Why so little exploration of the Alpha Quadrant?

[ConRefit79]

TOS appears to have spent much of its time in the Beta Quadrant.

TNG spent much of its time in the Beta quadrant with some time spent in the Alpha Quadrant.

DS9 spent time in Alpha and Gamma quadrants. Most exploration was in Gamma.

Voyager spent its time in Delta quadrant.

Titan series seems to be deep in the beta quadrant.

I recently looked at some star charts, and there are vast unexplored areas beyond the Cardassian, Breen and Fernengi territories. There appears to be some gaps to allow the Federation to explore those regions. So why does there appear to be no interest in exploring that area in the TV series or novels?

 

[BooThePun]

Space is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly hugely mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist, but that's just peanuts to space.

Seriously, though. The galaxy is 100,000 l.y. across and 1000 l.y. thick. That means each quadrant has roughly 39, 270,000 cubic l.y. That's a lot of area to explore, and there's no way one ship could do it alone. By chance, both the Enterprises were assigned to the Beta quadrant, and DS9 and Voyager's premises placed them in those quadrants, ergo. . .

 

[Pemmer Harge]

The quadrants didn't exist in TOS, did they?

In TNG I don't recall often hearing about which quadrant they were in.

In general I got the impression that most stuff happened in the Alpha Quadrant, but the Beta Quadrant was close enough to mount long range expeditions into.

 

[neozeks]

The quadrants were invented only after TOS. And the idea that Earth lies on the border between Alpha and Beta is supported only by the Star Trek Encyclopedia and the Star Trek Star Charts. Episodes themselves completely ignore this idea and place everything of importance in Alpha, including the Klingons and Romulans (yeah, I know it can still be argued that the Encyclopedia positioning works but that was obviously not what the writers had in mind). So in fact almost everything we see did happen in Alpha, it's the most explored quadrant of them all.

 

[indolover]

lol. aren't the Trek charts just for show and not canon?

Also, well, the Alpha Quadrant has been largely explored. The Federation itself is according to Picard 8000 light years in size, and even if this is a cubic and not a 2-D measurement, then it is still very large. Any areas beyond that are probably not feasible to be explored due to warp technology not being fast enough, or other issues being more pressing (why explore when there is a Borg threat or you're at war with the Dominion?)

 

[F. King Daniel]

In the 80's the guy who did the "Star Trek Star Charts" (Geoffrey Mandell, I think) did "Star Trek Maps", a similar set of space maps (updated though to TMP) that was laid out totally differently. Before that Franz Joseph did the first Star Trek space map in his "Star Fleet Technical Manual" (in which the Klingon and Romulan empires were placed 'south' of the Federation). FASA's Star Trek RPG maps in the 80's were based loosely on FJ's, but they changed things to suit their needs.

My point is that Star Trek's space has been reinterpreted many times for cool-looking space maps. None are definitive because Trek writers make it up as they go along (you won't find any of the worlds the NX-01 visited in the former Delphic Expanse in any, nor will you find an icy Delta Vega in the Vulcan system), and "clues" in the show as to where the worlds are have been contradictory. The guy doing the maps just does the best he can, and makes the best guesses he can about the Trek universe.

 

[ConRefit79]

I understand the charts aren't canon. But canon does say the Romulans and Klingons are in the Beta quadrant. DS9, Bajor, Cardassians and Breen are in the Alpha quadrant. So the charts try to show this. The Federation is bordered on either side by enemy states.

I just noticed that there appears to be little exploration deep into the alpha quadrant by any of the series or novels.

 

[neozeks]

I understand the charts aren't canon. But canon does say the Romulans and Klingons are in the Beta quadrant.

Nope. Episodes themselves (and only they are canon) don't say a thing about their precise location. But every time we hear a quadrant mentioned in regard to Klingons or Romulans, it's the AQ, not the BQ, especially in DS9 and VOY. The writers pretty much worked with the idea that all the major powers are in the AQ.

 

[C.E. Evans]

The quadrants didn't exist in TOS, did they?

They actually used quadrants like they do sectors in later shows, causing some fans to retcon their usage as "sector quadrants" (which really isn't such a bad idea given how big space is).

I understand the charts aren't canon. But canon does say the Romulans and Klingons are in the Beta quadrant.

To some extent, yeah--at least for the Klingons anyway. It was Star Trek VI that placed the Klingons in the Beta Quadrant (it was where the Excelsior was when Praxis blew up and later in the film it was implied that Khitomer--a Klingon colony--was in the Beta Quadrant as well). So it could be that the homeworld Qo'noS is in the Beta Quadrant, but part of the outer Klingon Empire expands into the Alpha Quadrant as well. I think it would be enough for the Klingons to have a vested interest in protecting the Alpha Quadrant from the Dominion. If nothing else, if the Alpha Quadrant falls, the Beta Quadrant would be next perhaps...

Now, if the Romulans share a border with the Klingon Empire, they could be a Beta Quadrant power too, but the Neutral Zone could be anywhere between Romulus and Earth, IMO...

 

[ConRefit79]

Nope. Episodes themselves (and only they are canon) don't say a thing about their precise location. But every time we hear a quadrant mentioned in regard to Klingons or Romulans, it's the AQ, not the BQ, especially in DS9 and VOY. The writers pretty much worked with the idea that all the major powers are in the AQ.

Memory Alpha shows Klingon are in Beta Quadrant. So does STTUC. Romulans appear to occupy both A & B quadrants, like the Federation.

