The 5-year mission and head canon…

[Warped9]

The general consensus among fans is that the three seasons of TOS depict the first three years of the 5-year mission. In extent TAS supposedly depicts the fourth year (assuming you accept TAS as of the same continuity.

When I was younger I didn’t really give this much thought and pretty much accepted this as self-evident. But as the years passed I began to question this accepted assumption. Sure, Star Trek is a fictional universe and reality doesn’t apply, but if like many other things in Star Trek you’d like to think the Enterprise’s 5-year mission could have a bit more semblance of credibility then the notion events depicted in the series were happening about two weeks apart on average doesn’t sound that credible. Interstellar space is vast and you need a reasonable amount of travel time between assignments and there must be more mundane periods as well.

That brings me to head canon—the exercise of trying to have things make a bit more sense in your own mind.

Firstly we can easily set aside “The Cage” as it obviously depicts events set several years before the familiar 5-year mission. In “The Cage” we see how things stood in terms of personnel aboard the Enterprise with Christopher Pike in command and a younger Spock the only familiar face there. We don’t know how long Pike has been in command, how many of the crew were already there when Pike assumed command or how long Spock has been aboard. Later in “The Menagerie” there seems to be some inference that young Spock was on his first deep space assignment during the events of “The Cage.” And although Lt. Spock is evidently a Science Officer there is no indisputable indication he was already the ship’s Chief Science Officer.

Flash forward several years to the events of “Where No Man Has Gone Before.” The uniforms are similar to those in “The Cage,” but the crews looks entirely different other than Spock who now appears to be the Chief Science Officer. There seems to be a subtext in WNMHGB suggesting Kirk hasn’t been in command all that long—perhaps only some months. As such for all we know many of the crew (meaning Dr. Piper, Gary Mitchell, Lee Kelso, Alden and even Elizabeth Dehner) could already have been there (along with Spock) when Kirk assumes command. Evidently Dr. Phillip Boyce, Number One, Navigator Jose Tyler and Yeoman Colt are already long gone, likely promoted and reassigned (and assuming all or some are still alive). We don’t know if Kirk was promoted to the rank of Captain upon being assigned command of the Enterprise or if he already held that rank prior during his previous command of a smaller destroyer-class equivalent starship.

In “The Menagerie” Kirk states he met Pike only once before when he assumed command of the Enterprise when Pike was promoted. This suggests to me this change of command could have happened at a starbase rather than back on Earth. Perhaps the Enterprise assigned to probe the galaxy’s edge had already been set to happen before Pike was promoted and Kirk given command.

The ship and uniforms look distinctly different from later during the 5-year mission. There is also no opening narration at the beginning of the episode. This suggests to me the events of WNMHGB happened quite sometime before the 5-year mission, allowing sufficient time (perhaps a year or so) for the Enterprise to return to starbase and be refit to appear as seen during the 5-year voyage.

Now we get to the series proper depicting the bulk of the 5-year mission. Are the remaining 77 episodes (the two-part “The Menagerie” being counted as one event) depicting the first three years? Or could they be depicting near the entirety of the 5-year mission?

If the 77 episodes are the first three years then it breaks down like this:
- 365 days x 3 years / 77 events = 14.2 days average between events.
- Include TAS then 365 x 4 / 99 events = 14.7 days average between events.

If the three seasons actually depict the near entirety of the 5-year mission:
- 365 days x 5 years / 77 events = 23.7 days average between events.
- Including TAS then 365 days x 5 / 99 events = 18.4 days average between events.

Regardless of whether you include TAS or not I think the latter scenario is more credible where the episodes are happening about every 2.5 to 3 weeks on average. This allows that some could have happened rather soon after each other in short concession while others have more protracted time on average between them. It also accounts for the change in the characters’ appearances as they aged over the five years or so of the voyage. It’s also entirely possible the 5-year mission could have eventually been closer to 5-1/2 years or so (maybe near 6) allowing a bit more time for some events we never saw depicted on the screen.

In extent TMP is supposedly set about three years after the 5-year mission. But given the drastic change in appearance of Starfleet overall (apparent ship designs, technology and uniforms) I think it’s a bit more credible the events of TMP happen about 8 years after the 5-year mission.


Anyway it’s just a thought. Although I once did work up a more specific timeline for this with specific years (which differs from the Chronology), I didn’t bother with it here because it’s not really pertinent to this general idea.

 

[Noname Given]

The general consensus among fans is that the three seasons of TOS depict the first three years of the 5-year mission. In extent TAS supposedly depicts the fourth year (assuming you accept TAS as of the same continuity.

