Mission length

[C.E. Evans]

yes, but then n-year-mission would problably reffers to something else, maybe the period a ship is programmed to have a refit, or the time crew has to serve on that ship, or maybe just an administrative thing, like every five years thay have to send a report

It could simply have been a five-year [continuous] deployment for the ship, with the mission-length being either arbitrary by Starfleet or based on the operational ability of the vessel at warp velocities.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

TOS had a 5 year mission... during the movies and TNG it turned into "continuing mission", Starfleet must've changed their policy on the matter.

Well you know, things happened and there was stuff and shenanigans. Too hard to stick to a plan in that universe.

 

[Timo]

The thing is, "Starfleet" never seems to have done five-year missions. When Kirk did one, it was counted as exceptional credit for getting to command the V'Ger intercept - on Earth, no doubt the location with the greatest number of veteran starship captains in the Federation.

Moreover, Kirk's mission was never considered a five-year one while it lasted. Only the opening credits mention the concept, and those were probably added after the fact in-universe (if they belong to the Trek universe at all).

Only the parallel Starfleet of Into Darkness and Beyond features the in-universe concept of a five-year sortie, again rather ill defined but at least a bit clearer than in TOS: the same set of people are stuck in that tin can for five full years without parole, even if their ship may visit a friendly base or two.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Tim Thomason]

It was referenced as a "historic five-year mission" by Q Junior in "Q2", but that is after-the-fact. There are references to eight-year (The Sound of Her Voice), four-year (Endgame), and three-year (Star Trek VI) missions in dialogue, so it's not a stretch to say that five-year missions exist.

 

[Timo]

Yet all of those references are after-the-fact: no ship was sent to perform an eight-year mission, or a three-year one. They were sent to perform a mission, and it took a certain time to complete (say, Valtane had to tell Sulu "Now we're ready, as per my expert opinion - see here?" so that he could declare "Whew, it took three years, but now we're off to home!").

Picard could have been conducting a twelve-year mission that would be defined as such once he completed it, but he would not be aware of the mission length until perhaps the latter half of the twelfth year or so. And quite possibly not until it was over.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Six of Twelve]

20 or 80 years, that's not the point, I meant that after exploration and all that, maybe Starfleet will have other duties for older ships.

I can see the Enterprise being used as a training ship in its later years.

During WWII, my father served aboard the aircraft carrier USS Ranger, CV4. The Ranger was the oldest carrier in the US fleet, launched in 1934.. It did mostly convoy duty in the Atlantic, most notably participating in the invasion of North Africa in 1942. It also patrolled the Norwegian fjords for the purpose of flushing out U-boats to sink. But later in the war, as newer carriers were built, it was sent to San Diego to be used as a training ship.

So, I can see the Enterprise D being relegated to training as the class of ship that the E belonged to took over and surpassed the Galaxy class.