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60-638: Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet crew of the Federation starship Enterprise-D . In this episode, while visiting Starfleet Cadet Wesley Crusher at Starfleet Academy , the crew learn of an accident that claimed the life of a cadet. "The first duty of every Starfleet officer is to the truth.” Captain Picard The Enterprise returns to Earth, where Captain Picard

120-449: A " Yeager Loop" maneuver in orbit above Saturn 's moon Titan . He also states that Joshua had been nervous about flying, but Nick had kept him on the team out of a desire not to end his flying career. Nick claims that the accident was Joshua's fault, but admits that allowing him to fly was an error on his own part. Satellite imagery shows the team's ships to have been in a different formation from that described; these records, combined with

180-606: A Bajoran aboard the USS Enterprise -D ; her fellow Bajoran Kira Nerys , who was field-commissioned as a Starfleet commander so that she could aid the Cardassian resistance during the Dominion War ; and Ferengi Nog , who enters Starfleet Academy in season four of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ; all were from non-member planets. In addition, Quinn and Icheb from Star Trek: Voyager both spoke of joining Starfleet. An example of

240-707: A JAG court-martial. Courts-martial were held following the loss of the USS Pegasus and USS Stargazer . In the Voyager episode " Parallax ", Tuvok states that the Captain has the authority to conduct a court-martial on the ship, given the circumstance of the ship being isolated from the Federation. Starfleet Medical is the medical branch of Starfleet. Gates McFadden , who played Dr. Beverly Crusher , left Star Trek: The Next Generation during its second season. The character

300-422: A film website run by Pitchfork Media . In April and June 2014, senior staff writers Kyle Ryan, Sonia Saraiya, and Emily St. James left the website for positions at Entertainment Weekly , Salon , and Vox Media , respectively. In 2015, Ryan returned to Onion, Inc. for a position in development. Following his departure from The Dissolve earlier that month, Nathan Rabin returned to write freelance for

360-582: A move that no one had ever pulled off before called the Boothby Supernova, named for Ray Walston 's character Boothby. The episode was later released in the United States on November 5, 2002, as part of the season five DVD box set. The first Blu-ray release was in the United States on November 18, 2013, followed by the United Kingdom the next day, November 19, 2013. Starfleet Starfleet

420-611: A new Federation member world's military is depicted when the Bajoran Militia is integrated into Starfleet upon Bajor's entry into the Federation. The Starfleet insignia have been inspired by the chevron , which is broadly used in aeronautics, and particularly by the insignia of NASA . The A.V. Club The A.V. Club is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. The A.V. Club

480-568: A remark by Boothby, the old groundskeeper at the Academy, who had once given him some much-needed advice: "You knew what you had to do. I just made sure you listened to yourself." Keith DeCandido of Tor.com gave the episode a rating of 6 out of 10. It ranked ninth in Entertainment Weekly ' s list of top 10 Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes in September 2007. Sito Jaxa , one of

540-520: A result of these successes, Starfleet engineers gained a reputation as the undisputed masters of technological adaptation and modification. As one minion of the Dominion in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode, " Rocks and Shoals " notes, Starfleet engineers are reputed to be able to "Turn rocks into replicators." Additionally, Pocket Books has published a series of eBooks and novels in

600-685: A shipyard named Utopia Planitia in Mars orbit. Utopia Planitia served as Starfleet's main ship yards throughout a large portion of Starfleet's existence. After the Enterprise-D encountered the Borg in the episode " Q Who " the size of the Utopia Planitia shipyards was doubled out of fear of a Borg strike. They were once again doubled after the Dominion threat became more evident. A devastating attack on these shipyards

660-656: A similarly irreverent style. The publication's name is a reference to audiovisual (AV) clubs typical of American high schools. In 1993, five years after the founding of The Onion , Stephen Thompson , a student at the University of Wisconsin–Madison , launched an entertainment section of the newspaper. "A.V. Club" is for "audiovisual club". In the United States in the late 20th century, many high schools would have clubs for students who wanted to use and learn about speakers, projectors, and other video and audio equipment. In 1996, both The Onion and The A.V. Club debuted on

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720-589: Is Deep Space Nine , a station near a wormhole commanded by Benjamin Sisko after its transfer from the Cardassian Empire . Starfleet has been shown to handle scientific , defense , and diplomatic missions, although its primary mandate seems to be peaceful exploration in the search for sentient life, as seen in the mission statements of different incarnations of the USS Enterprise . The flagship of Starfleet

