Star Trek Chronology Notes

The Five-year Mission


The dates during which the famous 5 year mission occurs have been obtained from numerous sources. The original Star Trek Time Line was written by Chuck Graham and published in the fanzine Menagerie V, c. 1974. It was a mere two pages long with less than 3 dozen dates up to the start of the mission (2260 A.D.), but it was reprinted in Geoffrey Mandel's Starfleet Handbook and apparently made its way around in fandom. The Star Fleet Medical Reference Manual went by these dates and all other publications and blueprints followed suit and to this very day Technical Fandom still very much abides by this chronology. Around 1980, a poorly researched book came out called Star Trek Space- flight Chronology which totally blew away all previously established dates...

How was 2260 A.D. established for the start of the 5-year mission? It's quite obvious that Star Trek is set in the 23rd Century, this is an automatic "given" from sources such as The Making of Star Trek. The question then arose as to exactly WHEN in this century.

Star Trek's second pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before" had the "Enterprise" recover the recorder-marker of an Earth ship at the edge of the galaxy, the S.S. "Valiant." It was mentioned repeatedly that the "Valiant" had been lost 200 years ago. For an Earth vessel to travel that far it had to have had warp drive (despite Kirk's comment about the inferior impulse engines of the "Valiant"). Warp drive was developed by Earth in the 21st Century as we later would meet the inventor, Zefram Cochrane in "Metamorphosis" who disappeared "150 years ago" by McCoy's reckoning. He was an old man at the time, in Cochrane's own words, before the Companion rejuvenated him. Furthermore, he went on to identify Mr. Spock as a Vulcan (questionably), but had never heard of the United Federation of Planets. These facts alone place "Where No Man Has Gone Before" no sooner than the mid-23rd Century.

In the first season episode "Miri," the "Enterprise" encounters a duplicate Earth where, we assume, history ran parallel to that on the real Earth. Shortly after beamdown, Spock comments that it is Earth circa 1960. Later on in the episode, Kirk and Spock come across an ancient piano. Kirk asks Mr. Spock its age and Spock replies with the figure of 300 years. 1960 + 300 = 2260 A.D.

"Space Seed," the episode by which Spaceflight Chronology, and later FASA, falsely places Star Trek around the early 23rd Century, must be ignored. If we examine this episode closely from the start, Kirk was confused by the age of the S.S. "Botany Bay." When first spotted, Kirk mistakenly refers to it as a DY-500 series ship and Spock corrects him "Much older, DY-100 series." After Khan's revival Kirk tells him he was sleeping for "Two centuries we estimate." The DY-100 series was an interplanetary ship, according to Spock, last produced and launched in the late 20th Century. Obviously the DY-500 came much later (mid- or late-21st Century). Kirk absent-mindedly told Khan the two centuries after the DY-500 series (c. 2050 + 200 = 2250). Likewise, the date mentioned in "Squire of Gothos" must also be ignored (placing Star Trek centuries LATER in time).

The animated series which followed went on to support the 2260 Star Trek date. "The Terratin Incident" dealt with a lost Earth colony stranded on the planet Cepheus. At the beginning of the episode, Uhura picks up a message in interstat code, commenting that interstat's been out of use for two centuries. We later learn that the colony had transporters, which Mr. Spock was not surprised to learn for an early Earth colony. The colony was originally named Terra 10 and we assume that there were at least 9 other interstellar Earth colony attempts previously. This suggests that transporter technology was developed in the 21st Century, probably shortly after warp drive. The episode "The Slaver Weapon" introduced us to the Kzinti (borrowed from Larry Niven's Known Space books). We learn from Mr. Sulu that the Kzinti fought 4 wars with Mankind and lost all of them--the last one being 200 years ago. Indeed, Star Trek cannot take place any EARLIER than 2260. In order to defeat the Kzinti, Earth had to have had spaceflight and warp-driven ships. Quite possibly the development of warp drive and transporter technology shortly thereafter enabled Earth to conquer the Kzinti.

