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An explanation of Stardates
This is an excerpt from Stephen Witfield's excellent book entitled "The
Making of Star Trek", published in 1968 by Ballantine Books. So here's
GR's version of what a Star Date actually was!
Another problem involved in deep space travel is time. How do you
express time when there is no point of reference to make it mean
anything, such as we have here on Earth. Our own time is based on months
and years, which are strictly terrestial cycles tied to the sun and
moon. At the other end of the galaxy the cycle doesn't mean a thing. AS
a matter of fact, the cycle changes from planet to planet, let alone
from solar system to solar system!
It seems logical, therefore, that some sort of time-keeping system would
be established in order to solve the problem. Such a system would
undoubtedly have to be based on a highly scientific and mathematically
complex formula
Not so with STAR TREK's Star Date!
" In the beginning, I simply invented the term star date simply to keep
from tying us down to 2265 AD, or should it be 2312 AD. 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that would have been invented or superseded.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 star date 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 the episodes are not aired in the same
order we filmed them. So we began to get complaints from the viewers
asking "How come the star date is 2891, the next week it's 2337, and 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 Enterprise at different
times may equal as little as three Earth hours. The star date specified
in the ship's log must be computed against the speed of the vessel, the
space warp, and its position within out galaxy, in order to give a
meaningful reading". Therefore star dates 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 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 furhter
questions about it."
Gene Roddenberry
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