780-537: Is a branch of Starfleet first introduced in the original Star Trek . Main characters in subsequent series have been security officers. Starfleet Tactical is a rarely mentioned department in Starfleet that is responsible for planning defensive strategies, as well as engaging in weapons research and development. Although Humans are the most-often-seen crew members onscreen, Starfleet is shown to be composed of individuals from over 150 species, with Vulcans perhaps being

840-531: Is a fictional organization in the Star Trek media franchise. Within this fictional universe , Starfleet is a uniformed space force maintained by the United Federation of Planets ("the Federation") as the principal means for conducting deep space exploration, research, defense , peacekeeping , and diplomacy (although Starfleet predates the Federation, having originally been an Earth organization, as shown by

900-620: Is a major plot point in Star Trek: Picard . In the 2009 film , the Enterprise is shown under construction near James T. Kirk 's home in Iowa. In the 2013 sequel , Montgomery "Scotty" Scott discovers a covert Starfleet facility, near Jupiter, that has built a much larger Federation warship, USS Vengeance . The Starfleet Engineering Corps (also called the Starfleet Corps of Engineers )

960-456: Is described during this season, and after her return, as having been assigned to Starfleet Medical. Numerous star ship dedication plaques identify other personnel associated with Starfleet Operations . Rear Admiral James T. Kirk served 18 months as Starfleet's Chief of Operations. Starfleet Security is an agency of Starfleet referred to in several episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine . Security

1020-792: Is mentioned in several episodes in conjunction with projects such as hollowing out the underground laboratory complex inside the Regula I asteroid in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan , the design of the Yellowstone -class Runabout in the alternate timeline in the Star Trek: Voyager episode " Non Sequitur ", and devising a defense against the Breen energy-dampening weapon in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode " When It Rains... " As

1080-550: Is not a necessary pre-condition for joining Starfleet. T'Pol of Vulcan is shown to be the first non-human Starfleet officer, receiving a commission as a commander following the Xindi mission and her resignation from the Vulcan High Command. Even after the Federation's formation citizenship was not required; several officers are from planets that are not part of the Federation. For example, Star Trek: TNG ' s Ensign Ro Laren ,

1140-408: Is often considered to be the starship USS Enterprise . Starfleet has many components, including: As early as the original Star Trek , characters refer to attending Starfleet Academy . Later series establish it as an officer training facility with a four-year educational program. The main campus is located near Starfleet Headquarters in what is now Fort Baker , California. Starfleet Command

1200-560: Is said to have evolved into the NX Program, which led to Starfleet launching its first Warp 5–capable starship, Enterprise (NX-01) , in 2151, followed by Columbia (NX-02), in 2155, as well as other vessels. Starfleet acts under the Prime Directive , a policy of non-interference with pre-warp worlds, such as interference in their internal politics. This is said not to be a human construct, but stems from policies originally implemented by

1260-496: Is scheduled to deliver the commencement address at Starfleet Academy's graduation ceremony. However, the Academy superintendent informs Picard of an accident during flight training that has injured Wesley Crusher and caused the death of Joshua Albert, a member of the Nova Squadron flight team on which Wesley serves. During an Academy inquiry, team leader Nick Locarno testifies that the collision occurred while they were executing

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1320-403: Is the branch charged with overseeing legal matters within Starfleet. Several episodes revolve around or involve JAG officers and procedures: Dialog in "Court Martial" reveals that a court-martial may be convened in the absence of any JAG officers by three presiding command-level officers. Additionally, dialog in "The Measure of a Man" indicates that the loss of a starship automatically leads to

1380-726: Is the headquarters/command center of Starfleet. The term "Starfleet Command" is first used in TOS episode " Court Martial ". Its headquarters are depicted as being in Fort Baker, across the Golden Gate from San Francisco, in Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home . Overlooking the Command from the other side of the Golden Gate is the permanent site of the Council of

1440-514: Is torn between loyalty to his friends and duty to Starfleet. The next day, the admiral in charge of the inquiry prepares to dismiss it since there is no conclusive proof of any wrongdoing beyond the minor infractions that the cadets have admitted to committing. Before she can do so, though, Wesley confesses that Nova Squadron had indeed tried to execute the Kolvoord Starburst. Nick subsequently takes full responsibility, stating that he pressured

1500-508: The A.V. Undercover web series would be revived after a 7-year hiatus, A.I. written articles during the G/O Media era would be removed, familiar writers would return (including Nathan Rabin and Ignatiy Vishnevetsky ), and a subscriber program will be introduced. In July 2024, Danette Chavez, a writer and editor for The A.V. Club from 2015 to 2022, rejoined the website as editor-in-chief. The same month, A.V. Undercover season 9 premiered and

