Spaceflight Chronology

Spaceflight Chronology
Attribution
Series:	The Original Series
Author(s):	Stan & Fred Goldstein
Illustrator(s):	Rick Sternbach
Publication information
Publisher:	Pocket Books
Published:	paperback - 24 December 1979
Pages:	192
ISBN:	ISBN 0671790897

The Spaceflight Chronology was a Star Trek reference book published by Pocket Books December 24, 1979, by Stan and Fred Goldstein, illustrated by Rick Sternbach. It was, at time of printing, considered canonical.

Introduction

The stars beckon... Man responds!

The Human adventure is just beginning!

The publication of this book initiates an exciting and necessary project: to provide Starfleet Academy cadets with a concise illustrated history of their home planets, spaceflight, evolution and development.

So, cadets from Earth, welcome to the history of your planet's two-and-a-half illustrious centuries in space—years filled with extraordinary achievement, darkened by great tragedy, marked by countless marvels and perils. The future will be made by you who read this chronology.

Learn the past to make the future.

Live long and prosper!

Summary

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The book opens with a letter from Commandant of Starfleet Academy Brigham Wu thanking the faculty who helped to author the volume, which is intended to educate Starfleet Academy cadets about the history of the Federation and Starfleet, beginning with the early space voyages of Earth.

1957–reference stardate 0/00

• 1957 (reference stardate -1/57): Sputnik 1
• 1958 (reference stardate -1/58): Explorer 1
• 1961 (reference stardate -1/61): Vostok 1
• 1961–1963 (reference stardates -1/61 to -1/63): Mercury program/Atlas rocket
• 1961 (reference stardate -1/61): Mercury 3
• 1963 (reference stardate -1/63): Vostok 6/Vostok 5
• 1965 (reference stardate -1/65): Vokshod II
• 1965–1966 (reference stardates -1/65 to -1/66): Gemini program
• 1967 (reference stardate -1/67): International Outer-Space Treaty
• 1968–1975 (reference stardates -1/68 to -1/75): Apollo program
• 1968 (reference stardate -1/68): Apollo 7/Apollo 8
• 1969 (reference stardate -1/69): Apollo 11
• 1970 (reference stardate -1/70): Apollo 13
• 1972 (reference stardate -1/72): Pioneer 10
• 1973 (reference stardate -1/73): Mariner 10
• 1973–1979 (reference stardates -1/73 to -1/79): Skylab I
• 1975 (reference stardate -1/75): Apollo 18/Soyuz 19
• 1976 (reference stardate -1/76): Viking 1
• 1977 (reference stardate -1/77): Voyager 1/Voyager 2
• 1978 (reference stardate -1/78): Pioneer Venus probe
• from 1980 (reference stardate -1/80 to -1/92): space shuttle program
• reference stardate -1/82: Project Galileo/Lunar polar orbiter
• reference stardate -1/83: space telescope/Venus atmospheric balloon
• reference stardates -1/83 to -1/86: Halley's Comet probe
• reference stardate -1/86: multiple asteroid rendezvous mission
• reference stardates -1/88 to -1/91: Mars sample return mission
• reference stardates -1/90 to -1/93: asteroid probe program
• reference stardate -1/91: Saturn Dual Probe
• reference stardate -1/94: Lunar moonbase preparations
• reference stardates -1/95 to 0/20: DY-100 series (SS Copernicus)
• reference stardate -1/96: SS Botany Bay
• reference stardate -1/98: Goddard Moonbase
• reference stardate -1/99: asteroid belt lander

References

Characters

Gregor Allinsky • Robert April • Sarah April • Frances Benoit • Byxmyx • Richard Daystrom • Albert Einstein • Luis Ferarra • Charles Fourrier • Wendell Herzog • Haras Keolar • Vladimir Kossenko • Demetrius Kovanas • Lorenzo Malfatti • Stuart Mann • Stephan Mortimer • O'Leary • Luigi Pirelli • Humphrey Stannis • Peter Sullivan • Roger Trautmann • Gregory Tree • Karen Van Fleet • Winslow • Carter Winston • Brigham Wu