The novels which shortly followed supported this dating system. The dates mentioned in "World Without End" place Star Trek some time in the mid-23rd Century and the novel "Perry's Planet" is set around an Earth colony launched about 300 years ago (a bit on the high side). Later novels would, unfortunately, use FASA/Spaceflight Chronology dates ("The Final Reflection," "Final Frontier" and "Strangers From The Sky"), which sets Star Trek around 2208 A.D. To this very day I still read articles written by fans who try to intermingle the two timelines without altering dates. They simply do not understand that there Are two timelines (three now, counting Okuda's) in existence which are quite incompatible date by date. Much of the material can be preserved but the date must be dropped. You can't mix and match years from, let us say, Mr. Scott's Guide to the "Enterprise" (FASA universe: the "Constitution" class is launched around 2190 A.D.) with Star Trek Maps (Technical Fandom: the "Constitution" class is launched around 2220 A.D.). They are separated by more than half a century--more on this later.

Thus, the voyages of the "Enterprise" under Kirk's command occured from 2260-2265 A.D. Other novels and references "fine-tuned" this a bit. "Enterprise: The First Adventure" tells us that Kirk took command of the "Enterprise" even earlier, 2258, based upon his age. Dating it backwards using relative reference clues given in episodes is best explored in articles such as "How Many Sulus?" in The Best of Trek #18. The novelization of ST-TMP also substantiates this gap in continuity of "undocumented adventures" (one could easily slot in the earliest of Gold Key's comic books here if one so desires: the crude "Enterprise" construction, hand-held microphones, equipment, uniforms and designs based upon those in the pilot episodes, are their unflattering trademarks). Furthermore, it would have taken time for Kirk to familiarize himself with the ship before taking on any major missions. Shortly after "Enterprise" comes the novel "Strangers From the Sky (Book II)," and then on to "Where No Man Has Gone Before" (late 2259). This last episode takes up the bulk of time between 2258 and 2260: the two-way trip from U.F.P. space to the Energy Barrier at the edge of our galaxy. Early 2260 is also spent uprating the "Enterprise" ("Constitution" class to the specs of the "Bonhomme Richard" class to accommodate the more detailed "Enterprise" model--but that's ANOTHER file in itself!) and of course the installation of new systems and the institution of new uniforms ("Corbomite Maneuver" onwards). The 5- year mission therefore "officially" begins right after the "Enterprise" returns and is refitted following the second pilot episode, in 2260. (Kirk's prologue explaining "Its five year mission..." isn't even incorporated into the title sequence of the 2nd pilot episode!).

Now if the order of the Original episodes are examined, you will notice them to be in Production Order. Considering the minute changes of systems (and uniforms worn) aboard the "Enterprise," there is simply no other logical way to chronicle the episodes. Aired Order begins with "The Man Trap," when clearly the first episode is "Where No Man Has Gone Before." Taking them in Stardate Order is an intriguing idea, but stardates do not hold up when the additional stardates of the animated series and the novels are incorporated. In fact, stardates actually OVERLAP in certain episodes ("Corbomite Maneuver" and "The Man Trap"). In addition, many novelists don't take stardates seriously. We have to live with the information in The Making of Star Trek that stardates have no real chronological bearing for the "Enterprise", even though the latest Next Generation episodes have been trying to keep the stardate order consistent with the aired order.

Examining the Chronology you will see that the first season episodes span the first two years, 2260 and 2261 and the second and third season epsides are in 2262 and 2263 respectively. Why? "Charlie X" is set in November as Kirk mentions Thanksgiving--the latter half of the year. The episodes "Court Martial" and "The Menagerie" were filmed one after another yet both take place at the SAME starbase 11 (despite Asherman's numerical errors in his Star Trek Compendium--we have seen only ONE starbase in the original series: Starbase 11). We first see the base being commanded by Commodore Stone and then we see it commanded by Commodore Mendez. Obviously there is a considerable gap of time between these two episodes. Furthermore, in "Day of the Dove," Kang states that the Klingon Empire and the Federation have been at peace for 3 years, NOT 2 as we would believe (deliberately overlooking the possibility that he was referring to Klingon years).

