the books, do you think that the 5YM was a specific mission To Boldly Go, for five years without periodically returning to Earth, but only using outlying bases for rest and resupply, or do you think that the 5YM was really just that Kirk was assigned to be captain of the Enterprise for five years, with no specific tasks attached to that assignment? Or anything else in the middle. I know this has been discussed before, but basically, it's just all about what exactly the 5YM was (if it was anything at all).

 

[A beaker full of death]

First: when did they go to earth?

Second: People take the 5-year mission thing way too literally. This was a ship of the line. It ran diplomatic mission, defense patrols, visits to outlying colonies... everything a ship of the line would do in the 1790s.

 

[RookieBatman]

A beaker full of death said:
First: when did they go to earth?

In some of the books. But the purpose of this thread was to debate the subject based on onscreen evidence only, and not to consider the books.

Second: People take the 5-year mission thing way too literally. This was a ship of the line. It ran diplomatic mission, defense patrols, visits to outlying colonies... everything a ship of the line would do in the 1790s.

Well, that's exactly the question. Was it just "Kirk is in command of the Enterprise for five years," or was there something more specific that he was supposed to be doing whenever Starfleet didn't have one of those assignments for him?

 

[Sulu_Love_child]

I don't see them visiting Earth on a few occasions as a logistical problem with the perceived nature of the 5Y Mission. I agree with Breaker the mission/s are not necessarily just flying farther and farther into space for 5 years.

 

[sbk1234]

For me, it seemed like a much more dramatic situation if they were away from Earth for those 5 years. On the other hand, they went to Vulcan, which is only a stone's throw from Earth. That would mean that they were probably still in the neighborhood. So, in cases like that, it's hardly deep space.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I think the Enterprise had one "mission". As beaker said it included a variety of assignments. Some were part of the ship's normal routine and others special assignments from Star Fleet Command. Sometimes the Enterprise just happens to be the ship on the scene.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

The Enterprise spent so much time around and within Federation space (defined as "where the Federation puts its colonies, mining installations and lunatic prisons") that I doubt it would have taken YEARS to get back to Earth, and I didn't get the sense they were waaaay out there at all. I think that was just how long the Enterprise was on assignment without coming back in for personnel changes or a major overhaul. Mainly I think, five years was Kirk's tenure as captain, subject to renewal at the end of that period.

 

[Timo]

Five years could also be a technological limitation. The ship could replenish brandy, redshirts and carrots all she wishes during starbase visits - but perhaps the powerplant requires a major overhaul every five years, a teardown that takes a full year and absolutely has to take place after those five years if not sooner. No different from the refuelings of today's nuclear vessels, or the de-barnacling of ships of yore.

Alternately, the ship might have dilithium stocked onboard for five years, and only extremely few Starfleet installations would be capable of supplying more. So the ship could visit Starbase 11 again and again for those redshirts and deuterium, but would still have to be counting the days for the return to Earth where she could get the dilithium refill needed for another five years.

As for the aspects of the mission we saw, the ship sometimes clearly was at the very outermost limits of Federation reach ("Mudd's Women" for example), sometimes near the core ("Amok Time" and, of course, "Assignment: Earth"), sometimes definitely outside UFP space ("Where No Man", "Squire of Gothos", "Let That Be Your Last Zoom-Cranking When There Is a Red Alert Light Flashing"), and sometimes at old, long-forgotten battlefields ("Balance of Terror"). In short, the whole range... It seems hopeless to define the mission in terms of assigned area or assigned type of duty, then. Better fall back on either tech limitations or captain/crew tenures.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[uss_griffin]

Timo said:
"Let That Be Your Last Zoom-Cranking When There Is a Red Alert Light Flashing"

 

[Sulu_Love_child]

I'd like to see a continuation of the five year mission in a new series.

 

[Red Ranger]

Timo said:
Five years could also be a technological limitation. The ship could replenish brandy, redshirts and carrots all she wishes during starbase visits - but perhaps the powerplant requires a major overhaul every five years, a teardown that takes a full year and absolutely has to take place after those five years if not sooner. No different from the refuelings of today's nuclear vessels, or the de-barnacling of ships of yore.

Alternately, the ship might have dilithium stocked onboard for five years, and only extremely few Starfleet installations would be capable of supplying more. So the ship could visit Starbase 11 again and again for those redshirts and deuterium, but would still have to be counting the days for the return to Earth where she could get the dilithium refill needed for another five years.

As for the aspects of the mission we saw, the ship sometimes clearly was at the very outermost limits of Federation reach ("Mudd's Women" for example), sometimes near the core ("Amok Time" and, of course, "Assignment: Earth"), sometimes definitely outside UFP space ("Where No Man", "Squire of Gothos", "Let That Be Your Last Zoom-Cranking When There Is a Red Alert Light Flashing"), and sometimes at old, long-forgotten battlefields ("Balance of Terror"). In short, the whole range... It seems hopeless to define the mission in terms of assigned area or assigned type of duty, then. Better fall back on either tech limitations or captain/crew tenures.

Timo Saloniemi

Timo,

I like you basing the five-year length on technological limitations. There's an elegant simplicity behind it. And after all, as we saw in TMP, it took at least a year or longer to refit the Enterprise.

Perhaps Starfleet also noticed that a crew and a captain's efficiency decreased after five years and that not only a physical overhaul of the ship, but an overhaul of the crew, was necessary after a long mission with nearly the same 400+ people on board -- after awhile the "familiarity breeds contempt" factor would probably be hard to bear after five years of hearing the same stories from your colleagues!

Red Ranger

 

[A beaker full of death]

^ Except that crew frequently rotated on and off.

 

[Timo]

Except, of course, for our main heroes.

And what a prissy little bunch they were: mere dozen stardates after their stop at Starbase 11 (last having been there fifty stardates earlier), they were so starved for recreation that they planned on beaming down en masse to this planet where tigers and talking bunnies roam.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Red Ranger]

A beaker full of death said:
^ Except that crew frequently rotated on and off.

Define "frequent." We did see people come and go, more so in the first season, but in S2 and S3 it didn't seem as frequent. -- RR

 

[A beaker full of death]

^ I belive rotation was mentioned a few times, thouh I don't really recall which seasons. I, Mudd comes to mind, with Norman rotating on as a Starfleet crewman.

 

[RookieBatman]

Also, back in our world at the end of "Mirror, Mirror," Moreau said that she just came on a week ago.

 

[Ronald Held]

junior officers may rotate assignments more frequently than more senior ones and Department heads.

 

[Broccoli]

A beaker full of death said:
^ Except that crew frequently rotated on and off.

And frequently died, especially if they were in the operations department.