Stardates are a means of specifying absolute[1] dates in the fictional Star Trek universe. A date in a calendar is a reference to a particular day represented within a Calendar system A fictional universe is a self-consistent fictional setting with unique background elements such as an imaginary history or geography and possibly fantasy or science They are decimal numbers, usually rounded to a single decimal place[2], which replace absolute Gregorian calendar dates. The Gregorian calendar is the most widely used Calendar in the world today The in-universe behavior of stardates is much less transparent than that of any known calendar[3] because out-of-universe writers chose the numbers more or less at random[4], depending on the era of Star Trek in question[5]. One of the stated out-of-universe reasons for stardates was the need to establish the events in the series as taking place far into the future without tying the episodes down to a particular date. [6]
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Stardate properties
| Examples of stardate decrease with time |
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Lwaxana Troi's diary in "Dark Page", recorded in the 2330s, refers to events of stardate 30620. Lwaxana Troi, played by Majel Barrett, is a recurring character in Star Trek The Next Generation and appears in three episodes of Star Trek " Dark Page " is a seventh-season Star Trek The Next Generation episode 1. The date of the Khitomer Massacre as observed onscreen in "Sins of the Father", however, is 23859. " Sins of the Father " is the 65th episode of the Science fiction Television series Star Trek The Next Generation and the 17th episode 7. The Khitomer Massacre took place in 2346. |
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In Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Spock's death occurs on stardate 8128, yet the previous movie begins on stardate 8130 (see external link below). Star Trek III The Search for Spock ( Paramount Pictures, 1984) is the third feature Film based on the Star Trek Spock (sometimes referred to as Mr Spock) is a main character in the original Star Trek TV series |
Stardate numbers generally increase with time[7], although locally they increase with time at different rates, both within particular episodes as well as between. Some future stardates are lower than past stardates. The occasional decrease with time was more prevalent during the original series than during Star Trek: The Next Generation, in which stardates increased with time more consistently. Star Trek is a Science fiction Television series created by Gene Roddenberry that aired from September 8, 1966 through Star Trek The Next Generation ( STTNG or TNG) is an Emmy and Peabody Award-winning science fiction television program created by Gene Roddenberry Stardates are rarely specified to more than a single decimal, though they have at times (see TNG episode #104 "Code of Honor"). " Code of Honor " is a first-season episode of Star Trek The Next Generation. The decimal following a stardate is usually omitted in conversation. [8] Stardates do not replace clock time, which is still commonly used and often shown next to stardates on displays. [9]
Relationship to the Gregorian calendar
Stardates are almost always used instead of explicit Gregorian dates such as July 6, 2367. The Gregorian calendar is the most widely used Calendar in the world today Events 1044 - The Battle of Ménfő takes place 1189 - Richard the Lionheart is crowned King of England The 24th century of the Anno Domini ( common) era will span the years 2301&ndash2400 of the Gregorian calendar. [10] They are used in the same fashion as Gregorian dates to identify a unique point in time. There is no evidence of special stardate units to replace the Gregorian units that are still used. Even the explicit Gregorian dates are still used, as evidenced in the TNG episode "Conundrum" where crew biographies are given in Gregorian years. " Conundrum " is the title of a Star Trek The Next Generation Episode, from the fifth Season. Stardates are not being retroactively applied to the past: the Gregorian calendar is used to describe centuries in general (e. g. , "a time traveler from the 29th century") and always used for references to time before the 23rd century. The 29th century of the Anno Domini ( common) era will span the years 2801–2900 of the Gregorian calendar.
Backstage information
Star Trek: The Original Series
Stardates were created as an abstract idea without much thought to actual implementation. They are described as follows[11] in the writer's bible for the original series:
We invented "Stardate" to avoid continually mentioning Star Trek's century (actually about two hundred years from now), and getting into arguments about whether this or that would have developed by then. Pick any combination of four numbers plus a percentage point, use it as your story's stardate. For example, 1313. 5 is twelve o'clock noon of one day and 1314. 5 would be noon the next day. Each percentage point is roughly equivalent to one-tenth of a day. The progression of stardates in your script should remain constant but don't worry about whether or not there is a progression from other scripts. Stardates are a mathematical formula which varies depending on location in the galaxy, velocity of travel, and other factors, can vary widely from episode to episode. [sic]
Furthermore, when pressed for an explanation, Roddenberry said the following for Stephen Whitfield's book The Making of Star Trek:
This time system adjusts for shifts in relative time which occur due to the vessel's speed and space warp capability. Eugene Wesley "Gene" Roddenberry (August 19 1921 &ndash October 24 1991 was an American Screenwriter and producer. It has little relationship to Earth's time as we know it. One hour aboard the USS Enterprise at different times may equal as little as three Earth hours. The stardates specified in the log entry must be computed against the speed of the vessel, the space warp, and its position within our galaxy, in order to give a meaningful reading.