 

[Admiral Shran]

Nope. Episodes themselves (and only they are canon) don't say a thing about their precise location. But every time we hear a quadrant mentioned in regard to Klingons or Romulans, it's the AQ, not the BQ, especially in DS9 and VOY. The writers pretty much worked with the idea that all the major powers are in the AQ.

Memory Alpha shows Klingon are in Beta Quadrant. So does STTUC. Romulans appear to occupy both A & B quadrants, like the Federation.

Star Trek VI is the only piece of canon that even hints that the Klingons are in the Beta Quadrant. All the movie does is HINT, a.k.a. imply, that part of the Empire might be in the Beta Quadrant.

This is one of my biggest pet peeves about the franchise. It makes much more sense for all three major powers (the Federation, the Klingons, and the Romulans) to be in the Alpha Quadrant (especially since they're constantly referred to as AQ powers in DS9 and VOY).

As for why there was not much exploration of the Alpha Quadrant shown.... Picard states that the UFP is spread across 8,000 light years. If we assume, as I do, that the Federation sits entirely in the AQ, that means a vast bulk of it has not only been explored, but colonized and claimed by the UFP. Add to that that the Federation most likely knows a great deal about the space claimed by it's various neighbors, and you got almost all of the AQ explored.

 

[AdmiralGarak]

ST6 was written years before the idea of the galaxy being sectioned off into 4 quadrants took hold. That concept originated with DS9, to allow for an easy explanation that the Wormhole went someplace far away.

Sulu's "Beta Quadrant" reference is probably best ignored, much like the Klingons' brief flirtation with having grape jelly course through their veins.

 

[Pemmer Harge]

I can't give chapter and verse, but I'm pretty sure that in some episode someone says something like "we've only explored 25% of the Alpha Quadrant".

 

[Trek Survivor]

ST6 was written years before the idea of the galaxy being sectioned off into 4 quadrants took hold. That concept originated with DS9, to allow for an easy explanation that the Wormhole went someplace far away.

No it didn't - TNG was mentioning the Delta Quadrant (remember those Ferengi in "The Price") before DS9 came along.

 

[neozeks]

No it didn't - TNG was mentioning the Delta Quadrant (remember those Ferengi in "The Price&quot before DS9 came along.

Yeah, that's true, TNG used quadrants - but only very rarely. It's DS9 and VOY where the quadrants became prominent (and useful).

 

[ConRefit79]

ST6 was written years before the idea of the galaxy being sectioned off into 4 quadrants took hold. That concept originated with DS9, to allow for an easy explanation that the Wormhole went someplace far away.

Sulu's "Beta Quadrant" reference is probably best ignored, much like the Klingons' brief flirtation with having grape jelly course through their veins.

Sorry, but there is a TOS graphic which shows the Galaxy divided into A, B, D & G quadrants.

I guess I'll just drop this question. As some have said, the galaxy it is a very big. I'm sure there are other ship exploring the Alpha Quadrant.

 

[C.E. Evans]

Sulu's "Beta Quadrant" reference is probably best ignored...

There's really no reason to ignore Sulu's Beta Quadrant reference. All it does is infer that the line dividing the Alpha Quadrant and the Beta Quadrant lies somewhere between Earth and Qo'noS. But it doesn't rule out the Klingons having territory in the Alpha Quadrant, since territory seemed to be the major point of contention between Klingons and the Federation in TOS.

 

[ConRefit79]

There's really no reason to ignore Sulu's Beta Quadrant reference. All it does is infer that the line dividing the Alpha Quadrant and the Beta Quadrant lies somewhere between Earth and Qo'noS. But it doesn't rule out the Klingons having territory in the Alpha Quadrant, since territory seemed to be the major point of contention between Klingons and the Federation in TOS.

Makes you wonder what is beyond the Romulan and Klingon borders of the Beta quadrant? You would think they would not spend so much energy fighting with the Feds, unless there is nothing or something more dangerous in the Beta quadrant.

 

[C.E. Evans]

There's really no reason to ignore Sulu's Beta Quadrant reference. All it does is infer that the line dividing the Alpha Quadrant and the Beta Quadrant lies somewhere between Earth and Qo'noS. But it doesn't rule out the Klingons having territory in the Alpha Quadrant, since territory seemed to be the major point of contention between Klingons and the Federation in TOS.

Makes you wonder what is beyond the Romulan and Klingon borders of the Beta quadrant? You would think they would not spend so my energy fighting with the Feds, unless there is nothing or something more dangerous in the Beta quadrant.

Could be an unimaginable number of wonders and horrors out there, just waiting to be discovered. The same thing is probably true for what lies in the Federation's backyard in the Alpha Quadrant.

Maybe it's just a case of all things in due time...

 

[Timo]

I can't give chapter and verse, but I'm pretty sure that in some episode someone says something like "we've only explored 25% of the Alpha Quadrant".

There are two such references in early TNG: "Where No One Has Gone Before" has Kosinski saying that 11% of the galaxy has been explored, and "The Dauphin" has Wesley say that 19% of it has been explored. Neither speaker mentions quadrants, though.

We could interpret this as indication that a lot was explored during the first season of TNG (meaning that 100% would have been explored by the end of that series) - or that the two speakers had different definitions of "explored". 19% might be the maximum extent of what is know, and 11% the maximum extent of what has been visited by people from the UFP (and not just probes or sensor beams).

Sorry, but there is a TOS graphic which shows the Galaxy divided into A, B, D & G quadrants.

Where?

Timo Saloniemi