Starships and vehicles

USS Ajax • USS Deerslayer (Voyager-class) • Diana • Juliana • USS Muleskinner • USS Sentry (Advance-class) • USS Wells • UNSS Pollux (Messier-class)

Baton Rouge-class 

USS Moscow • USS Tehran

Broadway-class 

USS Hurok

Castor-class 

USS Clara Barton • USS Greyhound

Constitution-class heavy cruiser 

USS Brahe • USS Enterprise (refit to Constitution II-class)

Horizon-class 

USS Horizon

Merchant-class 

UNSS Marco Polo

Placido-class 

USS Bellweather

Locations

Rralrark

Stations and outposts

Deneva Research Station • Farside Moonbase • Goddard Moonbase • Pluto Research Base • Rigel XII Mining Complex • Starbase 12 • Starbase 20 • Starbase 25 • Starfleet Museum

Planets and planetoids

Alpha Virginis II • Babel • Bayard's Planet • Deneva • Earth • Hydra II • Iotia • Pyrimiis I • Pyrimiis II • Rigel II • Rigel IV • Rigel V • Rigel VII • T'Khut • UFC 522-IV • Vulcanis A I • Vulcan • Vulcanis A IV • Vulcanis A V • Vulcanis A VI • Vulcanis A VII

Stars and systems

61 Cygni • Alpha Centauri (Alpha Centauri A • Alpha Centauri B • Alpha Centauri C) • Barnard's Star • Gamma Demetrius • Hydra • Jewel Stars • Lalande 21185 • Phi Puma • Procyon (Procyon A • Procyon B) • Pyrimiis • Rigel • Ross 154 • Sol system (Sol) • UFC 522 • Vulcan system • Wolf 359

Races and cultures

Andorian • Centauran • Human • Iotian • Orion • Rigellian (furred) • Tellarite • Vulcan

States and organizations

Klingon Empire • Project SETI • United Federation of Planets

Technology and weapons

antimatter nacelle • duotronics • fusion torpedo • fusion torpedo launcher • impulse engine • laser • mass driver • particle beam • particle beam cannon • particle cannon • phaser • solid crystal recording • space station • starship • subspace radio • transtator • tricorder • warp drive

Substances and energies

antimatter • boron-steel • carbon • condritic rock • dilithium • gamma ray • hydrogen • hydroxyl • iron • light • metal • nickel • oxygen • silicon • technetium-99 • titanium • trititanium • x ray

Events

Earth-Romulan War

Ranks and titles

captain • chief administrator • chief engineer • chief medical officer • commanding officer • commodore • communications officer • doctor • professor • science officer

Scientific disciplines

astrotelemetry • astronomy • cartography • communications • geodynamometry • geometry • history • holography • mathematics • physics • psionics • technology • warp dynamics

Units of measurement

astronomical unit • gigawatt • light year • parsec • watt

Stellar classification

black hole • Cepheid variable • class S star

Other references

antimatter universe • Amor asteroids • Apollo asteroids • asteroid • Cochrane deceleration maneuver • controlled-growth microorganism • dilithium • dimension • electromagnetism • element • energy • First Babel Conference • food • geon hole • government • gravity • Gross Solar Product • Hodgkin's Law of Parallel Planetary Development • holograph • humanoid • hyperspace • Kassaba fever • libration point • lifeform • matter • measurement • medical tricorder • microbe • Omega virus • parallel universe • planet • Pluto plague • races and cultures • radiation • radio • rank • refit • relativity • Rigellian plague • Sagittarian signals • Saurian brandy • science • Second Babel Conference • Sol asteroid belt • space • space-time • space-time matrix • star • star system • stellar classification • telekinesis • telepathy • Theory of Relativity • time • time gate • title • Transporter Demonstration Project • Unified Field Equations • universal cube • universe • weapon

Chronology

20th century

• 1981-1999 SFC
• 2000-2049 SFC
• 2050-2099 SFC
• 2100-2149 SFC
• 2150-2199 SFC
• 2200-2249 SFC

Appendices

Background

At the time that the Spaceflight Chronology was published, canon consisted solely of The Original Series and the TOS movie: The Motion Picture. Licensed sources up to that date only included a handful of novels by Bantam Books and the series of comics by Gold Key Comics, and did not have any cohesive influence on the topics of the Chronology.

