Alpha Centauri
Usually seen somewhere in the Southern skies
Member # 338
posted
When I browsed through James Dixon's Fandom Chronology, I found something of a Galaxy Class in service around 2286. The entry said that it came from the ST:TMP novelization, written by Gene Roddenberry. This would make it (semi-)canon. Could it be that JD was mistaken in the source, or are we really facing a new class?
(BTW: there were supposed to be 4 Galaxy class ships in service, namely USS Andromeda, USS M-31, USS Magellan and USS Magellanic Clouds. No class ship! Although the ship names are all derived from existing galaxies.)
------------------ "Alpha Centauri is a beautiful place to visit, you ought to see it" - Kirk to 1969 USAF officer Fellini, "Tomorrow is Yesterday" (TOS)
posted
The key words here are "Fandom Chronology" This would not even be close to canon. Any adherance to naval tradition would totally preclude the idea of having more than one class of ship with the same name. You may have several U.S.S. Galaxys but only one of them is Galaxy Class. The whole point of having different classes is to differentiate ships.
------------------ "A gathering of Angels appeared above my head. They sang to me this song of hope, and this is what they said..." -Styx
posted
Well, it's not as if Roddenberry would have refused to use the name Galaxy class for the E-D just because he once happened to write (co-write?) some stuff that featured a Galaxy class already. Roddenberry was probably the person least concerned with continuity in the entire Star Trek staff. Put him and Dixon in the same room and be assured that only one of them will step out, raving "I had to do it - can you BELIEVE this guy?!"...
The novelizations of the TOS movies don't seem to be of very high quality in general. The TNG ones more or less reproduce the early versions of the scripts without adding much, but the TOS ones seem to "flesh out" weird details and leave the main story and character interaction rather thin. I guess I'm biased because I have actually seen the TOS movies before I read the novelizations, while it's vice versa for the TNG stuff.
Jim Phelps
watches Voyager AFTER 51030
Member # 102
posted
The [TOS #1] entry is a mistake - I read the TMP novelization recently, and would have noticed something that interesting. Furthermore, a later chronology entry featuring Mandala Flynn, commander of that Galaxy-class starship is given the code [ST III] (even though the captain doesn't appear in the movie). Dixon probably meant the ST III novelization, which should be labeled [TOS #17].
Alpha Centauri
Usually seen somewhere in the Southern skies
Member # 338
posted
Yeah, I already kinda had the idea that Dixon was wrong. If the class would exist in the TMP novelization, I would have found at least some mentions of it on the Internet. But I don't have that book, so I just asked.
Anyway, my opinion is that things Roddenberry said carries at least some grade of weight, making it at least semi-canon to me. The fact that I found the mention of the 'early Galaxy class' in a fandom work, Aban, does not mean that ALL info in it has to be ignored. The Fandom Chronology is nothing more than a timeline of Star Trek to which also fandom stuff is added. It also contains info from canon sources.
------------------ "...he is the incorporation of evil and knowledge in one organic lifeform..." - Bible of Alpha Centauri , page 2763
"...if you discontinue worshipping him, you will be tortured by the guardians of his Holy Empire... You won't survive..." - page 67834
posted
The reference is from the ST II novelization. Sulu is commenting on his upcomming command of the Excelsior, and the reference to these new ships comes up... It most definitly is NOT canon, as the afformentioned ships are capable to travelling to nearby galaxies, which is not true given current ST technology and history...
------------------ Sheridan: "Well, as answers go, short, to the point, utterly useless and totally consistant with what I've come to expect from a Vorlon..." Kosh: "Good." Sheridan: "I REALLY hate it when you do that..." Kosh: "Good."
Jim Phelps
watches Voyager AFTER 51030
Member # 102
posted
Several sources suggest that the TMP novelization was ghostwritten by Alan Dean Foster, not Roddenberry. Which still makes it important because Foster wrote the story for TMP (on which the teleplay was based).
