The 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. The Enterprise-D also appears in the pilot episode of Star
Trek: Deep Space Nine, the series finale of Star Trek: Enterprise, and the movie
Star Trek Generations. The Enterprise-D is a Galaxy-class ship
and the sixth Federation starship in the Star Trek universe to carry the name
Enterprise. Enterprise-D is the flagship of Starfleet. In most of its service in
the Star Trek universe, the commanding officer of Enterprise-D is Captain
Jean-Luc Picard. In Star Trek Generations, after combat
with the Duras sisters' ship, the ship's stardrive section was destroyed and the
saucer section crash landed on the surface of the planet Veridian III. The
ship was replaced by the Sovereign-class starship USS Enterprise.
Design Andrew Probert, who helped update the
original Enterprise for Star Trek: The Motion Picture, designed the
Enterprise-D. Originally assigned to design the bridge, Probert had a "what
if" sketch hanging on his wall that he had drawn after working on The Motion
Picture. Story editor David Gerrold saw the sketch and brought it to creator
Gene Roddenberry's attention, who approved the sketch as a starting point
for the Enterprise-D's design. Probert received a design patent on the
Enterprise-D design in 1990. An Industrial Light & Magic team
supervised by Ease Owyeung built two filming miniatures for "Encounter at
Farpoint", the Star Trek: The Next Generation pilot, and these models were
used throughout the first two seasons. For the third season, model-maker Greg
Jein built a four-foot miniature, which had an added layer of surface plating
detail. The six-foot model was used whenever a saucer separation sequence
needed to be filmed, and it was then updated by ILM for use in Star Trek
Generations. Jonathan Frakes said, "When we negotiate
our contracts, Paramount’s company line is that the ship is in fact the star of
the show!" In October 2006, the six-foot Enterprise shooting miniature was
auctioned in New York City at Christie's auction house, along with other models,
props, costumes, and set pieces from the Star Trek franchise. Its projected value
was $20,000 to $30,000; but the final sale price was $576,000. It was the most
expensive item in the auction. ILM's John Knoll also built a CGI
Electric Image model of the Enterprise-D for the film Star Trek Generations. That
model was transferred to LightWave and used to create various Galaxy-class
starships in episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and in the Star Trek: Voyager
episode "Timeless". Eden FX's Gabriel Köerner built a new
CGI LightWave model for the Enterprise-D's appearance in Star Trek:
Enterprise's series finale, "These Are the Voyages...".
The proportions of the Galaxy-class Enterprise-D were different from the
original Enterprise while retaining its familiar dual warp nacelles and saucer
section appearance. The nacelles were made proportionally smaller than the
saucer section, based on the idea that warp engines would have become more
efficient over time. Depiction
The Enterprise-D is first seen in the episode "Encounter at Farpoint" under
the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard. Several episodes, as well as the ship's
dedication plaque, establish that the Enterprise was built at the Utopia
Planitia Fleet Yards in orbit around Mars. The Enterprise-D is the third
Galaxy class starship, after the pathfinder ship USS Galaxy and the USS
Yamato. The dedication plaque gives its commissioning date as 40759.5, which was
intended to represent October 4, 2363, which would be the 406th anniversary of
the launch of Sputnik, humanity's first spacecraft.
During the Star Trek: The Next Generation series, the ship's crew makes
first contact with multiple species, including the Borg in "Q Who?" and the Q
Continuum in "Encounter at Farpoint". The Enterprise-D is instrumental in the
defeat of the Borg during their 2366 attempt to invade the Federation in "The
Best of Both Worlds, Part II". In 2371, as depicted in Star Trek
Generations, the Klingon Duras sisters obtain the phase modulation frequency of
the Enterprise-D's shields, rendering them useless. Although the Enterprise-D
destroys the sisters' ship, damage to the warp drive coolant system prompts an
emergency saucer separation. The warp core breaches moments after the saucer
begins to move away, destroying the ship's stardrive section. The resulting
shockwave disables the saucer's propulsion and other primary systems,
sending it into Veridian III's atmosphere. Caught in the planet's
gravity, the saucer section crashlands on the surface, damaged beyond repair.
It was replaced by the Enterprise-E, which was introduced in the film Star
Trek: First Contact. According to commentary on the Star Trek
Generations DVD, one of the real-world reasons for the Enterprise-D's
destruction stems from a concept drawing of a saucer section landing, produced
for the Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual. TNG writers Ronald D.
