Star Trek Chronology Notes
Popular Misconceptions
I know that many of you, after reading the launch dates of the
"Enterprise" and the other "Constitution" class heavy cruisers, are
shocked by them being some 40 years before Star Trek's first year.
One of the most damaging misconceptions introduced by the Spaceflight
Chronology book was that the "Enterprise" and her sisters had only
been a couple decades old at the time. FASA, of course, spread this
around and many authors accepted it without question. According to
The Making of Star Trek: "The 'Enterprise' ['Constitution'] class
starships have been in existence for about 40 years..." Alan Dean
Foster, in his novelization of "The Counter-Clock Incident,"
additionally has the retiring first captain of the "Enterprise"
(Robert April) say, repeatedly, that he first took command of her four
decades ago. He is 75 years old in this animated episode and if he were
a few years older than the soon-to-be youngest starship commander at the
time of his promotion to "Enterprise" captain then the 40 year figure
fits very well. Pre-production notes in The Making of Star Trek gives
April's age during his "Enterprise" command as mid-30s. Although it's
obvious his character evolved into James Kirk, nothing contradicts
April's age. Franz Joseph's classic Star Fleet Technical Manual gives
a listing of all 14 original "Constitution" class ships, among them is
the "Valiant" (NCC-1709) listed as 'lost in the line of duty.' In "A
Taste of Armageddon," the "Valiant" was lost on a mission to Eminiar
VII "50 years ago," according to Spock. A bit on the high side, but
nevertheless lost decades back. There was another "Valiant" lost 200
years earlier mentioned in "Where No Man Has Gone Before," the S.S.
"Valiant," one of the first Earth starships. We never hear of the
"Constitution" class "Valiant" ever again, unlike the other 13 ships
which surface in novels and fan fiction. Tech Fandom took FJ's Tech
Manual and blueprints a step further and published exact launch and
commissioning dates for all vessels: they were launched almost exactly
40 years before the first year of Star Trek. All other Tech Fandom
sources invariably agree: Ships of the Fleet, Heavy Cruiser Evolution
Blueprints, Federation Reference Series, Starfleet Handbook and many
more. Those who reject this explanation that starships could remain
in service for so many decades should take into account how these
ships were uprated to accomodate the new technology available--as well
as looking over "The Battle," "Peak Performance," and the novel "Eyes
of the Beholders" which goes to show that 80-100 year old ships are
still spaceworthy. After 80 years, the "Excelsior" class ships also
seem pretty active in The Next Generation. One of the original
"Constitution" class ships makes an appearance in the Next Generation
novel "The Captain's Honor"--revamped and renamed, and the hull of an
"Enterprise" (or "Tikopai") class heavy cruiser is seen among the
wreckage in "The Best of Both Worlds Part II." The TNG novel
"Reunion" also features the "Constitution" class starship "Lexington"
in chapter 2.
Just as Spaceflight Chronology diverged from the age of the
"Enterprise," so it does for the age of the transporter. SFC and FASA
have both claimed that the transporter is a relatively recent 23rd
Century invention--both consistently ignore the animated series, too.
The Terra 10 Earth colony ship launched roughly two centuries before
the 5-year mission, in "The Terratin Incident," had transporters.
Transporter technology may have been lost or banned after the 21st
Century, one might speculate. While there's nothing else to either
prove or disprove when the transporter was invented, it did play a key
role in the episode, and if it weren't for the Terratins having
transporters, the episode would have came to a sinister end! The
Next Generation episode "Realm of Fear" gives us the date of 2209 for the
first diagnosis of Transporter Psychosis. This predates "The Final
Reflection" novel set around 2230 and introduces us to the
Federation's development of transporter technology. Again, FASA/SFC
is unreliable...
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