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star trek - Why was Enterprise on a five-year mission in TOS?


There is a small difference between intro texts in TOS:



Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.



and in TNG:




Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its continuing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before.



(emphasis mine)


It's pretty obvious that no man was changed to no one to include women. But, is there any explanation why was five-year changed to continuing? Also, why was it a five-year mission at all?


My only assumptions are:




  • Gene Roddenberry hoped to get funding to run the show for 5 seasons.





  • Gene Roddenberry just made up a number without any special meaning.




  • Gene Roddenberry was a communist.




Is there any official explanation, in universe or not?



Answer



As Memory Alpha notes, "The Mark of Gideon" establishes the USS Enterprise had enough food and supplies to sustain its crew complement of 430 for five years.


Since Starfleet's main purpose is exploration, it's not particularly unreasonable to presume it dictated how long missions last by determining how much supplies its ships could carry. Memory Alpha also notes that by the 24th century, some missions lasted 8 years (e.g. USS Olympia), presumably due to the increases in supply capacity/efficiency.



On the other end of the spectrum, in the 22nd century, missions only lasting a year (like the Xindi expedition) heavily taxed the supplies and morale of the crew of the NX class Enterprise.


One thing to keep in mind with the USS Enterprise-D is that while its primary mission was exploration, it was the flagship of the fleet. Because of its use as a display of power and for diplomacy, it was continually in contact with Starfleet and its supply chain, indefinitely prolonging its mission lifespan.


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