"
Where no man has gone before" is a phrase used in the
title sequenceA title sequence is the method by which cinematic films or television programs present their title, key production and cast members, or both, utilizing conceptual visuals and sound...
of most episodes of the
original Star TrekStar Trek is a science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry that aired from September 8, 1966 to September 2, 1969. Though the original series was titled simply Star Trek, it has acquired the retronym Star Trek: The Original Series to distinguish it from the spinoffs that...
science fiction television series. It refers to the mission of the original starship
EnterpriseThe USS Enterprise, NCC-1701, is a starship in the Star Trek media franchise. The original Star Trek series depicts its crew's mission "to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before" under the command of Captain James T. Kirk...
. The complete introductory sequence, narrated by
William ShatnerWilliam Alan Shatner is a Canadian actor and novelist. He gained worldwide fame and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of Captain James T. Kirk, captain of the starship USS Enterprise, in the television series Star Trek from 1966 to 1969, Star Trek: The Animated Series and in seven of the...
at the beginning of every episode of
Star Trek except "The Cage" and "
Where No Man Has Gone Before"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 refers to the mission of the original starship Enterprise...
", is:
Origin of the quote
It has been suggested that the quote was taken from a
White HouseThe White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., it was built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the late Georgian style and has been the residence of every...
booklet published in 1958. The
Introduction to Outer Space, produced in an effort to garner support for a
national space programThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nation's public space program. NASA was established by the National Aeronautics and Space Act on July 29, 1958, replacing its predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for...
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.
Interestingly, the situation came full circle in 1989, when NASA used the
Star Trek version of the quote to title their retrospective of
Project ApolloNASA's Apollo Program landed the first humans on Earth's moon. US President John F. Kennedy announced his support for a manned moon landing on May 25, 1961, as part of a special address to a joint session of Congress:...
:
Where No Man Has Gone Before: A History of Apollo Lunar Exploration Missions.
Similar expressions have been used in literature prior to 1958. For example,
H. P. LovecraftHoward Phillips Lovecraft was an American author of horror, fantasy, and science fiction, known then simply as weird fiction....
's novella
The Dream-Quest of Unknown KadathThe Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath is a novella by H. P. Lovecraft. It was completed in 1927 and was unpublished in his lifetime. It is both the longest of the stories that comprise his Dream Cycle and the longest to feature protagonist Randolph Carter, and can thus be considered a culminating...
, written in 1927 and published in 1943, includes this passage:
At length, sick with longing for those glittering sunset streets and cryptical hill lanes among ancient tiled roofs, nor able sleeping or waking to drive them from his mind, Carter resolved to go with bold entreaty whither no man had gone before, and dare the icy deserts through the dark to where unknown Kadath, veiled in cloud and crowned with unimagined stars, holds secret and nocturnal the onyx castle of the Great Ones.
Evolution
The phrase was first introduced into Star Trek by Samuel Peeples, who is attributed with suggesting using it as an episode name. The episode became "
Where No Man Has Gone Before"Where No Man Has Gone Before" is the second pilot episode of the television series Star Trek . It was produced in 1965 after the first pilot, "The Cage", had been rejected by NBC...
", the second
pilotA television pilot is a test episode of an intended television series. It is an early step in the development of a television series, much like pilot lights or pilot studies serve as precursors to the start of larger activity, or pilot holes prepare the way for larger holes. Networks use pilots to...
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 RoddenberryEugene Wesley "Gene" Roddenberry was an American screenwriter and producer. He created the American science-fiction series Star Trek, an accomplishment for which he was sometimes referred to as the "Great Bird of the Galaxy" due to the show's influence on popular culture. He was one of the first...
and producers
John D. F. BlackJohn D. F. Black is a writer, producer, and director of television and films from the 1950s to the 1980s, best known for his work on Star Trek and Star Trek: The Next Generation....
and Bob Justman. 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.