When I was younger I didn’t really give this much thought and pretty much accepted this as self-evident. But as the years passed I began to question this accepted assumption. Sure, Star Trek is a fictional universe and reality doesn’t apply, but if like many other things in Star Trek you’d like to think the Enterprise’s 5-year mission could have a bit more semblance of credibility then the notion events depicted in the series were happening about two weeks apart on average doesn’t sound that credible. Interstellar space is vast and you need a reasonable amount of travel time between assignments and there must be more mundane periods as well.

That brings me to head canon—the exercise of trying to have things make a bit more sense in your own mind.

Firstly we can easily set aside “The Cage” as it obviously depicts events set several years before the familiar 5-year mission. In “The Cage” we see how things stood in terms of personnel aboard the Enterprise with Christopher Pike in command and a younger Spock the only familiar face there. We don’t know how long Pike has been in command, how many of the crew were already there when Pike assumed command or how long Spock has been aboard. Later in “The Menagerie” there seems to be some inference that young Spock was on his first deep space assignment during the events of “The Cage.” And although Lt. Spock is evidently a Science Officer there is no indisputable indication he was already the ship’s Chief Science Officer.

Flash forward several years to the events of “Where No Man Has Gone Before.” The uniforms are similar to those in “The Cage,” but the crews looks entirely different other than Spock who now appears to be the Chief Science Officer. There seems to be a subtext in WNMHGB suggesting Kirk hasn’t been in command all that long—perhaps only some months. As such for all we know many of the crew (meaning Dr. Piper, Gary Mitchell, Lee Kelso, Alden and even Elizabeth Dehner) could already have been there (along with Spock) when Kirk assumes command. Evidently Dr. Phillip Boyce, Number One, Navigator Jose Tyler and Yeoman Colt are already long gone, likely promoted and reassigned (and assuming all or some are still alive). We don’t know if Kirk was promoted to the rank of Captain upon being assigned command of the Enterprise or if he already held that rank prior during his previous command of a smaller destroyer-class equivalent starship.

In “The Menagerie” Kirk states he met Pike only once before when he assumed command of the Enterprise when Pike was promoted. This suggests to me this change of command could have happened at a starbase rather than back on Earth. Perhaps the Enterprise assigned to probe the galaxy’s edge had already been set to happen before Pike was promoted and Kirk given command.

The ship and uniforms look distinctly different from later during the 5-year mission. There is also no opening narration at the beginning of the episode. This suggests to me the events of WNMHGB happened quite sometime before the 5-year mission, allowing sufficient time (perhaps a year or so) for the Enterprise to return to starbase and be refit to appear as seen during the 5-year voyage.

Now we get to the series proper depicting the bulk of the 5-year mission. Are the remaining 77 episodes (the two-part “The Menagerie” being counted as one event) depicting the first three years? Or could they be depicting near the entirety of the 5-year mission?

If the 77 episodes are the first three years then it breaks down like this:
- 365 days x 3 years / 77 events = 14.2 days average between events.
- Include TAS then 365 x 4 / 99 events = 14.7 days average between events.

If the three seasons actually depict the near entirety of the 5-year mission:
- 365 days x 5 years / 77 events = 23.7 days average between events.
- Including TAS then 365 days x 5 / 99 events = 18.4 days average between events.

Regardless of whether you include TAS or not I think the latter scenario is more credible where the episodes are happening about every 2.5 to 3 weeks on average. This allows that some could have happened rather soon after each other in short concession while others have more protracted time on average between them. It also accounts for the change in the characters’ appearances as they aged over the five years or so of the voyage. It’s also entirely possible the 5-year mission could have eventually been closer to 5-1/2 years or so (maybe near 6) allowing a bit more time for some events we never saw depicted on the screen.

In extent TMP is supposedly set about three years after the 5-year mission. But given the drastic change in appearance of Starfleet overall (apparent ship designs, technology and uniforms) I think it’s a bit more credible the events of TMP happen about 8 years after the 5-year mission.


Anyway it’s just a thought. Although I once did work up a more specific timeline for this with specific years (which differs from the Chronology), I didn’t bother with it here because it’s not really pertinent to this general idea.

I always assumed ST:TMP took place 10 years after the end of TOS (IE - the passage of time was equivalent to the time it took to get the movie made and released in the real world.)

As for the five-year mission? Honestly as the series went along; given how often they kept running into various Starfleet base,etc; and honestly didn't seem to be at the edge of known space constantly moving forward and exploring unknown space; it appeared to me the "five-year mission", would have been better defined as a "five-year tour of duty".