1560-629: The A.V. Club website in May 2015. He renewed his regular column "My World of Flops" Archived 6 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine . The Dissolve folded in July 2015. In January 2016, Univision Communications acquired "a 40 percent, controlling stake" in Onion Inc., the parent company of The A.V. Club . Later that year, Univision also purchased Gawker Media and reorganized several of Gawker's sites into

1620-420: The Starfleet Corps of Engineers series. Starfleet Intelligence is an intelligence agency of the United Federation of Planets . It is entrusted with foreign and domestic espionage, counter-espionage, and state security. In the non-canon Star Trek: New Frontier novels the series main character Mackenzie Calhoun was once a Starfleet Intelligence operative. The Starfleet Judge Advocate General (or JAG )

1680-449: The Vulcans , who regarded an alien civilization's attainment of warp speed as the reason for making first contact with them. This was to avoid any unfortunate incidences during space travel, as well as avoiding interfering in the natural development of a civilization. The Prime Directive and Starfleet's first-contact policies are at the center of several episodes in each Star Trek series and

1740-789: The Writers Guild of America, East . The union comprises "all of the creative staffs at Onion Inc.: The A.V. Club , The Onion , ClickHole , The Takeout , Onion Labs, and Onion Inc.'s video and art departments." ( ClickHole was subsequently acquired by Cards Against Humanity in February 2020. ) The union was recognized on 20 April 2018 and reached a contract agreement with management on 20 December 2018. The contract includes "annual pay increases, minimum pay grades, strong diversity and anti-harassment language, just cause, union security, editorial independence, intellectual property rights, and an end to permalancers." In July 2018, Univision announced it

1800-490: The Internet. The A.V. Club was originally a subsection of the main theonion.com domain name. In December 2004, Stephen Thompson left his position as founding editor of The A.V. Club . The supplement was moved to its own domain name, theavclub.com , before the 2005 acquisition of the shorter avclub.com domain name. The latter change coincided with a redesign that incorporated reader comments and blog content. In 2006,

1860-685: The United Earth Space Probe Agency, and its abbreviation UESPA, are to be found in episodes of later series. For example, the Friendship One probe (launched, on the fictional timeline, in 2067) is marked with the letters UESPA-1 in the Star Trek: Voyager episode " Friendship One ". Other background props included additional UESPA references, such as Captain Jean-Luc Picard 's family album in Star Trek Generations . During

The First Duty - Misplaced Pages Continue

1920-730: The United Federation of Planets in what is now the Presidio of San Francisco . Throughout the Star Trek franchise, the main characters' isolation from Starfleet Command compels them to make and act upon decisions without Starfleet Command's orders or information, particularly in Voyager when the main protagonists have no means of contacting Earth for several years. StarTrek.com notes that many of Starfleet's ships are built on Mare Island near San Francisco. It states: The Enterprise-D and USS Voyager are depicted to have been constructed at

1980-437: The cadets' sudden reticence to explain their actions, prompt Picard to direct his crew to open an investigation of their own. Picard and his crew discover evidence to suggest that Nova Squadron had actually been performing a maneuver called the "Kolvoord Starburst", last attempted at the Academy more than a century earlier; it was banned following a training accident that killed all five cadets involved. Pressed by Picard to admit

2040-420: The detonation of a Ferengi Genesis Device involving Locarno emitted the Kolvoord Starburst in the process of creating a new planet. A new version of Nova Squadron and Wesley Crusher returned for the second season of Star Trek: Prodigy with Wesley's previous role in the squadron being briefly mentioned as one of his achievements. In the episode "Ascension, Part II," Nova Squadron destroyed an enemy ship using

2100-495: The film Star Trek: First Contact . Starfleet Headquarters is shown to be located on Earth , northeast of the Golden Gate Bridge in the present-day Fort Baker area. Starfleet Academy is located in the same general area. Additionally, various episodes show Starfleet operating a series of starbases throughout Federation territory, as ground facilities, or as space stations in planetary orbit or in deep space. One example

2160-405: The first time ever, with G/O Media selling The Onion to Global Tetrahedron the following month. Two employees were laid off as part of the transition. Paste Media CEO Josh Jackson stressed that Paste and The A.V. Club would not be consolidated together and ensured that the comments, briefly disabled by G/O Media, would be restored. In June 2024, various changes were announced, including that

2220-522: The first to feature Boothby. The review also highlighted a line from Picard's lecture to Wesley: "The first duty of every Starfleet officer is to the truth." Geek.com rated Picard's lecture as the fourth greatest moment in Star Trek overall. Space.com ranked Picard's truth speech one of the character's top ten moments. Nicholas Locarno would later return as the main antagonist of Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4 , now an independent civilian pilot and

