Kirk's five-year mission

In the mid-2260s Captain James T. Kirk took command of the USS Enterprise for a five-year mission of exploration, famously described as seeking out new life and new civilisations and boldly going where no man had gone before. It is the period covered by the original 1960s series and its animated continuation.

Over those years the Enterprise charted unknown regions, made first contact with numerous species and dealt with powerful or godlike beings, from Trelane and the Organians to the Metrons. The crew faced the Klingons and Romulans along tense borders, travelled through time, encountered the mirror universe and confronted ethical dilemmas that put the Prime Directive to the test. Kirk, Spock and Dr McCoy formed the trio at the heart of these stories, supported by Scott, Uhura, Sulu and, later, Chekov.

The mission ended around 2270, when the Enterprise returned to Earth for a major refit and Kirk was promoted to admiral. It became the defining voyage of the franchise, the template for every crew that followed and a lasting symbol of Starfleet's ideals of curiosity and peaceful exploration.