And honestly for me that didn't seem to hold up given all the various to 1 week guest star crewman that we usually never saw on the ship again. Except for the bridge crew oh, the rest of the crew went through a revolving door, and there were very few on board for the entire five years.

It's a lion that sounded great in the opening; but honestly it's not something the show spent a lot of time trying to make it appear it was actually the way Starfleet worked with respect to crew and mission assignments.

If anything in my head can and it was more:

"James T Kirk has been given command of this ship for 5 years, and after said 5-year term; his record will be evaluated, and he could be either promoted or assigned another command."

 

[Warped9]

The 5-year mission tagline was basically an expression of Roddenberry’s hope the show could run for five years to make for a nice syndication package. Outside of the opening narration the 5-year mission is never mentioned or referenced in TOS or elsewhere other than Kirk’s line, “Five years out there.” in TMP.

The whole concept was really blown by having the Enterprise back in the vicinity of Earth for “Tomorrow Is Yesterday” and “Assignment: Earth” as well as stopping off at Vulcan in “Amok Time” and “Journey To Babel.” If the Enterprise really was assigned to the frontier then the events in those episodes could not have happened as depicted.

“The City On The Edge Of Forever” as well as “Yesteryear” get a pass because the Guardian was transporting them across space as well as time.

 

[M'Sharak]

The general consensus among fans is that the three seasons of TOS depict the first three years of the 5-year mission.

It is? I never thought about that, really.

The 5-year mission tagline was basically an expression of Roddenberry’s hope the show could run for five years to make for a nice syndication package. Outside of the opening narration the 5-year mission is never mentioned or referenced in TOS or elsewhere other than Kirk’s line, “Five years out there.” in TMP.

To me, it sounded like an equivalent to "six-months at sea," or whatever the comparable tour of duty for a particular service might have been contemporary with the airing of the show. Five years, because hey, space is BIG and welcoming ports are thus fewer and farther between -- but nothing more than that.

I certainly never heard it as a [cue angelic chorus] FIVE. YEAR. MISSION. [/chorus] as if it were something super-special which was only ever assigned to the best-crewed (our guys, of course) Starship-class vessel in Starfleet. It was just a storyteller's way of saying "standard tour of duty, same as every other Starfleet crew does".

 

[Warped9]

It is? I never thought about that, really.

I’ve heard it referenced that way plenty over the years.

To me, it sounded like an equivalent to "six-months at sea," or whatever the comparable tour of duty for a particular service might have been contemporary with the airing of the show. Five years, because hey, space is BIG and welcoming ports are thus fewer and farther between -- but nothing more than that.

I certainly never heard it as a [cue angelic chorus] FIVE. YEAR. MISSION. [/chorus] as if it were something super-special which was only ever assigned to the best-crewed (our guys, of course) Starship-class vessel in Starfleet. It was just a storyteller's way of saying "standard tour of duty, same as every other Starfleet crew does".

A fair enough explanation except the opening narration does make it sound like it’s a big deal so it’s easy to see how many viewers could interpret it as such.

 

[Lord Garth]

My head-cannon is based on TOS as it ran, TAS, dialogue from TMP, Gene Roddenberry's TMP Novelization and any cut scenes from TOS. Also some speculation where I filled in gaps myself going with things where I'd think would it make sense to progress that way.

Gene Roddenberry's novelization has Kirk taking command of the Enterprise nine years before TMP. TMP is two-and-a-half years after the five-year mission, so Kirk took command of the Enterprise a year-and-a-half before the Five-Year Mission started. They're doing normal, mundane stuff.

In this cut scene from "Where No Man Has Gone Before", Kirk tells us what the Enterprise has been doing immediately before TOS.

Link to Youtube Video showing Alternate Intro for "Where No Man Has Gone Before"

"Enterprise log, Captain James Kirk commanding. We are leaving that vast cloud of stars and dust which we call our galaxy. Behind us Earth, Mars, Venus, even our Sun are specs of dust.

The question: What is there in the black void beyond? Until now our mission has been that of space law regulation. Contact with Earth colonies, an investigation of alien life. But now, a new task: A probe into where no man has gone before."

How much the body of episodes that follows always stuck to this mission statement can be argued forever but that was the idea. Later on in TMP, Kirk tells Decker he's taking command of the Enterprise because of experience, "five years out there dealing with unknowns like this."

So I take it as the Enterprise boldly goes "where no man has gone before" starting with WHNGHB, then they find out early on this is going to be more than they bargained for if they don't make changes, so the ship is slightly refitted (and they get new uniforms to go with it), and new crew are picked up. So the Five-Year Mission had a false start, before it began again for real.

