Sisyphus

Sisyphus was a character from the mythology of Ancient Greece on Earth. According to the myth, Sisyphus was cursed by the gods with the task of rolling a heavy boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll down again from the top, and to repeat this task throughout eternity.

The term "Sisyphean" is used to describe any activity that is unending, repetitive, and/or pointless.

While patroling shipping routes in 2155, Captain Jonathan Archer compared his mission to Sisyphus's, and contemplated suggesting renaming the third NX class ship, Challenger (NX-03), after the mythical Greek.