# Did the Enterprise ever leave the galaxy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 26, 2009, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-enterprise-ever-leave-the-galaxy/487452 "2009-02-26T01:25:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![luvrbcs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@luvrbcs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/luvrbcs)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-enterprise-ever-leave-the-galaxy/487452/1 "2009-02-26T01:25:14Z")
Did the Star Trek Enterprise (any series) ever travel to another galaxy? ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-enterprise-ever-leave-the-galaxy/487452/2 "2009-02-26T01:28:32Z")
> [@luvrbcs](#): > > Did the Star Trek Enterprise (any series) ever travel to another galaxy? Yes. The next generation, ‘where no-one has gone before.’ A pretty silly outing, actually, early in the first season. One of the first to go on about how Wesley Crusher was so special and such a genius. Apparently, once you leave our galaxy, thoughts become undistinguishable from reality, or some such. :smack: > **[Where No One Has Gone Before](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where_No_One_Has_Gone_Before_(TNG_episode))** > > "Where No One Has Gone Before" is the sixth episode of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, originally aired on October 26, 1987 in broadcast syndication in the United States. A high definition remastered version of the episode also received a limited theatrical release for one day alongside the episode "Datalore" to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the series on July 23, 2012. The story was originally developed under the title of "Where None Have Go... ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-enterprise-ever-leave-the-galaxy/487452/3 "2009-02-26T01:32:09Z")
I remember that in the original series, The Enterprise was hijacked by an alien couple who altered the ship in some way so that it could break through “The Galactic Barrier” and go to Andromeda. It did break through the barrier, so technically it did leave the galaxy, but Kirk and the crew got control back before it went to the next galaxy. ---
**Author:** ![Roadfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@Roadfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roadfood)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-enterprise-ever-leave-the-galaxy/487452/4 "2009-02-26T01:37:26Z")
In the TOS episode [“By any Other Name”](http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/By_Any_Other_Name_(episode)), they were headed to another galaxy, but I don’t remember if they actually passed out of the Milky Way. In the TNG episode [“Where No One Has Gone Before”](http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Where_No_One_Has_Gone_Before_(episode)), they ended up in galaxy M33. There could be more. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-enterprise-ever-leave-the-galaxy/487452/5 "2009-02-26T01:38:24Z")
> [@chrisk](#): > > Yes. The next generation, ‘where no-one has gone before.’ A pretty silly outing, actually, early in the first season. One of the first to go on about how Wesley Crusher was so special and such a genius. Apparently, once you leave our galaxy, thoughts become undistinguishable from reality, or some such. :smack: I got the impression it was a matter of leaving the known universe, not just the galaxy. To a region where the laws of physics are different. The Enterprise did leave the galaxy in [Is There in Truth No Beauty ?](http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Is_There_in_Truth_No_Beauty%3F_%28episode%29), when piloted by someone driven mad by looking at a Medusan. It ended up in a multicolored void. ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-enterprise-ever-leave-the-galaxy/487452/6 "2009-02-26T01:45:42Z")
There was the TNG episode in which Barkley is granted super-intelligence by a group of sedentary explorers so he could hijack the Enterprise and bring it to them to study. I’m pretty sure they left the galaxy for that one. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-enterprise-ever-leave-the-galaxy/487452/7 "2009-02-26T01:47:23Z")
> [@VarlosZ](#): > > There was the TNG episode in which Barkley is granted super-intelligence by a group of sedentary explorers so he could hijack the Enterprise and bring it to them to study. I’m pretty sure they left the galaxy for that one. Actually no; they went to a world near the center of the galaxy. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-enterprise-ever-leave-the-galaxy/487452/8 "2009-02-26T01:51:39Z")
> [@VarlosZ](#): > > There was the TNG episode in which Barkley is granted super-intelligence by a group of sedentary explorers so he could hijack the Enterprise and bring it to them to study. I’m pretty sure they left the galaxy for that one. Just the opposite in that one: they visited a world very close to the galactic core. The episode is [The Nth Degree](http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/The_Nth_Degree_(episode)), FWIW. ---
**Author:** ![luvrbcs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@luvrbcs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/luvrbcs)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-enterprise-ever-leave-the-galaxy/487452/9 "2009-02-26T01:54:53Z")
Wow, I love it!!! You folks know your stuff. I bet I could ask any question on Star Trek and get an answer, with cites, in 5 minutes. Here’s a link to a Warp Speed chart I found that caused me to ask the original question. [http://www.star-fleet.com/ed/warp-chart.html](http://www.star-fleet.com/ed/warp-chart.html) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-enterprise-ever-leave-the-galaxy/487452/10 "2009-02-26T01:55:17Z")