Shik
Starship database: completed; History of Starfleet: done; website: probably never
Member # 343
posted
Heh...I also remember a reference to "Galaxy-class explorers" in the FASA ST4 sourcebook. The names were exactly the same, except that it wasn't the Magellan & the Magellanic Cloud, it was the Greater Magellanic Cloud & Lesser Magellanic Cloud. Both are great names for science vessels & tankers....I think I might've used them for Oberths in my J-Project.
------------------ "Do you know how much YOU'RE worth??.....2.5 million Woolongs. THAT'S your bounty. I SAID you were small fry..." --Spike Spiegel
[This message has been edited by Shik (edited June 21, 2000).]
Alpha Centauri
Usually seen somewhere in the Southern skies
Member # 338
posted
Throwing in for fun: some interesting calculations about intergalactic travel :
To Great Magellanic Cloud (distance: 169,000 ly) Average speed of warp 6.0 (392c): 431 years Average speed of warp 8.0 (1024c): 165 years Average speed of warp 9.6 (1909c): 88 years Boosted subspace radio (warp 9.9999 = 199,516c): 10 months
To Small Magellanic Cloud (285,000 ly) Warp 6.0: 727 years Warp 8.0: 278 years Warp 9.6: 149 years Subspace radio: 1 year 5 months
To M31 (Andromeda Galaxy) (2,200,000 ly) Warp 6.0: 5612 years Warp 8.0: 2148 years Warp 9.6: 1152 years Subspace radio: 11 years
To center of the Virgo Cluster (60,000,000 ly) Warp 6.0: 153,061 years Warp 8.0: 58,593 years Warp 9.6: 31,430 years Subspace radio: 300 years
To center of Coma Berenices Cluster (400,000,000 ly) Warp 6.0: 1,020,408 years Warp 8.0: 390,625 years Warp 9.6: 209,533 years Subspace radio: 2004 years
Maybe I'll post next time some travel times to other destinations (quasar 3C273, for instance).
------------------ "...he is the incorporation of evil and knowledge in one organic lifeform..." - Bible of Alpha Centauri , page 2763
"...if you discontinue worshipping him, you will be tortured by the guardians of his Holy Empire... You won't survive..." - page 67834
posted
The Enterprise-D wasn't flung to M31; it was flung to M33.
------------------ "When you realized that your website is your business and your software can't handle the traffic, that was an epiphany." -Avery Brooks, IBM commercial
Alpha Centauri
Usually seen somewhere in the Southern skies
Member # 338
posted
The Enterprise-D was thrown to M33, indeed. Which is located 2.4 million lightyears from Earth, and 500,000 lightyears from M31. The original Enterprise, on the other hand, was in an episode (can't remember the name) hijacked by the Kelvans from the M31 galaxy. They modified the Enterprises's engines so that it could be taken to M31. The engines were boosted so that they could maintain a velocity of TOS warp 14.1. It was stated that at that speed, it would take a 300 years to travel that distance. Unfortunately, TOS warp 14.1 is 2803.221c (approx. equivalent to TNG/DS9/VOY warp 9.7), so a trip to M31 would take 784 years, 9 months, 22 days, 3 hours, 7 minutes and 12.28571443 seconds. So, writer's error, I would say.
------------------ "...he is the incorporation of evil and knowledge in one organic lifeform..." - Bible of Alpha Centauri , page 2763
"...if you discontinue worshipping him, you will be tortured by the guardians of his Holy Empire... You won't survive..." - page 67834
Alpha Centauri
Usually seen somewhere in the Southern skies
Member # 338
posted
Yes, but with a calculator they could have devised a reasonable well figure within seconds. But whatever... Even if it was 300 years, that's still a whole lot of time!
------------------ "...he is the incorporation of evil and knowledge in one organic lifeform..." - Bible of Alpha Centauri , page 2763
"...if you discontinue worshipping him, you will be tortured by the guardians of his Holy Empire... You won't survive..." - page 67834
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