In the final shot of
Star Trek II: The Wrath of KhanStar Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is a 1982 motion picture released by Paramount Pictures. The film is the second feature based on the Star Trek science fiction franchise. The plot features James T...
, as the camera pulls back and up from the coffin of
SpockSpock is a character in the fictional Star Trek media franchise. First portrayed by Leonard Nimoy in the original Star Trek series, Spock also appears in the animated Star Trek series, two episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, seven of the Star Trek feature films, and numerous Star Trek...
to space, finally showing the newly-formed Genesis Planet,
Leonard NimoyLeonard Simon Nimoy is an American actor, film director, poet, musician and photographer. He is famous for playing the character of Spock on the original Star Trek series, and he reprised the role in various movie and television sequels.-Early life:Nimoy was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to...
reads a version of the quote which adds the word "continuing" between "the" and "voyages", replaces the words "its five-year" with "her on-going", and adds the word "forms" after "life":
Space... the Final Frontier. These are the continuing voyages of the starship Enterprise. Her ongoing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life forms and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.
Five years later after the release of
The Wrath of Khan, a slightly altered version of the introduction was included in the title sequence of
Star Trek: The Next GenerationStar Trek: The Next Generation is a science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Created about 21 years after the original Star Trek, and set in the 24th century about 80 years after the orginal series, the program features a new crew and a new...
. The new version replaced the word "man" with the gender- and species-neutral "one". The new introduction, narrated by
Patrick StewartPatrick Hewes Stewart, OBE is an English film, television and stage actor. He has had a distinguished career in theatre for nearly fifty years, including performances as various characters in Shakespearean productions...
(who played the
Enterprise-DThe USS Enterprise is a 24th century starship in the Star Trek fictional universe and the principal setting of the Star Trek: The Next Generation television series...
's captain,
Jean-Luc PicardJean-Luc Picard is a Star Trek character primarily portrayed by actor Patrick Stewart. He appears in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and the feature films Star Trek Generations, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection, and Star Trek Nemesis and made an appearance in...
), 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 called "
Where No One Has Gone Before"Where No One Has Gone Before" is the 6th episode of the first season of the science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation. It was first broadcast October 26, 1987. It was directed by Rob Bowman....
", the plot of which bears no connection to that of "Where No Man Has Gone Before".
At the end of the 2009
Star Trek film, Nimoy reads a revised version of his quote from
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan which removes the word "continuing" from between "the" and "voyages", and replaces the word "man" with the gender-neutral "one":
Space... the Final Frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Her ongoing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life forms and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one 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 FrontierStar Trek V: The Final Frontier is a 1989 film released by Paramount Pictures and the fifth feature film based on the Star Trek science fiction television series. The film was directed by William Shatner, following two films directed by his co-star, Leonard Nimoy. Shatner also developed the initial...
, and two
Star Trek: EnterpriseEnterprise is a science fiction television program created by Brannon Braga and Rick Berman and set in the fictional Star Trek universe created by Gene Roddenberry in the 1960s...
episodes, "
Strange New WorldStrange New World is the third episode of the television series Star Trek: Enterprise.-Synopsis:The Enterprise encounters a new world much like Earth....
" 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
Jonathan ArcherJonathan Archer is a fictional character in the Star Trek franchise. He is the protagonist of the television series Star Trek: Enterprise, where he is played by Scott Bakula....
using the original series' gender specific version. Also, a 1996 book written to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Star Trek is called
Star Trek: These are the Voyages.... The 11th
Star Trek motion picture ends with a elderly post-
Nemesis Ambassador
SpockSpock is a character in the fictional Star Trek media franchise. First portrayed by Leonard Nimoy in the original Star Trek series, Spock also appears in the animated Star Trek series, two episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, seven of the Star Trek feature films, and numerous Star Trek...
reciting the quote segueing from the original series opening to the phrase "her on-going mission", as heard at the end of
The Wrath of Khan and between the teaser scene and opening credits sequence of 1984's
Search for SpockStar Trek III: The Search for Spock is a 1984 motion picture released by Paramount Pictures. The film is the third feature based on the Star Trek science fiction franchise. After the death of Spock during the events of The Wrath of Khan, the crew of the USS Enterprise returns to Earth. When James T...
in place of "its five-year mission" to the
Next Generation gender-neutral version.