2280-420: The leader of Nova Fleet who was still bitter about the events of "The First Duty" even thirteen years later. The season finale, "Old Friends, New Planets," contains a flashback to shortly before the events of "The First Duty" featuring Nova Squadron discussing their plans for the Kolvoord Starburst, showing that both Crusher and Cadet Albert had their doubts but were pressured by Locarno. At the end of that episode,

2340-652: The most common aliens seen. Already in TOS , the USS Enterprise and other ships have a mixed-species crew, although this does not appear to be an absolute rule; for instance, the episode " The Immunity Syndrome " refers to the USS Intrepid as having an all-Vulcan crew. The Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode " Take Me Out to the Holosuite " also features such a crew, serving aboard the USS T'Kumbra . In keeping with this idea, Star Trek: Enterprise , in its first two seasons,

2400-495: The new Gizmodo Media Group , a division of Fusion Media Group . On 16 February 2017, The A.V. Club 's editor-at-large, John Teti, posted an article on the website announcing the upcoming release of a television series, titled The A.V. Club , based on the website. The series, hosted by Teti, began airing on Fusion on 16 March 2017 and ran for one season. The series featured news, criticism, and discussions about various popular-culture topics and featured staff members from

2460-557: The operating authority for the USS Enterprise . The terms Star Service (" The Conscience of the King "), Spacefleet Command (" The Squire of Gothos "), United Earth Space Probe Agency (" Charlie X " and " Tomorrow Is Yesterday "), and Space Central (" Miri ") were all used to refer to the Enterprise ' s operating authority, before the term "Starfleet" became widespread from the episode " Court Martial " onwards. However, references to

The First Duty - Misplaced Pages Continue

2520-574: The other cadets involved in the accident, later made a prominent appearance in the Star Trek: The Next Generation season 7 episode " Lower Decks ." Now holding the rank of Ensign , she learned that Picard had specifically requested her for his crew in order give her a fair chance to redeem herself. She was ranked as the 86th most important character of Starfleet within the Star Trek science fiction universe by Wired Magazine in 2016. Robert Duncan McNeill 's Nicholas Locarno served as

2580-466: The print version of The A.V. Club was available in 17 different cities. Localized sections of the website were also maintained, with reviews and news relevant to specific cities. The print version and localized websites were gradually discontinued, and in December 2013, print publication ceased production in the last three markets. On 13 December 2012, long-time writer and editor Keith Phipps, who oversaw

2640-533: The process imagined by the writers is given when the character Nog attempts to apply to the Academy. He is told that since he is from a non-member world (Ferenginar), he requires a letter of recommendation from a command-level officer before his application can be considered, with the implication that this is the standard procedure for all non-Federation applicants to Starfleet. In the Star Trek Expanded Universe, an example of what typically becomes of

2700-412: The production of Star Trek: Enterprise , some larger Starfleet insignia designs included the name "United Earth Space Probe Agency". Multiple Star Trek: Enterprise episodes refer to Starfleet having started operation some time between 2112 and 2136, when it funded research begun by Zefram Cochrane and Henry Archer, which led to the first successful flight of Warp-3 vessels in the 2140s. This research

2760-403: The rest of the team into performing it and lying to cover up the facts. He is expelled from Starfleet Academy, while Wesley and the other two survivors lose their flight privileges and a year's worth of academic credits. Wesley is disappointed in himself, and Picard tells him that the immediate future will be difficult since everyone on campus will know what happened. As the two part, Picard recalls

2820-478: The senior staff of the site and comprised the managing editor, film editor, TV editor, associate editor, senior writer, assistant editor, and editorial coordinator. In March 2024, it was reported that G/O Media had sold The A.V. Club to Paste Media , who had previously bought the dormant G/O Media sites Jezebel and Splinter News for a relaunch. This resulted in The A.V. Club being separated from The Onion for

2880-429: The site migrated from Kinja to WordPress , returning to the former Disqus -powered commenting system used under Bulbs. On 9 December 2010, the website ComicsComicsMag revealed a capsule review for the book Genius, Isolated: The Life and Art of Alex Toth had been fabricated. The book had not yet been published nor even completed by the authors. After the review was removed, editor Keith Phipps posted an apology on

2940-417: The television series Star Trek: Enterprise ). While most of Starfleet's members are human and it has been headquartered on Earth, hundreds of other species are also represented. Most of the franchise's protagonists are Starfleet commissioned officers . During production of early episodes of the original series , several details of the makeup of the Star Trek universe had yet to be worked out, including