The timeline described in Spaceflight Chronology and the events and ships therein were used by a number of other licensed works from the 1980s, such as the novels The Final Reflection, Strangers from the Sky, and Spock's World, the reference book "Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise", and FASA's Star Trek: The Role Playing Game. The FASA RPG's reference stardate system was a modified version of the SFC timeline, and dates from novels, FASA products, and other items based on this timeline are incorporated (with source notes).

The SFC timeline was increasingly strained by the events of the TOS movies, and eventually invalidated by details that were revealed over the course of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Enterprise. Due to this, some details from the SFC timeline must inevitably be disregarded. However, other details can be adapted (albeit imprecisely) into the now-standard timeline.

Differences from the standard timeline

World War III and the late 20th/early 21st centuries

In the SFC timeline, WW3 appears to be synonymous with the Eugenics Wars, is over by 1996, and has negligible effect on the expansion into space. The first decades of the 21st century are one long march of progress into the solar system, climaxing with manned sublight voyages to nearby star systems.

• Events from 1957 to 1979 follow the historical record.
• NASA's Space Shuttle was wildly successful, creating a permanent foothold in space (including solar power satellites, beaming power to Earth), and phased out in favor of more advanced craft by 1992.
• Starting in 1995, the DY-100 is the first mass-produced spacecraft, making regular runs to Luna and adapted for the first manned mission to Mars.
• A permanent moonbase is established in 1998. A second base on the farside began operations by 2004, which was the site of the first off-Earth human birth in 2005.
• The first L-5 city was completed in 2007. By 2019 there were seven.
• 2008 sees the development of a new Earth-Moon liner and the Aventeur-class, which will make manned voyages to the outer solar system over the following two decades. S.J. Christopher's ship visits Saturn in 2020.
• The 2010s see several Marsbases built, and the first homesteading in the asteroid belt.
• The 2020s bring further development of the Asteroid Belt supported by ships like the DY-500, and the first steps of terraforming Venus.
• By 2042 there is a base on Pluto, and manned sublight missions en route to Barnard's Star and Alpha Centauri.
• By 2044 the Interplanetary Communications Network guarantees reliable communications throughout the solar system.

Summary

The SFC envisions much more rapid development in this period than later canon, and the situation at the end is completely different. It is very problematic to adapt SFC events in this period to the standard timeline. They need to be determined on a case-by-case basis to see how they mesh with later canon.

First contact and early warp

Following some 50 years of exploration, expansion, and development into the solar system, Earth was a stronger and more dynamic entity at mid-21st century in the SFC timeline than the war-ravaged place on the brink of complete collapse that emerged in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek First Contact, and Star Trek: Enterprise. The flow of events in its first contacts with its alien neighbors and interactions with them are equally different.

• The sub-light UNSS Icarus arrives in the Alpha Centauri system in 2048, and discovers native inhabitants so much like humans that speculation of a common ancestor is unavoidable.
  • Icarus science officer Frank Jocasta helps break the communication barrier with Centauran physicist Zefram Cochrane, and is "electrified" by the warp principle Cochrane is developing.
• Normal-space transmissions from UNSS Icarus about Centaurans and Cochrane's warp principle cause a sensation on Earth when received (in 2052). An intensive warp drive development program and diplomatic mission to AC are implemented as soon as possible. The first diplomatic mission arrives at AC in 2059 aboard a sub-light ship.
• 2055: The WD-1 test vehicle becomes the first vessel to exceed lightspeed. A chimpanzee passenger demonstrates that living beings can travel at warp with no ill effects. Earth's spaceship builders start designing the first generation of warp drive ships.
• 2059: The UNSS Bonaventure, Earth's first fully-functioning warp ship, begins operation with a mission to the Tau Ceti system. Within the next few years warp-driven trade with the Centaurans begins in earnest. Zefram Cochrane is brought to Earth in 2061 and receives a hero's welcome.
• Technical developments: Warp drive (discovery and first-generation refinements), "warp radio" (subspace communications), unmanned cargo carriers.
• Political developments: The Fundamental Declaration of the Martian Colonies established that every inhabited region of the solar system has local autonomy over their own affairs. Cultural exchange with the Centaurans strengthened bonds of cooperation and friendship. Subsequent first contacts with the Vulcans, Tellarites, Andorians, Rigellians, and others. Trading at Rigel reveals that Earth electronics and space metals are more advanced than many others'.