Fictional backstory
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 CochraneZefram Cochrane is a fictional character in the Star Trek universe. Created by writer Gene L. Coon, the character first appeared in the 1967 Star Trek episode "Metamorphosis", in which he was played by Glenn Corbett. James Cromwell later played Cochrane in the 1996 feature film Star Trek: First...
at the dedication of the
Warp 5Warp drive is a faster-than-light propulsion system in the universe of many science fiction settings, most notably including Star Trek. A spacecraft equipped with a warp drive may travel at velocities greater than that of light by many orders of magnitude, whilst circumventing the relativistic...
Complex in 2119, and shown in the
Enterprise episode "
Broken Bow"Broken Bow" is the pilot episode of the television series Star Trek: Enterprise . It originally aired as a double-length episode, but has been split into two segments for repeats....
":
On this site, a powerful engine will be built. An engine that will someday help us to travel a hundred 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 was changed to use the
split infinitiveA split infinitive or cleft infinitive is an English-language grammatical construction in which a word or phrase, usually an adverb or adverbial phrase, comes between the marker to and the bare infinitive form of a verb...
"to boldly go" at some point before 2151. At that point, it was adopted as the
mottoA motto is a phrase meant to formally describe the general motivation or intention of a social group or organization. A motto may be in any language, but Latin is the most used...
of the
EnterpriseThe Enterprise is a fictional starship in the science fiction television series Star Trek: Enterprise. It is commanded by Captain Jonathan Archer.-History:...
and engraved on its dedication plaque with the split infinitive, although it was impossible to make out in normal episodes.
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. The quote did appear on the dedication plaque of the later
Enterprise-AThe USS Enterprise, NCC-1701-A is a fictional starship in the fourth, fifth, and sixth Star Trek films.-Origin and design:The Enterprise-A used the same shooting model as the preceding NCC-1701...
, and was also engraved on the base of a non-functional decorative
ship's wheelThe wheel of a ship is the modern method of adjusting the angle of the rudder, in turn changing the direction of the boat or ship. It is also called the helm, together with the rest of the steering mechanism....
found in the ship's lounge and seen in
Star Trek V: The Final FrontierStar Trek V: The Final Frontier is a 1989 film released by Paramount Pictures and the fifth feature film based on the Star Trek science fiction television series. The film was directed by William Shatner, following two films directed by his co-star, Leonard Nimoy. Shatner also developed the initial...
.
Following the events of
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered CountryStar Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country is the sixth feature film in the Star Trek science fiction franchise. It was released in 1991 by Paramount Pictures, and is the last of the Star Trek films to include the entire core cast of the 1960s Star Trek television series. It was directed by Nicholas...
, which dealt with cross-species
racismRacism is the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race. In the case of institutional racism, certain racial groups may be denied rights or benefits, or get preferential treatment...
, 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-BThe USS Enterprise is a fictional starship in the Star Trek science fiction franchise. It is an Excelsior-class variant Starfleet vessel that appears under the command of Captain John Harriman in the film Star Trek Generations. It is the third Federation starship to carry the name Enterprise...
,
Enterprise-DThe USS Enterprise is a 24th century starship in the Star Trek fictional universe and the principal setting of the Star Trek: The Next Generation television series...
and
Enterprise-EThe USS Enterprise is a fictional starship in the Star Trek science fiction franchise. It serves as the primary setting of the films Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection, and Star Trek Nemesis...