In "Where No Man Has Gone Before", since Kirk's only been in command for a year-and-a-half, I figure that's the crew he inherited from Pike. That was Pike's crew towards the end of his time as Captain. Who we saw introduced in "The Corbomite Maneuver", I figured were Kirk's people. He had a chance to add crew who he knew from previous assignments.

With the banter Kirk and McCoy already have in "The Corbomite Maneuver", there's no way they just met. They've known each other for a while. When Piper left, Kirk couldn't get McCoy onboard fast enough.

In "Amok Time", at the beginning of the second season, Kirk talks about how in all the years he's known Spock, Spock has refused Shore Leave. If a year has passed since the start of TOS and Kirk had already been in command for a year-and-a-half beforehand, and if you include time between "Where No Man Has Gone Before" and "The Corbomite Maneuver" (doesn't have to be long, maybe a few months at most), then it's possible Kirk's known Spock for almost three years at this point. Juuuuust minimally long enough for him to finally be able to say "In all the years I've known you."

In "For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky", during the third season, Kirk tells McCoy he can arrange of have the Enterprise nearby when the Fabrini finally reach their destination a year after the episode takes place. So, if the five-year mission isn't ending, then a year later would be during what would've been TOS's fourth season or the fourth year of the Five-Year Mission.

The fourth year is for TAS. In "Yesterday", when time is changed, it's said that Thelin has been Kirk's first officer for five years. If time hadn't been altered, it would've been Spock who'd have been Kirk's first officer for five years. That tracks with everything earlier in my post.

Then the fifth year is for novels and whatever else. And there have been tons of different versions of how the Five-Year Mission ended told in stories over the decades.

Then two-and-a-half years later is TMP.

 

[DarrenTR1970]

I once did an experiment using Microsoft Excel, whereby using the premiere date of 8-September-1966 and the date of the finale 3-June-1969, adding three hundred years to them; then building around the 'Thanksgiving' date of 'Charlie X', the 'Halloween' episode of 'Catspaw' and the 'Christmas' episode of 'Friday's Child'; I was able to come up with a reasonable amount of time between each episode and the month in which they would fall in. It was about three and a half years of the five-year mission. Adding the Animated Series took it to four and a half years. There was just enough space between episodes to add some of the novels as well.

 

[STEPhon IT]

The general consensus among fans is that the three seasons of TOS depict the first three years of the 5-year mission. In extent TAS supposedly depicts the fourth year (assuming you accept TAS as of the same continuity.

When I was younger I didn’t really give this much thought and pretty much accepted this as self-evident. But as the years passed I began to question this accepted assumption. Sure, Star Trek is a fictional universe and reality doesn’t apply, but if like many other things in Star Trek you’d like to think the Enterprise’s 5-year mission could have a bit more semblance of credibility then the notion events depicted in the series were happening about two weeks apart on average doesn’t sound that credible. Interstellar space is vast and you need a reasonable amount of travel time between assignments and there must be more mundane periods as well.

That brings me to head canon—the exercise of trying to have things make a bit more sense in your own mind.

Firstly we can easily set aside “The Cage” as it obviously depicts events set several years before the familiar 5-year mission. In “The Cage” we see how things stood in terms of personnel aboard the Enterprise with Christopher Pike in command and a younger Spock the only familiar face there. We don’t know how long Pike has been in command, how many of the crew were already there when Pike assumed command or how long Spock has been aboard. Later in “The Menagerie” there seems to be some inference that young Spock was on his first deep space assignment during the events of “The Cage.” And although Lt. Spock is evidently a Science Officer there is no indisputable indication he was already the ship’s Chief Science Officer.

Flash forward several years to the events of “Where No Man Has Gone Before.” The uniforms are similar to those in “The Cage,” but the crews looks entirely different other than Spock who now appears to be the Chief Science Officer. There seems to be a subtext in WNMHGB suggesting Kirk hasn’t been in command all that long—perhaps only some months. As such for all we know many of the crew (meaning Dr. Piper, Gary Mitchell, Lee Kelso, Alden and even Elizabeth Dehner) could already have been there (along with Spock) when Kirk assumes command. Evidently Dr. Phillip Boyce, Number One, Navigator Jose Tyler and Yeoman Colt are already long gone, likely promoted and reassigned (and assuming all or some are still alive). We don’t know if Kirk was promoted to the rank of Captain upon being assigned command of the Enterprise or if he already held that rank prior during his previous command of a smaller destroyer-class equivalent starship.