Roddenberry admitted that he did not really understand this, and would rather forget about the whole thing (from Whitfield's book):
I'm not quite sure what I meant by that explanation, but a lot of people have indicated it makes sense. If so, I've been lucky again, and I'd just as soon forget the whole thing before I'm asked any further questions about it.
Star Trek: The Next Generation and beyond
In Star Trek: The Next Generation, a slightly more systematic implementation of stardates was used. They were 5-digit numbers, initially starting with four (symbolically to represent the 24th century), and followed by the season number. Within these thousand-unit ranges, subranges were allocated to writers of episodes to use. After the first season, these increased monotonically between episodes. In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager the same system was kept, incrementing to 48xxx in what would have been TNG season 8 (or actually the first season of Voyager), and wrapping round to 50xxx and beyond in season 10. The last season of Voyager takes place in stardates 54xxx. x.
Within a single episode, TNG writers have most commonly increased stardates at the rate of one unit per Earth day, contradicting the 1000 units per year used on the larger scale. Although closer to a usable system than they were in the original series, stardates remain inconsistent and often arbitrary. For example, Ron Moore has said flatly that stardates do not make sense and shouldn't be examined closely. Ronald Dowl Moore (born 5 July 1964 in Chowchilla California) is a two-time Emmy Award -nominated American Screenwriter
The following sections show the various writer's guide entries concerning stardates.
TNG Season 2
A Stardate is a five digit number followed by a decimal point and one more digit. The first 2 digits are '42'. The 4 stands for the 24th century, the 2 indicates second season. The additional three digits will progress unevenly during the course of the season from 000 to 999. The digit preceding the decimal point counts days, and the digit after the decimal point counts one tenth of a day. [12]
TNG Season 6
A Stardate is a five-digit number followed by a decimal point and one more digit. Example: "46254. 7". The first two digits of the Stardate are "46. " The 4 stands for the 24th century, the 6 indicates the 6th season. The following three digits will progress consecutively during the course of the season from 000 to 999. The digit following the decimal point counts _tenths of a day_. Stardate 45254. 4, therefore, represents the noon hour on the 254th "day" of the fifth season. Because Stardates in the 24th Century are based on a complex mathematical formula, a precise correlation to Earth-based dating systems is not possible. [13]
References
- ^ Relative dates, such as "five months ago", are still expressed using days, months, and years, as can be observed in any average episode, but there have been only a handful of references to current years.
- ^ The writer's guide entries, one of which is quoted in this article, confirm that they are decimal numbers.
- ^ If it weren't, a conversion formula would have been determined by now.
- ^ See the quote from the writer's guide.
- ^ Stardates were less random in the TNG era.
- ^ The Making of Star Trek, by Stephen E. Whitfield.
- ^ The range changed from 1xxx to 5xxx during the original series, to 7xxx in TMP, to 8xxx and 9xxx in the other movies, only to jump to 4xxxx and 5xxxx in the TNG era, confirming a general increase with time.
- ^ Examples: "All Good Things...", where the show's stardate is stated in coversation as 47988, "New Ground", where Alexander gives his birthdate as stardate 43205, and many others. " All Good Things " is the final episode of the television series Star Trek The Next Generation. " New Ground " is an episode of the fifth season of Star Trek The Next Generation.
- ^ Examples: "Remember Me", where the computer tells Crusher that she arrived on the Enterprise on stardate 41154, followed by clock time, "Contagion", where we see clock time on a display showing Donald Varley's log. " Remember Me " is a fourth-season episode of the Science fiction Television series Star Trek The Next Generation, and should not Doctor Beverly Crusher (born Beverly Howard) played by actress Gates McFadden, was a character on the Star Trek The Next Generation " Contagion " is a second-season episode of Star Trek The Next Generation first broadcast on March 20, 1989.
- ^ References to "current" Gregorian dates are extremely rare in TNG and nonexistent in TOS. Commander Data gives the current year as 2364 in "The Neutral Zone", and it is not mentioned in TNG after that. Lieutenant Commander Data, played by actor Brent Spiner, is a character in the Star Trek Fictional universe. " The Neutral Zone " is the finale of the first season of Star Trek The Next Generation. Commander Chakotay gives the year as 2371 in the Voyager episode "Eye of the Needle". Chakotay, played by Robert Beltran, is a character in Star Trek Voyager. " Eye of the Needle " is the seventh episode of Star Trek Voyager.
- ^ Newsgroup post from net.startrek
- ^ Newsgroup post from rec.arts.startrek
- ^ Newsgroup post from rec.arts.startrek
External links
- Stardate article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki
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