. Other parts of Cochrane's speech also became cultural icons — according to
Captain JanewayKathryn Janeway, played by Kate Mulgrew, is a fictional character in the Star Trek franchise. As the captain of the Starfleet starship USS Voyager, she was the lead character on the television series Star Trek: Voyager, and later, a Starfleet Vice Admiral, as seen in the 2002 feature film Star Trek...
in the episode "Equinox", the oath that Starfleet officers take includes the directive "to seek out life".
Use in popular culture
The quote has gained popularity outside
Star Trek. The phrase has become a
snowcloneA snowclone is a type of cliché and phrasal template originally defined as "a multi-use, customizable, instantly recognizable, time-worn, quoted or misquoted phrase or sentence that can be used in an entirely open array of different variants"....
, a
rhetoricRhetoric is one of the arts of using language as a means to persuade. Along with grammar and logic or dialectic, rhetoric is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. From ancient Greece to the late 19th Century, it was a central part of Western education, filling the need to train public...
al device and type of
word playFor the rapper see WordplayWord play is a literary technique in which the words that are used become the main subject of the work. Puns, phonetic mix-ups such as spoonerisms, obscure words and meanings, clever rhetorical excursions, oddly formed sentences, and telling character names are common...
in which one word within it is replaced while maintaining the overall structure. For example, an episode of
Futurama that dealt with a character's devotion to
Star Trek is named "
Where No Fan Has Gone Before"Where No Fan Has Gone Before" is the eleventh episode of the fourth season of the animated series Futurama. It originally aired in the United States on April 21, 2002...
", a level in the videogame
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in TimeTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time is a video game produced by Konami. A sequel to the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game, it is a scrolling beat 'em up based on the 1987 TMNT animated series...
is called "Starbase: Where No Turtle Has Gone Before", and an episode of
DuckTalesDuckTales is an American animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation. Based on Carl Barks' Uncle Scrooge comic book series, featuring the adventures of Scrooge McDuck and his nephews, the show premiered on September 18, 1987 and ended on November 28, 1990.- Premise :The...
parodying
Star Trek is entitled "Where No Duck Has Gone Before".
The
split infinitiveA split infinitive or cleft infinitive is an English-language grammatical construction in which a word or phrase, usually an adverb or adverbial phrase, comes between the marker to and the bare infinitive form of a verb...
"to boldly go" has also been the subject of jokes. British humorist and science-fiction author
Douglas AdamsDouglas Noel Adams was an English writer, dramatist, and musician. He is best known as the author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which started life in 1978 as a BBC radio comedy before developing into a "trilogy" of five books that sold over 15 million copies in his lifetime, a...
describes, in his series
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the GalaxyThe Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a science fiction comedy series created by Douglas Adams. Originally a radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1978, it was later adapted to other formats, and over several years it gradually became an international multi-media phenomenon...
, the long-lost heroic age of the Galactic Empire, when bold adventurers dared "to boldly
split infinitiveA split infinitive or cleft infinitive is an English-language grammatical construction in which a word or phrase, usually an adverb or adverbial phrase, comes between the marker to and the bare infinitive form of a verb...
s that no man had split before." In
The Physics of Star TrekThe Physics of Star Trek is a 1995 nonfiction book by Arizona State University professor Lawrence M. Krauss. It discusses the physics involved in various concepts and objects described in the Star Trek universe. He investigates the possibility of such things as inertial dampeners and warp drive,...
,
Lawrence M. KraussLawrence M. Krauss is Foundation Professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration and the Physics Department, and Director of the Origins Initiative at Arizona State University...
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."
Music
"Where No Man Has Gone Before" is the title to the third song of the album
People Get Ready by
contemporary Christian musicContemporary Christian music is a genre of popular music which is lyrically focused on matters concerned with the Christian faith...
band
NewsongNewSong is a Contemporary Christian Music group that was founded in 1981, at Morningside Baptist Church in Valdosta, Georgia. They have had 20 #1 singles and eight GMA Dove Award nominations. They are the founders of the Winter Jam Tour Spectacular, the United States' largest annual Christian music...
.