In “The Menagerie” Kirk states he met Pike only once before when he assumed command of the Enterprise when Pike was promoted. This suggests to me this change of command could have happened at a starbase rather than back on Earth. Perhaps the Enterprise assigned to probe the galaxy’s edge had already been set to happen before Pike was promoted and Kirk given command.

The ship and uniforms look distinctly different from later during the 5-year mission. There is also no opening narration at the beginning of the episode. This suggests to me the events of WNMHGB happened quite sometime before the 5-year mission, allowing sufficient time (perhaps a year or so) for the Enterprise to return to starbase and be refit to appear as seen during the 5-year voyage.

Now we get to the series proper depicting the bulk of the 5-year mission. Are the remaining 77 episodes (the two-part “The Menagerie” being counted as one event) depicting the first three years? Or could they be depicting near the entirety of the 5-year mission?

If the 77 episodes are the first three years then it breaks down like this:
- 365 days x 3 years / 77 events = 14.2 days average between events.
- Include TAS then 365 x 4 / 99 events = 14.7 days average between events.

If the three seasons actually depict the near entirety of the 5-year mission:
- 365 days x 5 years / 77 events = 23.7 days average between events.
- Including TAS then 365 days x 5 / 99 events = 18.4 days average between events.

Regardless of whether you include TAS or not I think the latter scenario is more credible where the episodes are happening about every 2.5 to 3 weeks on average. This allows that some could have happened rather soon after each other in short concession while others have more protracted time on average between them. It also accounts for the change in the characters’ appearances as they aged over the five years or so of the voyage. It’s also entirely possible the 5-year mission could have eventually been closer to 5-1/2 years or so (maybe near 6) allowing a bit more time for some events we never saw depicted on the screen.

In extent TMP is supposedly set about three years after the 5-year mission. But given the drastic change in appearance of Starfleet overall (apparent ship designs, technology and uniforms) I think it’s a bit more credible the events of TMP happen about 8 years after the 5-year mission.


Anyway it’s just a thought. Although I once did work up a more specific timeline for this with specific years (which differs from the Chronology), I didn’t bother with it here because it’s not really pertinent to this general idea.

When I a kid, I took Kirk's Captain's Logs literally and I followed carefully the numbers indicated the five year mission was completed after "All Our Yesterdays"*. I adopted TAS as my head canon continuity as a new five year tour of duty because of the subtle facelifts given to the Enterprise, the Bridge and the Engine Room, while I felt these upgrades needed some time to implement and time for shakedowns to be administered.

TMP appears to me a completely separate universe where nothing in it complements the series that I love, for me to swallow all of the clunkiness seen in the movie where the ship is seen being pieced together by hull plating by human hands, transporters don't work, and warp drive was perceived to be experimental (Intergalactic, accidental, proto-wormholes), and WTF were those belt buckle things** attached to the uniforms LOL... anyway there had to be a gap in time between TAS and TMP, and a longer window of time between TOS where there was some galactic technological collapse where primary decks require redundant modules, torpedoes have casings instead of the energy base it once was, and Engineers has to wear hazmat suits during operations when the Constitution Class clunk is in motion.

*I prefer viewing Star Trek in chronological order with the Stardates and not by air dated programing.

**Before anyone wastes their time giving me Treknobabble jibber jabber, I KNOW it was a Perscan Bio Monitor Scanner - allegedly, I'm making a joke. Either way, TMP presented an overcomplication of things which has the perception of a degradation in technology.

 

[Methuselah Flint]

Yes, I certainly believe Kirk knew McCoy before taking command of the Enterprise, and it's entirely possible he inherited what was Pike's crew, at the time of WNHGB.

Kirk and Spock, is an odd one. Up to now I think Gary was Kirk's closest friend, and things such as the chess comment in the turbo lift at the beginning emphasise their friendship over that of Kirk and Spock. However, Spock obviously knows Kirk well enough to give his advice regarding Mitchell, knowing that Kirk has feelings etc and that despite Spock himself being practical, his good captain doesn't have that luxury. He seems to know how Kirk operates enough for them to have spent a reasonable time together, time enough for him to refer to Kirk as "Jim".

Is it possible, as per the unused intro, that we could infer Kirk has been aboard for a year before WNMGHB?

Obviously post-ep we have a refit, which could probably turnaround within a few months, change of personnel etc, and thus enter: Dr McCoy.

 

[Vger23]

I always figured the following:

1. After Pike stepped down, the Enterprise was crewed and outfitted specifically for the probe mission beyond the edge of the galaxy. Kirk and company were probably aboard for a few months while the ship made a lengthy voyage to the “edge” and stopped off at various places to pick up specialists (like Dehner), etc.

