Five-year mission
A five-year mission of deep space exploration into uncharted space was a type of assignment given to Starfleet starships in the 23rd century.

History

Prime reality 
In 2245, the  began her first of three five-year missions under the command of Commodore Matthew Decker. ( commemorative plaque )

In 2257, Captain Christopher Pike mentioned that he had been on a five-year mission aboard the , a considerable distance away, when the Federation-Klingon War broke out the year before. They had not been ordered to return, which had taken a toll on the crew. ()

One of the greatest chapters in Starfleet history was another five-year mission of the USS Enterprise from 2265–2270 under Captain James T. Kirk. (, , )

In 2269, Captain Kirk said to Odona that the USS Enterprise carried on board enough food to feed a crew of 430 for five years. ()

In the 24th century, Captain Nyota Uhura led an exploratory five-year mission to the Lesser Magellanic Cloud. The mission lasted from 2301 to 2305. ( commemorative plaque )

Five-year missions were abandoned by 3189. ()

Alternate reality 
On May 12, 2260 of the alternate reality, the , under the command of Captain , began the first official five-year mission of deep space exploration into uncharted space that had ever been attempted by any starship. By the third year, the ship had been in uncharted space for an extended period. This had stretched the ship's mechanical capacities, although the engineering department was up to the job. The rest of the crew likewise continued to act admirably despite the rigors. By day 966, the crew were looking forward to a resupply stop at Starbase Yorktown. From there, the ship continued on a rescue mission to Altamid, where it was destroyed. The crew later continued their mission in the  after it was finished. (; )

See also
Four-year mission
Eight-year mission

Appendices

Background information
The 2265-2270 five-year mission of the USS Enterprise mission was chronicled in  and , based on the opening narration to those series. The  and  have conjectured that Captain Robert April had one five-year mission and Captain Christopher Pike had two five-year missions with the Enterprise before Kirk assumed command. These sources also state that Kirk had a second five-year mission after .  later made canon that Pike did indeed have at least one five-year mission as commander of the Enterprise which, based upon dates given in the series, would have been underway at the time of "The Cage".

Until 2260 in the alternate reality, a five-year mission of deep space exploration was unprecedented. Because the alternate reality was a divergent timeline that split from the original universe in 2233, there presumably had not been any official five-year missions prior to, at least, that year in the prime reality.

No references have been made to five-year missions after the 23rd century. Instead, the opening narration of  refers to the Enterprises "continuing mission". However, in 2363, the  embarked on an eight-year mission. In an interview in the DS9 Season 3 DVD, Ira Steven Behr said that the  was "on a five-year mission to kick ass."

External link

de:Fünf-Jahres-Mission
fr:Mission quinquennale
ja:ファイブ・イヤー・ミッション
Starfleet
Missions and expeditions