3000-401: The template for the character of Tom Paris on Star Trek: Voyager . When casting Paris, producers were searching for a different actor than McNeill. After many auditions it was suggested to simply bring McNeill in to play the part since they were using his character as a model for Tom Paris already. The A.V. Club noted that the episode was the first to feature Starfleet Academy, as well as

3060-432: The truth, Wesley instead chooses not to answer. Reminding Wesley that the first duty of any Starfleet officer is to the truth - scientific, historical, and personal - Picard threatens to reveal the facts to the board of inquiry unless Wesley does so himself at the next day's hearing. Nick tries to coerce Wesley into corroborating the other survivors' accounts of the accident, claiming that Picard has no solid evidence; Wesley

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3120-520: The website after Stephen Thompson left, stepped down from his role as editor of The A.V. Club . He said, " Onion, Inc. and I have come to a mutual parting of the ways." On 2 April 2013, long-time film review editor and critic Scott Tobias stepped down as film editor of The A.V. Club . He said via Twitter , "After 15 great years @theavclub, I step down as Film Editor next Friday." On 26 April 2013, long-time writers Nathan Rabin , Tasha Robinson, and Genevieve Koski announced they would also be leaving

3180-515: The website shifted its content model again to add content on a daily, rather than weekly, basis. Some contributors have become established as freelance writers and editors. According to Sean Mills, then-president of The Onion, the A.V. Club website first reached more than 1 million unique visitors in October 2007. In late 2009, the website was reported to have received more than 1.4 million unique visitors and 75,000 comments per month. At its peak,

3240-405: The website to begin work on a new project with Scott Tobias and Keith Phipps. Koski also said that she would continue to write freelance articles. Writer Noel Murray announced he would be joining their new project, but would also continue to contribute to The A.V. Club in a reduced capacity. On 30 May 2013, those six writers were announced as becoming part of the senior staff of The Dissolve ,

3300-903: The website, stating that the reporter being assigned to review the book could not locate a copy of it ("for obvious reasons"), so they fabricated it. Leonard Pierce, the author of the review, was terminated from his freelance role with the website. In 2017, The A.V. Club won an Eisner Award for "Best Comics-related Periodical/Journalism" (for works published in 2016). The award went to writers Oliver Sava, Caitlin Rosberg, Shea Hennum, and Tegan O'Neil. The award also went to editor Caitlin PenzeyMoog. Starting in 1999, only lists written by individual writers were published. Beginning in 2006, The A.V. Club began publishing website-consensus, year-end album and film rankings, together with lists created by individual writers. Additionally decade-end lists were published for

3360-544: The website. The site was subsequently migrated from Bulbs, an internal content management system developed by Onion Inc. to the Gawker-developed Kinja platform. Audience reviews hosted on the previous site were deleted and the Kinja comment system was heavily derided by the site's commenting community, leading to a sharp decline in activity. In March 2018 the employees of the company announced they had unionized with

3420-452: Was announced that the site was opening a Los Angeles bureau. In August 2021, Yahoo! Entertainment and E! Online alum Scott Robson joined to lead the team. On 18 January 2022, the union representing staff at the website announced that all seven staff members based in Chicago had taken severance as opposed to accepting a mandatory move of work location to Los Angeles. This predominantly affected

3480-410: Was created in 1993 as a supplement to its satirical parent publication, The Onion . While it was a part of The Onion ' s 1996 website launch, The A.V. Club had minimal presence on the website at that point. A 2005 website redesign placed The A.V. Club in a more prominent position, allowing its online identity to grow. Unlike The Onion , The A.V. Club is not satirical, though it does use

3540-430: Was looking for a buyer for the entire Gizmodo Group. In April 2019, Gizmodo and The Onion were sold to private-equity firm Great Hill Partners, which combined them into a new company named G/O Media . In July 2019, executive editor Laura M. Browning and managing editor Caitlin PenzeyMoog left. In early 2020, former People magazine and Entertainment Weekly editor Patrick Gomez was named editor-in-chief, and it

3600-612: Was the only show to have an entirely human crew, as it was set before the formation of the Federation , although the vessel did carry Phlox , a Denobulan serving in a medical exchange program, and T'Pol , then serving as an observer from the Vulcan High Command. Star Trek: The Next Generation saw the introduction of Starfleet's first Klingon officer. Other races—such as Bolians, Betazoids, and Trill—were seen, and given more central roles, in later series; some of these, notably Klingons, had been shown as enemies in earlier episodes. Various episodes show that Earth /Federation citizenship

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