Immediately following the original episodes are the 22 animated episodes. They are not in Production Order, Aired Order, or Stardate Order. They follow in the order in which Alan Dean Foster novelized them. Why? A.D.F. has contributed more to the Star Trek Universe than many other novelists in his Star Trek Log series of ten books. They are linked together in his own unique order, with the last 4 adaptations blown-up into full-length novels, greatly expanded and providing a rich source of information to Fandom. The "Klolode" class ship name was taken from Star Trek Log 4, the concept of transporter patterns being used for security purposes was taken from Star Trek Log 3, and the rich background of the characters Arex and M'ress were drawn from these novelizations. Each of which was far more faithful to the original work than any of James Blish's attempts. "The Survivor" is said to take place on Christmas and thus is considered the last episode of 2263. The bulk of the Star Trek novels follow the animated episodes in the remaining 2263 and 2264 years. Early 2265 marks the end of the mission and "The Lost Years" follow immediately. Two and a half years after, in 2267, Star Trek-The Motion Picture takes place.

As previously stated, most Trek novels are set during the "5th year" of the 5-year mission. They bridge the gap between the 22 cartoon adventures and Star Trek-The Motion Picture. It is highly unlikely that All of them actually occur in the same universe or timeline--certainly not in the brief year of time allocated. Still, I have made an attempt to arrange the novels and short stories into a reasonable order. I've also added on a few notes that helped me sort them, featuring glaring errors contained within. It is not flawless, but is probably as close as we'll ever come to a chronology of early/mid 2264 to March 2265:

NEW NOVELS 2265? 2266 Note that the two "New Voyages" books are collections of short stories. Not all of which are set in the same timeline. This is especially true for "Visit to a Weird Planet Revisited" (a comedy where the actors transpose with their characters) and "Mind Sifter" (involving Captain Spock rescuing Kirk A.W.O.L. for a year in Earth's past).

Here's how I developed it. The novels were first arranged in order of publication. This was done because later novels would sometimes build upon earlier ones (i.e. particular events and characters). The influences of the films are also evident in the novels and the advances of technology. Next, all novels set after Star Trek-The Motion Picture were eliminated, along with the few novels set during the original series ("Web of the Romulans," "The Vulcan Academy Murders," "The IDIC Epidemic" and the more recent "Ghost-Walker") or before it ("Vulcan's Glory," "Enterprise: The First Adventure"). Next, novels were grouped by author, in most instances. Many writers recycle minor characters, and considering crew rotations at starbase layovers it seems plausible that they would occur very close to one another. The character of Dr. Rigel in "Vulcan!" reappearing in "Death's Angel" is a good example. There are exceptions, of course. An example is "Yesterday's Son" and "Time For Yesterday." Both are by the same author, A.C. Crispin, yet "Time" clearly is set between Star Trek-The Motion Picture and ST II. Sequels are common, including "Battlestations!" which immediately follows "Dreadnought!" Finally, arranging the novels by data supplied in each--no easy task! The easiest to handle were the 'chained' adventures such as "Spock Must Die!" and "Spock, Messiah!" Early on in "Messiah" McCoy jokes "The last time Scotty operated the tranporter we got duplicate Spocks" and a footnote confirms that it immediately follows "Spock Must Die!" Similarly, "The Final Nexus" is a follow up to "Chain of Attack" which is in turn a followup to "The Abode of Life." A notable exception to this are the novels written by Barbara Hambly, each set during different eras.

