Can someone explain to me when (in Star Trek time) they switched from giving dates as month/day/year to what we hear in TNG and the other shows as stardates? And why and how they decided on the format they switched to?

No clue. Probably for a more universal date system. Anyone know how they work?

In TOS, they used stardates. Its Enterprise that still uses mm/dd/yyyy.

I'm not sure how they worked. It looks like a base ten system. Could it be 10 hrs in a day? But, no, in TOS movies, esp ST6, they used the 24hr military time.

I CAN tell you how to write today's date in Stardate, as one of my old Trek calendars did: 0306.07. Wait, that won't work, unless I put a 1 before the 03... What a mess!

Here's a theory that I kinda like...

During TOS, each ship had its own stardate system that was based on the elapsed time of its mission. But this was a complicated mess because each ship had its own stardate system--and it was made even more complicated because it also took into account time dilation effects (which is why some later TOS episodes had lower stardate numbers than earlier episodes).

In 2323, Starfleet devised a new universal stardate system for every ship and starbase to use. It would be based on a system of 10 in which 1000 units is equal to an Earth year.

1000 units=365 days
100 units=36.5 days
10 units=3.65 days
1 unit=8.76 hours
.1 unit=52.56 minutes

It sounds complicated, but it actually works out in most episodes of TNG, DS9, & VOY and all of the TNG movies...trust me. *

For example, the first episode of TNG "Encounter at Farpoint" had an initial stardate of 41153.7--if the revised stardate system began on January 1, 2323--that would place that date in "Encounter at Farpoint" on February 25, 2364.

The first episode of DS9 "Emissary"--stardate 46379.1--May 18, 2369

The first episode of VOY "Caretaker"--stardate 48315.6--April 24, 2371




*Trust no one...especially someone sad enough to figure out 24th-Century stardates...

Darthravage, you never cease to amaze me. Bravo! E mille grazie!

Thank you, thank you--I owe it all to twelve straight cups of coffee at work everyday...


(Passes out from caffeine overload...)

QUOTE (Darth Ravage @ Jun 7 2003, 07:54 PM)

In 2323, Starfleet devised a new universal stardate system for every ship and starbase to use. It would be based on a system of 10 in which 1000 units is equal to an Earth year. 1000 units=365 days 100 units=36.5 days 10 units=3.65 days 1 unit=8.76 hours .1 unit=52.56 minutes It sounds complicated, but it actually works out in most episodes of TNG, DS9, & VOY and all of the TNG movies...trust me. * *Trust no one...especially someone sad enough to figure out 24th-Century stardates...

OK, I get all that. Thanks.

What's even sadder is that I sat here and worked out the stardate you gave for the first TNG episode to see that you were right. I think I had to find a few brain cells that haven't been activated since high school.

Ok wait a minute. I was checking out the inside cover to my DS9 box set (season 1) and you are correct about the stardate being 4639.1. My only question is going down the episode list there are MANY that list the stardate as unknown.

Past Prologue- stardate unknown
Captive Pursuit-stardate unknown
The Passenger-stardate unknown
Move Along Home- stardate unknown

etc....

Why do some of the eps HAVE stardates but many don't???

Time is relative. To have a uniform time for star ship operations they had to come up with star dates.

You can't expect Vulcans and Andorians, and everyone else to go by Earth standard. This way all ships are on the same time. That way when they are going to rendezvous with other ships they no when to meet.

Remember in TNG episode "Cause and Effect" once the Enterprise finally broke the loop, they checked the Federation time beacon, and had to reset their time?

I always thought the sound of "Earth standard" sounded funny. It is only standard in one time zone on earth, while the other 11 time zones are different, but I'm just over thinking it.

It is interesting that you found a pattern Darth. I don't remember who said it during TNG, weather it was Berman or not, but they said there was no rhyme or reason, so I never put much thought into it.

QUOTE (Excalibur @ Jun 7 2003, 11:09 PM)

It is interesting that you found a pattern Darth. I don't remember who said it during TNG, weather it was Berman or not, but they said there was no rhyme or reason, so I never put much thought into it.

Stardates are really something you shouldn't put too much thought into because they are, by and large, chosen randomly by the script editor with very little regard to matching them up with actual dates. The script editor follows a basic rule that two weeks elapse between each episode--but that's not always the case, tough.

Like most things in Trek, there are contradictions in which the stardates don't match up with actual Earth dates (a lot of stardates contradict really), so you mostly have to take it all with a grain of salt.

The pattern I found works about 90%-95% of the time, but there are a few instances in which it doesn't...but then nothing's perfect.

QUOTE (WaitingforGodot)

Why do some of the eps HAVE stardates but many don't???

One of the reasons I think is because many Trek episodes are actually filmed out of order. For example, the TNG first season episode "Symbiosis"--featuring Tasha Yar--was filmed after the episode "Skin of Evil" in which the character was killed (there's a scene in "Symbiosis" in which Denise Crosby waves goodbye to the camera in the background before a door closes).

Sometimes, there's no telling if some episodes will be shown in sequence. There are times when two episodes are filmed almost simultaneously and the one that finishes first may air first, so it's easier not to feature a stardate, or put down "Captain's log, supplemental".

Another reason is that Trek shows are sometimes shown out of order when they're put into second-run syndication. Local stations may show the start of season one, then skip to season four at one point. It's for this reason that Paramount tends to frown upon extended story arcs to give local stations the freedom to show Trek episodes out of order.

Star Dates make sense for the reason I read in another post, namely, that the rest of the Galaxy can't reasonably be expected to go by Earth times and dates. Therefore, something based on the positioning of the stars, whose position relative to one another is indeed ever changing, makes a lot of sense.

I really like the fact that the pre-Federation Enterprise show uses conventional Earth dates and times. Gives the show its much needed "early roots" feel and makes what's going on closer to home. Kinda fun to fantasize, like, "Cool, in 170 years, give or take, this is what Earth may be doing in its early deep space efforts!"

QUOTE (WaitingforGodot @ Jun 7 2003, 11:01 PM)

My only question is going down the episode list there are MANY that list the stardate as unknown. Why do some of the eps HAVE stardates but many don't???

The reason there are episodes listed unknown is that all episodes don't mention a stardate within the episode. The stardate they list on the inside of covers is from the episode itself. I noticed this from my Columbia House collection of TNG.