Summary

The SFC timeline in this period is completely unlike that later established in canon: Instead of a world reeling from global war and skirting the brink of complete collapse, with a single warp test vehicle spurring the Vulcans to make First Contact, there is a thriving but peaceful society throughout the solar system, making its first expeditions to other stars. Rather than being both aided and "held back" under Vulcan tutelage, Earth is one of the most advanced and leading societies in nearby space. Many of the events in the SFC timeline simply cannot be adapted to the main timeline, and those which can would likely have to be "stretched" or altered in some way to fit the different circumstances.

Birth of the Federation and the Romulan War

This period is the SFC's closest equivalent to the period depicted in Star Trek: Enterprise, even though the dates, sequence of events, and the political circumstances have many differences.

• After five years of unofficial discussion, and another five years of negotiations and cooperative ventures, the UFP is incorporated at the first Babel Interplanetary Conference. Stardates adopted for unified timekeeping.
• A series of training accidents and pirate acts speeds up the chartering of Starfleet Academy and the further development of Starfleet from the founding members' individual fleets.
• The Horizon-class becomes the first Starfleet ships designed and built entirely under UFP auspices. Starbase 1 begins operation after a year-long tow to Sector 3A.
• The UFP is harassed by "space pirates" for some 11 years before they are identified as the Romulans. They are only partially identifed by the time they attack and destroy Starbase 1.
• In the following three years Starfleet attempts to learn more about the Romulans, until an invasion force ambushes the USS Patton and outright war ensues.
• After three years of war, a decisive victory by Starfleet at the Battle of Cheron smashes the last of the Romulans' offensive capabilities and prompts subspace negotiations to end the fighting and establish the Neutral Zone.

Summary

A period of interstellar diplomacy and trade, with increasing covert provocation by the Romulans culminating in war, this period has many strong parallels to the canon 2150s and 2160s. Major differences include the timing of the incorporation of the UFP relative to the Romulan War, and the relative strengths of the founding members (and composition; the SFC includes Rigel as a founding member), but if one includes the Coalition of Planets and compresses the timescale, a number of broad events and specific items are readily adaptable to the standard timeline.

Abridged version

The United Kingdom publication company, Phoebus Publishing, released an abridged version of the Spaceflight Chronology. The second cover posted above is from this book. This was released in 1980 to fans in England. This book contained the timeline and some starship profiles but lacked the news articles.

From the back cover:

The Spaceflight Chronology - abridged from a much greater work - has been compiled to provide Star Fleet Academy Cadets with a concise, illustrated history of their home planet's space-flight evolution and technical development. It covers two centuries, starting with the first Space Shuttle flights in 1980 and ending with the heavy cruiser Constitution class star ships in 2188. More than 100 spacecraft are featured; these include the Icarus which, in 2048, made Earth's first contact with the Alpha Centauri civilization and the King Charles, the most luxurious starliner ever built. Henceforth, freshman Cadets of planet Earth and eventually all freshman Cadets from Vulcan, Rigel, Alpha Centauri, Tellar and Andor, should include Spaceflight Chronology on their essential reading list.

Images

Cover image.

UK cover image.

UNSS Amity.

Aventeur.

Baton Rouge.

UNSS Bonaventure.

SS Copernicus.

Horizon.

UNSS Lewis and Clark.

Mann.

Marshall.

Messier.

Messier.

Rickenbacker.

Rigel system.

Rigel IV.

UNSS Tycho Brahe.

Vulcan system.

UNSS Wheeler.

Pyrimiis I.

Pyrimiis system.

Alpha Virginis II.

Hydra II

Hydra system.

Deneva Research Station.

Starfleet Museum.

Goddard Moonbase

Farside Moonbase

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External link

• Spaceflight Chronology article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.