Where no man has gone before

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This article is about the quotation. For the Original Series episode, see Where No Man Has Gone Before (TOS episode). For the Next Generation episode, see Where No One Has Gone Before.
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"Where no man has gone before" is a phrase used in the title sequence of most episodes of the original Star Trek science fiction television series. It is part of the line "To boldly go where no man has gone before", which refers to the mission of the original starship Enterprise. The complete introductory sequence, which was read by Captain Kirk at the beginning of every episode of Star Trek except "The Cage" and "Where No Man Has Gone Before", is:

“ 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. ”

Contents

[edit] History in Star Trek

The phrase was first introduced into Star Trek by Samuel Peeples, who is attributed with suggesting using it as an episode name.[1][2] The episode became "Where No Man Has Gone Before", the second pilot of Star Trek. The phrase itself was subsequently worked into the show's opening narration, which was written after the episode. Indeed, the introductory sequence was devised in August 1966, after several episodes had been filmed, and shortly before the series was due to debut. It is the result of the combined input of several people, including Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and producers John D. F. Black and Bob Justman.[3] Under their influence, Roddenberry's original narrative:

This is the adventure of the United Space Ship Enterprise. Assigned a five year galaxy patrol, the bold crew of the giant starship explores the excitement of strange new worlds, uncharted civilizations, and exotic people. These are its voyages and its adventures.

went through several revisions, such as Black's:

Space, the final frontier. Endless. Silent. Waiting. This is the story of the United Space Ship Enterprise. Its mission: a five year patrol of the galaxy. To seek out and contact all alien life. To explore. To travel the vast galaxy, where no man has gone before. A Star Trek.

before settling on the one used in the TV series. Years later, a slightly altered version of the introduction was included in the title sequence of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Among other changes, this new version replaced the word "man" with the gender-neutral "one". The new introduction, which was read by the Enterprise's new captain, Jean-Luc Picard, at the beginning of every episode of that series, was:

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.

A first-season episode of that series was also called "Where No One Has Gone Before". It is worth noting that, despite the similar names, the plot of this episode bears no connection to that of "Where No Man Has Gone Before".

Other parts of the narrative have also been used to name films and episodes. These include the original series' film Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, and two Star Trek: Enterprise episodes, "Strange New World" and "These Are The Voyages...". This last episode, the finale of Enterprise, closes with a voice-over of the quote, segueing from Picard's Next Generation opening to Kirk and then closing with Archer using the original series' gender specific version.[4] Also, a 1996 book written to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Star Trek is called Star Trek: These are the Voyages....[5]

[edit] Fictional backstory

The Enterprise, boldly going where no man has gone before in the episode of the same name.
The Enterprise, boldly going where no man has gone before in the episode of the same name.

The quote has been used numerous times by various Star Trek characters, and has in fact been given a complete backstory within the show. It is shown to become corrupted as time passes in the series, and to be willingly changed to reflect the political climate of the various time-periods covered in the Star Trek universe.

The backstory states that the phrase, and in fact the entire mission statement of Kirk's Enterprise, originates from a speech given by Zefram Cochrane at the dedication of the Warp 5 Complex in 2119, and shown in the episode "Broken Bow":[6]

On this site, a powerful engine will be built. An engine that will someday help us to travel a 100 times faster than we can today. Imagine it. Thousands of inhabited planets at our fingertips. And we'll be able to explore those strange, new worlds. And seek out new life and new civilizations. This engine will let us go boldly where no man has gone before.

In the fictional timeline, the quote became corrupted by the use of the split infinitive "to boldly go" at some point before 2151. At that point, it was adopted as the motto of the Enterprise and engraved on its dedication plaque with the split infinitive, although it was impossible to make out in normal episodes.[7]

By the 23rd century, the quote had been adopted as the motto of Captain Kirk's Enterprise, although it did not appear on its simple dedication plaque.[7] The quote did appear on the dedication plaque of the later Enterprise-A,[7] and was also engraved on the base of a non-functional decorative ship's wheel found in the ship's lounge and seen in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.[8]

Following the events of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, which dealt with cross-species racism, the word "man" was changed to the gender- and race-neutral "one" by Kirk:

Captain's log, stardate 9529.1. This is the final cruise of the starship Enterprise under my command. This ship and her history will shortly become the care of another crew. To them and their posterity will we commit our future. They will continue the voyages we have begun and journey to all the undiscovered countries, boldly going where no man... where no one has gone before.

