# ST VOY: How much closer to home did Voyager get, over the years? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 3, 2015, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-voy-how-much-closer-to-home-did-voyager-get-over-the-years/733360 "2015-10-03T13:49:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2015, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-voy-how-much-closer-to-home-did-voyager-get-over-the-years/733360/1 "2015-10-03T13:49:19Z")
Okay, as I’m sure you know, the premise of the TV show _Star Trek: Voyager_ was that the eponymous ship was hurled about 75,000 light years across the galaxy, a distance that would take about 75 years for a return trip. Standard “Gilligan’s Island” setup, right? Each week, they try and escape, and each time it doesn’t work. Rinse and repeat. Except, in VOY’s case, they actually were making _some_ progress. Aside from the 1000 light years-a-year progress from normal travel, occasionally, they’d get little bumps. Some new technology would make the engines run faster, for awhile, or a friendly alien would toss them through vast areas of space in an instant, etc. My question is, thus…how much farther _did_ they get, over the run of the series? Counting only onscreen “canon” information, and discounting—at least for the moment—all the times where they stopped, backtracked, or took extra-long detours. So, for starters, off the top of my head: In “The Gift,” a friendly alien (as mentioned above) sent them “ten years closer to home.” That, plus the assumed normal rate of travel, they were at least about… **58,000** light years from Earth by series’ end. But there was more than that. 'Anyone else want to weigh in? ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2015, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-voy-how-much-closer-to-home-did-voyager-get-over-the-years/733360/2 "2015-10-03T14:02:19Z")
I believe they were 30 thousand light years away by series end. ---
**Author:** ![Arkcon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Arkcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arkcon)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2015, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-voy-how-much-closer-to-home-did-voyager-get-over-the-years/733360/3 "2015-10-03T14:11:03Z")
This is one of the fan sites, suitably annotated with evidence from the series and even contemporary astronomy, to show the path: [Star Trek Dimension - Star Trek Cartography](http://www.stdimension.org/int/Cartography/Voyager.htm) ---
**Author:** ![magnusblitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@magnusblitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magnusblitz)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2015, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-voy-how-much-closer-to-home-did-voyager-get-over-the-years/733360/4 "2015-10-03T14:16:23Z")
According to [this](http://www.stdimension.org/int/Cartography/Voyager.htm) they were 30,000 LY away at the start of season 7. EDIT: Ninja’d! ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2015, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-voy-how-much-closer-to-home-did-voyager-get-over-the-years/733360/5 "2015-10-03T15:09:20Z")
Maybe I’m mis-remembering, but I thought that … they made it ALL the way home… by the end? ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2015, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-voy-how-much-closer-to-home-did-voyager-get-over-the-years/733360/6 "2015-10-03T16:26:02Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > Maybe I’m mis-remembering, but I thought that > > … they made it ALL the way home… > > by the end? They did. The OP is asking how far did they make it before their last jump home. ---
**Author:** ![Gretchion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8edcca/32.png) [@Gretchion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gretchion)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2015, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-voy-how-much-closer-to-home-did-voyager-get-over-the-years/733360/7 "2015-10-03T16:34:03Z")
I was let down by the finale (well that’s not entirely accurate, I was let down by the entire series, but I digress…). I remember hoping to see Voyager have to make it through Romulan territory to finally make it back to Federation space. They could have had an alien entity/technology/whatever bring Voyager to 1000 light years from home, and the final season could be about the last leg of the journey. ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2015, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-voy-how-much-closer-to-home-did-voyager-get-over-the-years/733360/8 "2015-10-03T16:47:53Z")
why couldn’t they stop on some “friendly” planet and buy cryogenic equipment? ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2015, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-voy-how-much-closer-to-home-did-voyager-get-over-the-years/733360/9 "2015-10-03T17:01:31Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > why couldn’t they stop on some “friendly” planet and buy cryogenic equipment? They spent all their money on photonic torpedoes. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2015, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-voy-how-much-closer-to-home-did-voyager-get-over-the-years/733360/10 "2015-10-03T20:25:19Z")
So while we’re here… what would the subspace communication lag have been? It really doesn’t seem like it could have been more than a few years for the first SOS to reach known space. (No, no, not Known Space. 🙂 ) ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2015, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-voy-how-much-closer-to-home-did-voyager-get-over-the-years/733360/11 "2015-10-03T21:44:22Z")
Kzinti are in the Star Trek animated series, you know. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2015, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-voy-how-much-closer-to-home-did-voyager-get-over-the-years/733360/12 "2015-10-03T23:10:34Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > So while we’re here… what would the subspace communication lag have been? It really doesn’t seem like it could have been more than a few years for the first SOS to reach known space. > > (No, no, not Known Space. 🙂 ) In the latter seasons they were able to create a mini-wormhole to get limited communications through (with Reg Broccoli on the other side!) So Starfleet was aware that they were out there, eventually. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2015, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-voy-how-much-closer-to-home-did-voyager-get-over-the-years/733360/13 "2015-10-04T00:49:04Z")
The final episode also detailed how much longer it took them to go the last 30,000 LY without the jump. You’d expect another five or six years, given that they started 70,000 LY away, but instead took 18 years (given that they met in 2404 for the 10th anniversary, and season 7 was set 2378.) I figured there’d be a map or guide, but, so far, all I can find is [this fan site](http://www.stdimension.org/int/Cartography/Voyager.htm) that was never updated past season 4. (Maybe they didn’t like Seven of Nine and quit the show?) > [@Robert163](#): > > why couldn’t they stop on some “friendly” planet and buy cryogenic equipment? They had the equipment (and used it once so the doctor could constantly monitor them while going through a radioactive nebula), but they needed to have a crew to avoid being lunch for hostile aliens. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2015, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-voy-how-much-closer-to-home-did-voyager-get-over-the-years/733360/14 "2015-10-04T15:41:48Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > In the latter seasons they were able to create a mini-wormhole to get limited communications through (with Reg Broccoli on the other side!) So Starfleet was aware that they were out there, eventually. Weren’t they using an Alien Relay system for that? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2015, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-voy-how-much-closer-to-home-did-voyager-get-over-the-years/733360/15 "2015-10-04T16:16:37Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > Weren’t they using an Alien Relay system for that? I believe they only used that once. The Hirogen did not approve. Here’s the Memory Alpha page for [Project Pathfinder](http://en.memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Pathfinder_Project). ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2015, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-voy-how-much-closer-to-home-did-voyager-get-over-the-years/733360/16 "2015-10-04T17:58:12Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > They spent all their money on photonic torpedoes. Nitpick - by Janeway’s time, it’s “photon”: > **[Photon torpedo](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Photon_torpedo)** > > Photon torpedo: isn't that the universal greeting when communications are down?""I think it's the universal greeting when you don't like someone.William T. Riker and Geordi La Forge Photon torpedoes were warp-capable tactical matter/antimatter... > **[Photonic torpedo](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Photonic_torpedo)** > > A photonic torpedo was a type of tactical photonic antimatter weapon designed for use aboard starships. Photonic torpedoes were equipped with a variable yield antimatter warhead. They could be launched while a ship was traveling at warp speed as well...