2. Once the mission to probe beyond the galaxy failed due to the encounter with the Galactic Barrier, the Enterprise was recalled for a complete refit and re-crew, and the intent was to have that same core crew and equipment load be relevant for a full 5-years of exploring space and all the other random duties the ship would be assigned.

3. I don’t believe the “5 year mission” is because they are so far away from Earth. Referencing my last point, I think it’s to promote consistency and chemistry amongst a core of crew members who are all used to leaning on and trusting each other in that very unique and stressful environment. There were ships in the TNG era who took it even further, allowing families aboard.

4. I don’t think each year of the show represents a year of the 5-year mission. I think we see a bunch of stuff that is exciting and interesting, and those are the “episodes” we see in TOS and TAS. But, there is also a bunch of stuff we don’t see…travel time, standard mapping missions, etc.

Anyway, that’s how I’ve always thought of it.

 

[Warped9]

When I a kid, I took Kirk's Captain's Logs literally and I followed carefully the numbers indicated the five year mission was completed after "All Our Yesterdays"*. I adopted TAS as my head canon continuity as a new five year tour of duty because of the subtle facelifts given to the Enterprise, the Bridge and the Engine Room, while I felt these upgrades needed some time to implement and time for shakedowns to be administered.

TMP appears to me a completely separate universe where nothing in it complements the series that I love, for me to swallow all of the clunkiness seen in the movie where the ship is seen being pieced together by hull plating by human hands, transporters don't work, and warp drive was perceived to be experimental (Intergalactic, accidental, proto-wormholes), and WTF were those belt buckle things** attached to the uniforms LOL... anyway there had to be a gap in time between TAS and TMP, and a longer window of time between TOS where there was some galactic technological collapse where primary decks require redundant modules, torpedoes have casings instead of the energy base it once was, and Engineers has to wear hazmat suits during operations when the Constitution Class clunk is in motion.

*I prefer viewing Star Trek in chronological order with the Stardates and not by air dated programing.

**Before anyone wastes their time giving me Treknobabble jibber jabber, I KNOW it was a Perscan Bio Monitor Scanner - allegedly, I'm making a joke. Either way, TMP presented an overcomplication of things which has the perception of a degradation in technology.

Interpreting TAS as part of a second 5-year mission is an interesting thought I had not considered before. Hmm… Mind you some of the TAS stardates are intermixed with the TOS ones so make of that what you will.

My next rewatch I intend to watch the series in stardate order.

 

[Warped9]

That will put PATTERNS OF FORCE almost at the beginning despite the presence of Chekov,.

So THATS how Khan recognized him. He was already aboard.

 

[Donald G]

My head-cannon is based on TOS as it ran, TAS, dialogue from TMP, and Gene Roddenberry's TMP Novelization and any cut scenes from TOS. Also some speculation where I filled in gaps myself going with things where I'd think would it make sense to progress that way.

Gene Roddenberry's novelization has Kirk taking command of the Enterprise nine years before TMP. TMP is two-and-a-half years after the five-year mission, so Kirk took command of the Enterprise a year-and-a-half before the Five-Year Mission started. They're doing normal, mundane stuff.

In this cut scene from "Where No Man Has Gone Before", Kirk tells us what the Enterprise has been doing immediately before TOS.

Link to Youtube Video showing Alternate Intro for "Where No Man Has Gone Before"

"Enterprise log, Captain James Kirk commanding. We are leaving that vast cloud of stars and dust which we call our galaxy. Behind us Earth, Mars, Venus, even our Sun are specs of dust.

The question: What is there in the black void beyond? Until now our mission has been that of space law regulation. Contact with Earth colonies, an investigation of alien life. But now, a new task: A probe into where no man has gone before."

How much the body of episodes that follows always stuck to this mission statement can be argued forever but that was the idea. Later on in TMP, Kirk tells Decker he's taking command of the Enterprise because of experience, "five years out there dealing with unknowns like this."

So I take it as the Enterprise boldly goes "where no man has gone before" starting with WHNGHB, then they find out early on this is going to be more than they bargained for if they don't make changes, so the ship is slightly refitted (and they get new uniforms to go with it), and new crew are picked up. So the Five-Year Mission had a false start, before it began again for real.

In "Where No Man Has Gone Before", since Kirk's only been in command for a year-and-a-half, I figure that's the crew he inherited from Pike. That was Pike's crew towards the end of his time as Captain. Who we saw introduced in "The Corbomite Manuever", I figured were Kirk's people. He had a chance to add crew who he knew from previous assignments.