Ingrit Tomson, Security Chief aboard the "Enterprise" is another useful key in chronicling the novels. She first appeared in "Mindshadow" by J.M. Dillard and has survived all the way through "The Lost Years," the prequel to Star Trek-The Motion Picture, which officially marks the end of the 5-year mission. Her character was borrowed by other authors and has appeared frequently, but this may end due to new Paramount restrictions on Trek authors... The obvious point remains: she was the last Security Chief and novels featuring her should be grouped last. "The Lost Years" indicates that she served under Kirk aboard the "Enterprise" for 4 years, starting out not as the Chief but as a security guard or other junior position.

Diane Duane complicates matters. In her novels set during the tail end of the 5-year mission, Nurse Chapel has left the "Enterprise" to get her doctorate. Her replacement is Lia Burke, introduced to us in "The Wounded Sky." Then why do the Ingrit Tomson novels, last in the series, sometimes feature Nurse Chapel aboard? Also featured in this novel is another security chief (Matlock)! Diane Duane's final novel, "Doctor's Orders," however, features BOTH Chief Tomson AND Lia Burke! In "The Lost Years," when the "Enterprise" enters dock, Nurse Chapel is mentioned as still being aboard and intent on getting her doctorate... One solution is to take the Duane novels as being in an alternate timeline--but that's not for me to decide. Another solution is that she left and came back.

Make no mistake, this order is not flawless--it depends on how deeply you want to dig of course... Consider "Spock Must Die!" the first Star Trek novel. Written by James Blish who did the novelizations of the classic episodes, he adds a brief footnote in a 3rd season novelized episode referring to "Spock Must Die!" Going by this, one would think that the novel takes place before or during the third season--but it's chock full of references to many other third season episodes After the key episode! It ends with the Organians depriving the Klingons of space travel. As a result, "Spock Must Die!" was placed at the top of the "5th Year List" of books, bunked down only by "The Galactic Whirlpool" which features Arex and M'Ress AND Chekov, apparently bridging the animated series with the novels.

Another example is the novel "Faces Of Fire" by Michael Jan Friedman. The "Historian's Note" at the beginning (which has not always been reliable) states that the story begins on stardate 3998.6 "which would place it about halfway through the starship 'Enterprise's' original five-year mission." How can an old stardate which does not appear ANYWHERE in the actual story be used to calculate when in the 5-year mission the story takes place? Old stardates can vary from 1254.4 to 7403.6 in the original series and don't progress sequentially. Stardates aside, the novel either fits into Trek's 2nd season or after it (5th year, maybe). The ship's complement and rank all reflect the original 5-year mission, including the presence of Lt. Leslie and Dr. M'Benga. Pinpointing exactly WHEN is the real challenge... M'Benga's appearance would immediately have us place it after "Journey To Babel" (since after this episode, the doctor is transferred to the "Enterprise" as covered in the novels TOS #20 & #38). Chekov is also manning the navigation station on the bridge, again placing it as a 2nd season episode or later in the chronology (we know from ST II that he was aboard the "Enterprise" in the first season but not then as the ship's navigator). One comical segment of the novel has a character ask Chekov what he is going to do when he meets his first Klingon. Chekov met a Klingon crew in "Day of the Dove" (3rd season), again placing the novel in the 2nd season somewhere. One would think that the "new biomonitors" installed in sickbay would push the placement of this novel into the "5th year" but the Malurians immediate necessitate the placement before "The Changeling" even though Dr. M'Benga was not aboard then (at least not a normal member of the ship's complement). In "The Changeling" the entire Malurian race was "sterilized" by Nomad. I very much doubt there are two Malurian races, though it is a possibility (in the episode, Kirk mentions that Dr. Manway was stationed there. No mention of this doctor is made in the novel). In any case it appears that "The Changeling" is set sometime after "Faces Of Fire." We can now narrow down the placement of the novel between "The Changeling" and "Catspaw" (first episode of the 2nd season). Note that in the earliest episodes of this season Chekov was essentially an assistant science officer before serving at the helm alongside Sulu. We move the estimated placement further down... All that is left to go by now is the stardate: 3998.6. The closest approximation is somewhere near "The Doomsday Machine" (stardate 4202.9). Fortunately not all novels are this difficult.