Moore, Jeri Taylor and Brannon Braga saw the drawing and wanted to use a saucer
crash as a sixth-season cliffhanger episode for the series, but were unable
to do so because of a limited budget and resistance from producer Michael Piller.
= Alternate future= In the alternate future depicted in the
TNG series finale "All Good Things...", the Enterprise-D is intact in 2395, The
personal flagship of Admiral William Riker, the ship has undergone major
refits, including the addition of a third warp nacelle, new weapons, and a
cloaking device. This future timeline arises from a temporal anomaly that
Picard, with Q's help, manages to eliminate.
Technical capabilities = Saucer separation=
The saucer of the Galaxy-class Enterprise can separate and re-dock, a
feature used sometimes to leave its civilian population behind when the
stardrive section goes into combat, as seen in The Next Generation episodes
"Encounter at Farpoint", and "The Arsenal of Freedom", for the additional
combat advantage of having two vessels instead of one, as seen in "The Best of
Both Worlds, Part II" or as a lifeboat as seen in the film Star Trek
Generations. The Enterprise was the only starship seen in any of the television
series to perform saucer separation until the USS Prometheus during the
fourth season of Star Trek: Voyager. = Command=
The main bridge of the Galaxy-class Enterprise is on deck 1. Three distinct
Galaxy-class bridge variants have been seen with a fourth from the alternate
future variant of the series finale: the Enterprise bridge in The Next
Generation, the Enterprise bridge in Star Trek Generations, and the USS
Odyssey bridge in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "The Jem'Hadar". The
Galaxy-class Enterprise also has a secondary battle bridge on deck eight of
the secondary hull, for use when the saucer separates. It is first seen in
the TNG episode "Encounter at Farpoint" and again in "The Arsenal of Freedom",
with an updated version appearing in "The Best of Both Worlds".
= Science and research= The Galaxy-class Enterprise supports an
array of scientific disciplines, with laboratories and departments devoted to
stellar cartography, exobiology, cetology, astrophysics, cybernetics,
archaeology, cultural anthropology, botany, hydroponics and planetary
geosciences. = Tactical=
The Galaxy-class Enterprise is armed with twelve Type X phaser arrays and
three photon torpedo launchers, each capable of firing ten torpedoes at a
time. One phaser array is mounted on the "cobra head" of the secondary hull while
a photon torpedo launcher is mounted on the ventral aft of the saucer; both are
inoperative while the saucer and stardrive sections are docked. The ship
also has a high-capacity shield grid and, according to dialogue in the Next
Generation episode "Conundrum", at least 250 photon torpedoes.
= Transportation= The Galaxy-class Enterprise has at least
eight transporter rooms and 20 transporter systems. The ship has one
large main shuttle bay in the saucer section, supported by two smaller bays
in the stardrive section. The ship carries a variety of shuttlecraft and a
captain's yacht. = Medical and life support systems=
The Galaxy-class Enterprise includes a sickbay and a number of labs and other
medical facilities. The shuttlebays, cargo bays, and other areas of the ship
can be converted into triage wards; such conversion of a cargo bay appears in the
TNG episode "Ethics". Other areas, such as Ten Forward, can serve as emergency
shelters. Such use of Ten Forward occurs in the Next Generation episode
"Disaster". = Crew support=
Various Next Generation episodes show that the Galaxy-class Enterprise has
amenities such as holodecks, an arboretum, a school, a gymnasium,
amphitheaters, and a bar called Ten Forward. According to "Encounter at
Farpoint", several Enterprise crewmembers' civilian family members are
aboard even though the Enterprise routinely faces situations that could
easily end with the complete destruction of the ship with all hands. Some
civilians work aboard the ship, such as the bartender Ben in "Lower Decks" and
botanist Keiko O'Brien in "Rascals" and other episodes.
References Drexler, Doug; & Sternbach, Rick; &
Zimmerman, Herman. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Technical Manual. Pocket Books.
ISBN 0-671-01563-X. Lebowitz, Adam; & Bonchune, Robert. Star
Trek Starship Spotter. Pocket Books. ISBN 0-7434-3725-X.
External links USS Enterprise at Memory Alpha