With the banter Kirk and McCoy already have in "The Corbomite Maneuver", there's no way they just met. They've known each other for a while. When Piper left, Kirk couldn't get McCoy onboard fast enough.

In "Amok Time", at the beginning of the second season, Kirk talks about how in all the years he's known Spock, Spock has refused Shore Leave. If a year has passed since the start of TOS and Kirk had already been in command for a year-and-a-half beforehand, and if you include time between "Where No Man Has Gone Before" and "The Corbomite Manuever" (doesn't have to be long, maybe a few months at most), then it's possible Kirk's known Spock for almost three years at this point. Juuuuust minimally long enough for him to finally be able to say "In all the years I've known you."

In "For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky", during the third season, Kirk tells McCoy he can arrange of have the Enterprise nearby when it finally reaches whatever destination the Fabrini finally reach. So, if the five-year mission isn't ending, then that would be during what would've been TOS's fourth season or the fourth year of the Five-Year Mission.

The fourth year is for TAS. In "Yesterday", when time is changed, it's said that Thelin has been Kirk's first officer for five years. If time hadn't been altered, it would've been Spock who'd have been Kirk's first officer for five years. That tracks with everything earlier in my post.

Then the fifth year is for novels and whatever else. And there have been tons of different versions of how the Five-Year Mission ended told in stories over the decades.

Then two-and-a-half years later is TMP.

In Roddenberry 's TMP nove!ization, Spock had spent the last nine Vulcan seasons, which a footnote translates to the equivalent of 2.8 Terran years, on the plains of Gol undergoing Kolinahr. That's longer than Kirk's two-and-a-half years as Chief of Starship Operations. I would also hazard that Kirk got at least a few months leave between the Enterprise's return to Earth and his promotion and posting to his new position, so, in accordance with some pre-release publicity for the film, I put TMP a full three years after the end of the 5YM.*

* I'm a heretic in that I consider the TMP novelization the only "canonical" Star Trek, in accordance with Admiral Kirk's preface, even if Roddenberry tried to later disavow it.

 

[Lord Garth]

In Roddenberry 's TMP nove!ization, Spock had spent the last nine Vulcan seasons, which a footnote translates to the equivalent of 2.8 Terran years, on the plains of Gol undergoing Kolinahr. That's longer than Kirk's two-and-a-half years as Chief of Starship Operations. I would also hazard that Kirk got at least a few months leave between the Enterprise's return to Earth and his promotion and posting to his new position, so, in accordance with some pre-release publicity for the film, I put TMP a full three years after the end of the 5YM.*

* I'm a heretic in that I consider the TMP novelization the only "canonical" Star Trek, in accordance with Admiral Kirk's preface, even if Roddenberry tried to later disavow it.

Three years works just as well for me. I'm not married to the idea that TMP is strictly two-and-half years after the Five-Year Mission ended. When looking at original source material, my preference is to go with what a creator had in mind as they were creating it. So, the way I look at it, TMP was the first chance for Gene Roddenberry to cover what happened after the Five-Year Mission ended, since they didn't get to do it in TOS.

I look at the TMP Novelization as the rare glimpse into Gene Roddenberry's fully matured view on what Star Trek was before he decided he wanted to reinvent the wheel. So I also think that TMP is the punctuation mark on his first version of Star Trek. I'm not talking about canon because canon relates to The Franchise (which is a whole other thing), but how he viewed things.

 

[Henoch]

Firstly, I have the same timeline thoughts that you have. I have put together a "stardate" chronology using one Earth year equal 1000 stardates where the three seasons (not including WNMHGB) start around stardate 1322 and cover about 4880 stardates (no three or four digits after a decimal point) with Day of the Dove (no stardate given) being after All Our Yesterdays. My logic is that Kang implies three years after Errand of Mercy which was stardate 3201, plus ~3000 equals stardate ~6201.

I usually avoid TAS in the timeline, but I can still make it work if we assume TAS episodes The Pirates of Orion, The Counter-Clock Incident and Bem were all diplomatic missions ("roll out the heroes, again...") and occur after the 5YM while the Enterprise waits for the start of its refit.

The only in-episode mention of a 5YM was in The Mark of Gideon, where Kirk tells Odona, "And food. We have enough to feed a crew of four hundred and thirty for five years." The ship must have been restocked, recently. Maybe the ship is kept ready for a five year ordeal if it needed.

 

[Jedi Marso]

Since someone said 'Head Canon', here's the straight dope on the Trek timeline, an excerpt from my own detailed timeline construction...