The new quote "where no one has gone before" was then adopted as the mission and motto of the following starships Enterprise. It is engraved on the dedication plaques of the Enterprise-B, Enterprise-D and Enterprise-E.[7] Other parts of Cochrane's speech also became cultural icons — according to Captain Janeway in the episode "Equinox", the oath that Starfleet officers take includes the directive "to seek out life".

[edit] Origin of the quote

It has been suggested[9] that the quote was taken from a White House booklet published in 1958. The Introduction to Outer Space, produced in an effort to garner support for a national space program in the wake of the Sputnik flight, read on its first page:

The first of these factors is the compelling urge of man to explore and to discover, the thrust of curiosity that leads men to try to go where no one has gone before. Most of the surface of the earth has now been explored and men now turn on the exploration of outer space as their next objective.[10]

Interestingly, the situation came full circle in 1989, when NASA used the Star Trek version of the quote to title their restrospective of Project Apollo: Where No Man Has Gone Before: A History of Apollo Lunar Exploration Missions.[11]

[edit] Usage in popular culture

The quote has gained popularity outside of Star Trek. It is sometimes used as a name, in a tongue-in-cheek manner, by replacing the word "man" by something else. For example, an episode of Futurama that dealt with a character's devotion to Star Trek is named "Where No Fan Has Gone Before".[12] Likewise, a futuristic level in the videogame Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time is called "Starbase: Where No Turtle Has Gone Before".[13] In the same line, there is also an episode of DuckTales entitled "Where No Duck Has Gone Before", which parodies Star Trek.[14]

The split infinitive "to boldly go" has also been the subject of jokes. British humorist and science-fiction author Douglas Adams describes, in his series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the long-lost heroic age of the Galactic Empire, when bold adventurers dared "to boldly split infinitives that no man had split before."[15] And in his book The Physics of Star Trek, author Lawrence M. Krauss begins a list of Star Trek's ten worst errors by quoting one of his colleagues who considers that their greatest mistake is "to split an infinitive every damn time."[16]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ David Alexander (1994). Star Trek Creator: The Authorized Biography of Gene Roddenberry. ROC. 
  2. ^ Whitfield, Stephen E and Roddenberry, Gene (1968). The Making of Star Trek. Ballatine Books. 
  3. ^ Blair Shewchuk. Words: Woe and Wonder, To Boldly Split Infinitives. CBC News Online.
  4. ^ Memorable quotes from "These Are the Voyages..." article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki.
  5. ^ Star Trek: These are the Voyages... article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki.
  6. ^ Warp Five Complex article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki.
  7. ^ a b c d Enterprise dedication plaque article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki.
  8. ^ USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A) article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki.
  9. ^ Dwaybe A. Day, "Boldly going: Star Trek and spaceflight", in The Space Review, 28 November 2005. URL accessed on 15 August 2006.
  10. ^ The White House, "Introduction to Outer Space", U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington D.C., 26 March 1958. URL accessed on 15 August 2006.
  11. ^ W. David Compton, "Where No Man Has Gone Before: A History of Apollo Lunar Exploration Missions", NASA Special Publication-4214, NASA History Series, 1989. URL accessed on 15 August 2006.
  12. ^ "Where No Fan Has Gone Before" at the Internet Movie Database
  13. ^ Instruction manual for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time at Gamers Graveyard.
  14. ^ "Where No Duck Has Gone Before" at the Internet Movie Database
  15. ^ Adams, Douglas (1979). The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Pan Books. ISBN 0-330-25864-8. 
  16. ^ Krauss, Lawrence M. (1995). The Physics of Star Trek. HarperPerennial. ISBN 978-0-465-00559-8. 
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