More problems of this sort accumulate because some authors refuse to accept or view the animated episodes. In "Dreams of the Raven," Bob Wesley still commands the U.S.S. "Lexington" as in "The Ultimate Computer." But as we all know, he left Star Fleet to become the governor of the Pallas XIV system ("One of Our Planets is Missing")... "Yesterday's Son" makes no reference to "Yesteryear" yet clearly takes place afterwards as proven in the sequel "Time For Yesterday"... "Dreams of the Raven" gives us McCoy's current age as being 48--clearly a "5th year" novel, but a bit off... The novel "Bloodthirst": Kirk doesn't, at first, know what a vampire is. The novel "Death's Angel," on the other hand, tells us he was haunted by vampire myths since childhood... "Black Fire" ends with the "Enterprise" heading for some new repairs, Chekov promoted to Lt., and new ST-TMP uniforms recently issued. Clearly the last episode in the bunch, but it contradicts "The Lost Years" where the ST-TMP uniforms again first appear...

Many fans have criticized "Spock Must Die!" because it doesn't jibe very well with the later novels: it takes up 6 Months of time, gives us a massive Klingon-Federation War (during which Super Star Trek and all the related interactive computer combat grid games undoubtedly take place!), and ends with the Organians depriving the Klingons of spaceflight for 1,000 years! Following the rules explained above for sorting, the Blish Era also includes "Spock, Messiah!" (though not technically a Blish novel) and concludes with "The Business, As Usual, During Altercations" (completed by Blish's wife). A fascinating aspect of this is the climax of "The Business.." where the "Enterprise" is flung back in time (several months, minimum) before the Mudd dilithium crisis. Now assuming it was over half a year, I speculate the "Enterprise" would have tipped the Organians off regarding the Klingons' development of the planetary thought-shield used against them in the first novel. The Organians take appropriate action and no Klingon War develops. "Spock Must Die!" "Spock, Messiah!" and the first half of "The Business..." all simultaneously slip into a true alternate timeline: no Klingon War and no penalties imposed by the Organians. The "Enterprise" gains back a half years' time to finish her remaining year...

Here's the outline...

Animated Series Episodes introduces us to M'ress and Arex.
"The Galactic Whirlpool" is the last of M'ress and Arex.

Marshak/Culbreath Era
Haldeman Era
"Star Trek: The New Voyages 2" is the 2nd anthology novel ("Surprise!"
is during Kirk's birthday: March?).
Sky Era                         April??
Eklund Era
Goldin Era
(Jack C.) Haldeman (II) Era
--------------------New (Pocket Books) Novels----------------------------
McIntrye Era                    May??
Vardeman Era
Correy Era
Crispin Era
Dvorkin Era                     June??
Bear Era
Snodgrass Era
Kagan Era
Yep Era                         July??
Hambly Era
Van Hise Era
Ferguson Era
Carey Era                       August??
Carter Era
Ford Era
Paul Era
Reeves-Stevens Era              September??
Friedman Era
Klass Era
Kramer-Rolls Era
Vornholt Era                    October??
Gilden Era
Dillard Era (thru October 31st) <-- Unspecified novels fit in prior to
             this.  Security Chief Tomson is introduced.
DeWeese Era
Duane Era introduces us to Harb Tanzer and Lia Burke
--------------------2265--------------------
Larson Era (thru January 1st)
Cooper Era
"The Lost Years" completes the 5-year mission.
It appears that the "three D's" (Dillard, DeWeese, and Duane) are contributing to the tail end of the "Enterprise's" voyage, or approximately the last two months of the year 2264. "Pawns And Symbols" and "Black Fire" probably account for the remaining mission since it ends in early 2265. Keeping this in mind, most new "5th year" novels by new authors will logically be inserted immediately before the Dillard Era providing that they do not feature the later characters. Fortunately the new trend of classic Trek novels is to set them after or between the films, years after the five-year mission. This should reduce the chance of "5th year overload."
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