> [@chrisk](#): > > Yes. The next generation, ‘where no-one has gone before.’ A pretty silly outing, actually, early in the first season. One of the first to go on about how Wesley Crusher was so special and such a genius. Apparently, once you leave our galaxy, thoughts become undistinguishable from reality, or some such. :smack: > > [Where No One Has Gone Before - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where_No_One_Has_Gone_Before_(TNG_episode)) FYI, your URL is broken. It should go to > **[Where No One Has Gone Before](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where_No_One_Has_Gone_Before_(TNG_episode))** > > "Where No One Has Gone Before" is the sixth episode of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, originally aired on October 26, 1987 in broadcast syndication in the United States. A high definition remastered version of the episode also received a limited theatrical release for one day alongside the episode "Datalore" to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the series on July 23, 2012. The story was originally developed under the title of "Where None Have Go... ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-enterprise-ever-leave-the-galaxy/487452/11 "2009-02-26T01:56:46Z")
I was going to say no, but I guess that “Where No One Has Gone Before” proves me a liar. ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-enterprise-ever-leave-the-galaxy/487452/12 "2009-02-26T02:26:32Z")
Well, that’s why pencils have erasers. I thought I remembered the crew looking down on the whole Milky Way from “above.” ---
**Author:** ![luvrbcs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@luvrbcs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/luvrbcs)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-enterprise-ever-leave-the-galaxy/487452/13 "2009-02-26T02:37:47Z")
Well, now that you are at the M33 galaxy, how do you navigate around? I assume you navigate by stars, would there be star charts for other galaxys? Travel to other galaxys couldn’t have been common, could it? ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-enterprise-ever-leave-the-galaxy/487452/14 "2009-02-26T03:08:44Z")
> [@luvrbcs](#): > > I assume you navigate by stars, would there be star charts for other galaxys? Travel to other galaxys couldn’t have been common, could it? I’m pretty sure we can resolve stars in local group galaxies now, I’m betting with Federation level technology, they could make a decent star chart. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-enterprise-ever-leave-the-galaxy/487452/15 "2009-02-26T05:38:25Z")
> [@Roadfood](#): > > In the TOS episode [“By any Other Name”](http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/By_Any_Other_Name_(episode)), they were headed to another galaxy, but I don’t remember if they actually passed out of the Milky Way. They did, but even with Kelvan technobabble it was going to take a very long time to reach the Andromeda Galaxy, which was one reason why most of the crew were transformed into polystyrene polyhedra. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-enterprise-ever-leave-the-galaxy/487452/16 "2009-02-26T05:51:56Z")
Arguably, _The Immunity Syndrome_ (TOS) and _Where Silence Has Lease_ (TNG) qualify. As an incidental note, the novelization of the second film makes passing reference to a Warp 12 ship which is indeed exploring Andromeda. And of course Voyager was fond of getting itself stuck in “pockets” and “fluidic space” and whatnot. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-enterprise-ever-leave-the-galaxy/487452/17 "2009-02-26T09:01:51Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Arguably, _The Immunity Syndrome_ (TOS) and _Where Silence Has Lease_ (TNG) qualify. > > As an incidental note, the novelization of the second film makes passing reference to a Warp 12 ship which is indeed exploring Andromeda. > > And of course Voyager was fond of getting itself stuck in “pockets” and “fluidic space” and whatnot. I don’t recall that they left the galaxy - or anything close to it - in _The Immunity Syndrome_. In fact the space amoeba had just swallowed a Vulcan ship, which seems to indicate that they were close to home. The thing (like the bit space carrot in The Doomsday Machine) came from another galaxy, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-enterprise-ever-leave-the-galaxy/487452/18 "2009-02-26T11:47:17Z")
There was an episode of Voyager where the Delta Flyer achieved Warp 10 (infinite speed), so they were technically at all points in the universe simultaneously, including outside the galaxy. This has the unfortunate side effect of mutating you into a lizard, for some stupid reason. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-enterprise-ever-leave-the-galaxy/487452/19 "2009-02-26T11:49:38Z")
They didn’t leave the galaxy in _The Immunity Syndrome_. The black, starless void they entered was just the energy-drained area of space surrounding the amoeba. The absolutely **did** leave The Milky Way in _By Any Other Name_. There was a very neat shot of the Enterprise hurtling through empty (i.e. starless) intergalactic space with the Andromeda Galaxy in the distance. I haven’t seen the remastered version, but just the original was pretty good. The Kelvin technology would have gotten them there in 300 years, amazingly fast even for Star Trek times. In TOS they always mentioned there being a ‘galactic barrier’ at the edge of the galaxy. In fact they traveled to it in the pilot episode, but never actually got thru it. Did turn Hotlips and Dave Bowman’s copilot into telekenetic freaks! I agree, that TNG episode with the Traveler didn’t have them leave the galaxy so much as leave their dimension altogether. In the one with Negeela, or whatever its name was, I think they did actually leave The Milky Way, but the episode sucked anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-enterprise-ever-leave-the-galaxy/487452/20 "2009-02-26T12:36:53Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > I’m pretty sure we can resolve stars in local group galaxies now, I’m betting with Federation level technology, they could make a decent star chart. You could at least have a chart of pulsars. In “Is There in Truth No Beauty?”, the aliens modifed _Enterprise_ to vastly increase its top speed; never mentioned again. ETA: That silly “energy barrier” thing – was that supposed to surround the entire galaxy, or just circle the rim? 'Cause if the latter, it’s not much of a barrier. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-enterprise-ever-leave-the-galaxy/487452.md?page=2)