2244 Design and construction begins on the Constitution Class Starship.

2252 Start of the 4 Years War between the Klingon Empire and the Federation.

2256 End of the 4 years war and establishment of the Axanar Peace Mission. Phasers and
photon torpedoes replace lasers and accelerator cannon weapons aboard all Federation
vessels.

2264 Captain Kirk begins his five year mission as commanding officer of the USS Enterprise.

2269 Enterprise returns from her first 5 year mission.

2271 The V'Ger incident. Enterprise departs on her second 5 year mission.

2276 Enterprise returns from her second 5 year mission.

2285 The Mutara Incident. USS Enterprise destroyed at Genesis.

Based on the discussion in this thread, I am prepared to concede that that 2269-2271 timeline for those events may be a little tight. Fortunately, the V'Ger incident and the second 5-year mission could be slid forward 1-3 years with no real effect on the rest.

 

[Mres_was_framed!]

The Star Trek Chronology penned by the Okudas actually puts TOS in the LAST 3 years of the five year mission, which, for that book, goes from 2264-2269 (production years for the pilots and TOS, plus 300 years.) So The 2nd pilot is about a year into the mission, and the Corbomite Maneuver is about a year after that. (I have the second edition ending with Voyager season 2. I guess there has been a third, but i have never seen it, so I don't know if they changed anything.)

In any case, this means there is far from fan consensus that TOS is the first three years of the mission.

While I like the Okuda's efforts to set the timeline consistently, I think that putting the 2nd pilot before the 5 year mission frees up some time to allow for later episodes, TAS, and the novels.

Icheb does say (in "Q2") that Kirk's first 5-year mission ended in 2270 when he gives his report.

I watched the series through in stardate order, with TAS mixed in, most recently, but I have watched it in production and airdate order. If TMP is ten years after TOS, then making TAS another 5-year mission helps fill out that time. On the other hand, if one accepts the 2nd pilot (1312.4) to be before the mission, and BEM (7403) to be after the mission, the lowest number for TOS is 1329, and the highest from TAS would be 6770, which taken at thousandths of a year, would allow for a mission of about 5 years and 3 months. You could take it further and argue that several TAS episodes with stardates in the 6000's could be missions that could take place after the 5-year mission, but I don't think you have to. (I'm not counting the 52.2 or 1254.4 from TAS, as I consider those two to be errors.)

I wish we knew authorial intent on that first digit of stardates for TOS. I'm saying that we must accept that original intent, but it would be nice to know.

I have considered the idea that "the decimal point was moved" for the movies putting, TWOK as early as 2282 (first two digits in the stardate are 82). This also lets us put more time between the highest stardate in TAS, 7403, and TMP, 7412. In TAS,the 74 refers to 40% of the way through year 7, aka 2271, but the 74 in TMP refers to the year 2274.

 

[Herbert]

The 5-year mission tagline was basically an expression of Roddenberry’s hope the show could run for five years to make for a nice syndication package. Outside of the opening narration the 5-year mission is never mentioned or referenced in TOS or elsewhere other than Kirk’s line, “Five years out there.” in TMP.

The whole concept was really blown by having the Enterprise back in the vicinity of Earth for “Tomorrow Is Yesterday” and “Assignment: Earth” as well as stopping off at Vulcan in “Amok Time” and “Journey To Babel.” If the Enterprise really was assigned to the frontier then the events in those episodes could not have happened as depicted.

Why do the two have to be mutually exclusive? Just because the Enterprise is out on the frontier, that doesn't preclude it from being able to return to Earth, or to visit other Federation worlds, if the circumstance or need arises. It's pretty clear from watching the series that the Enterprise wasn't always "out on the frontier"

 

[Henoch]

Why do the two have to be mutually exclusive? Just because the Enterprise is out on the frontier, that doesn't preclude it from being able to return to Earth, or to visit other Federation worlds, if the circumstance or need arises. It's pretty clear from watching the series that the Enterprise wasn't always "out on the frontier"

Enterprise really gets around based on the needs of the story; plot speed versus warp speed wins every race.

 

[BillJ]

The whole concept was really blown by having the Enterprise back in the vicinity of Earth for “Tomorrow Is Yesterday” and “Assignment: Earth” as well as stopping off at Vulcan in “Amok Time” and “Journey To Babel.” If the Enterprise really was assigned to the frontier then the events in those episodes could not have happened as depicted.

There is a mention of there being enough food on the Enterprise for five years in "The Mark of Gideon".

KIRK: Well, let's see. Power, that's no problem, it regenerates. And food. We have enough to feed a crew of four hundred and thirty for five years. So that should last us