v116r8ac@ubvmsc.cc.buffalo.edu (Chris Nasipak) (11/29/90)
A few weeks ago, I noticed a thread about the possible meaning of stardates
in TOS. It has since, apparently, died. Well, I am going to bury it.
Or should that be Roddenbury it? My source is a DIRECT QUOTE from
GENE RODDENBERRY himself. Thus, this is a Canon Source - I will ignore
all flames.
"In the beginning, I invented the term "Star Date" simply to keep from typing
ourselves down to 2265 A.D., or should it be 2312 A.D.? I wanted us well in
the future but without arguing approximately which century this or that would
have been invented or superseded. When we began making episodes, we would use
a stardate such as 2317 one week, and then a week later when we made the next
episode we would move the star date up to 2942, and so on. Unfortunately,
however, the episodes are not aired in the same order in which we film them.
So we began to get complaints from the viewers, asking "How come one week the
Star Date is 2891, the next week it's 2337, and then the week after that
it's 3414?"
In answering these questions, I came up with the statement that "This time
system adjusts for shifts in relative time which occur due to the vessel's
speed and space warp capability. It has little relationship to Earth's
time as we know it. One hour aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise at different
times may equal as little as three earth hours. The Star Date specified
in the Log entry must be computed against the speed of the vessel, the
space warp, and its position in the galaxy, in order to give a meaningful
reading." Therefore Star Date would be one thing at one point in the
galaxy and something else again at another point in the galaxy.
I'm not quite sure what I meant when I gave that explanation, but a lot of
people say it makes sense. If so, I've been lucky again, and I'd just as soon
forget the whole thing before I'm asked further questions about it."
- Gene Roddenberry.
To sum it up, IMHO (No flames!) - TOS Star Dates are relatively meaningless.
NO FLAMES - THIS IS A CANON SOURCE!!!
Chris Nasipak, v116r8ac@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu
"By the beard of Torak!" - Warasin of Pallia.
"Torak didn't have a beard - at least, not when I met him." - Belgarion of Riva.
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