Category:USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)

The USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) was captained by Jean-Luc Picard and first appeared in Star Trek: The Next Generation which takes place in the 24th Century and was the flagship of Starfleet.

Overview
The USS Enterprise, Naval Construction Contract (NCC) 1701-D is the fifth Federation starship to bear the namesake of the ''Enterprise. As part of Starfleet tradition dating back nearly 100 years, as a tribute to the original Constitution-Class Enterprise,'' the Admiralty of Starfleet made a special dispensation that all future starships named the "Enterprise" would always bear the original ship's registry of NCC-1701 with the last letter would designate the model; in this case the letter D at the end of the construction code.

The Enterprise-D was a Galaxy-Class Starship and when it was built; were the largest, most powerful, and sophisticated vessel ever constructed by Starfleet. The Galaxy-Class also bore the dubious honor of being the longest design, development, and construction period of any starship class in Starfleet history. The Galaxy-Class was intended to serve as Deep Space Explorers to survey the very boundaries and frontiers of the Federation by bringing the cutting edge of Federation science, culture, and technology to them. In addition, the Galaxy-Class Starships were intended to operate independently and autonomously for far longer durations than any Starfleet starship for up to 10 years if necessary and possessed the facilities and resources to function as a limited Starbase.

Technical Specifications

 * Overall Length: 641 meters (2,103 feet)
 * Overall Beam: 467.1 meters (1,532.5 feet)
 * Overall Draft: 137.5 meters (451 feet)
 * Mass: 5,000,000 metric tons
 * Displacement:  4,500,000 metric tons
 * Decks: 42
 * Crew Complement:  1,012 persons; 200 visiting personnel
 * Cruising Speed:  Warp 6
 * Maximum Speed: Warp 9.2  (Warp 9.8 for 1 minute interval)

Design Features
Following the classic Starfleet design philosophy, the Enterprise-D consists of two separate hulls; the saucer section (also known as the primary hull) and the engineering section (also known as the secondary hull) that is connected by a "neck". At the time of its construction, the Galaxy-Class Starships were the largest Federation vessels in existence. Twice the length and eight times the interior space of a Constitution-Class ship, the Enterprise-D was quite literally a small city in space.

The saucer section consists of a largely ovoid shape and contains the bridge module as well as the main living quarters for the officers and crew. It also contained luxurious VIP quarters for ambassadors, flag officers, and diplomatic guests and passengers. All of the quarters were equipped with state-of-the-art replicators. Thanks to advances in transporter technology in the 24th Century; replicators utilized the ability to quantum scan matter and hold this scan in memory. Upon command, the replicator would download the quantum scan and then covert the energy into matter, literally materializing it out of "thin air". Through this process, the crew was able to create whatever kind of food or drink on demand (as long as it was in the computer memory); machine parts; uniforms; and various other objects as well. The replicators could also reverse the process and break down discarded trash and waste which it could "recycle" to reuse. The only real cost for replicators were energy. The computer security protocols also prevented the replicators from creating dangerous items or objects such as weapons or restricted items in its database.

Unlike other Starfleet vessels, the Enterprise-D was one of the few starships that permitted civilians to live aboard on a long term basis. As a result, it was a highly prestigious posting as Starfleet officers and crew could bring their families aboard as it also contained various civilian amenities such as amphitheaters; salons; a concert hall; a major botanical garden/arboretum; relaxation lounges; educational facilities ranging from classrooms and other dedicated school facilities ranging from infants, children, and teenagers; a nursery and daycare facilities; a restaurant/bar "Ten Forward"; and even a replicating center (a 24th century shopping center). The Enterprise-D also boasted gymnasiums for dozens of sports including aerobics studios, martial arts arenas, fencing, phaser targeting ranges, squash courts, and even a parrises squares area.

The Enterprise-D was one of the first Federation ships to incorporate holodeck technology and had 16 different holodecks of varying sizes and areas that could accommodate one to dozens of people. The holodecks used a sophisticated combination of computer interaction programs to create highly realistic environments through holographic, forcefield, and replicator technologies. These holodecks were used for training and exercise purposes as well as entertainment however were also used for a wide variety of functions including therapeutic purposes; three-dimensional forensic imaging; scene reenactments; as well as tactical brainstorming sessions. The holodecks could create anything within its environs, even computer replicas of individuals that a person could interact with in any conceivable manner or fashion including erotic fantasies. It became increasingly a potential problem dubbed "holo-addiction" where individuals preferred the imaginary and ability to manipulate "reality" in the holodeck over real life. The holodecks were available to both civilians and crew members and were extremely popular resulting in the necessity of having a reservation system put into place.

The saucer section was also the major location of the scientific research facilities aboard with over 100 labs in a wide array of scientific disciplines including exobiology, astrophysics, exo-archaeology, cultural anthropology, botany, planetary geosciences, cybernetics, quantum mechanics, and stellar cartography. The Enterprise-D also had several dedicated cetacean laboratories and aquatic living quarters for delphanic crew members.

The Enterprise-D boasted no less than three separate sickbay wards with the main one being located in the saucer section and another in the engineering section. Each sickbay had a surgical suite and was capable of full quarantine measures. The main sickbay also had a separate office for the Chief Medical Officer; a morgue; four dedicated medical laboratories; and several separate private recovery rooms and a physical rehabilitation center.

The Enterprise-D was equipped with 20 state-of-the-art transporter rooms which had evolved into the standard mode of travel in the 24th Century and were considerably safer and more robust than the previous models used just a century earlier. The transporters consisted of a raised platform with special pads that can scan individuals on a quantum level, convert them into energy, then beam that energy up to 30,000 kilometers away and reassemble them. Further as an improved safety measure; during the conversion process, the transporter would filter out bio-contaminants detected in the quantum scan such as microbes and viruses. As a security measure, when beaming someone aboard, the transporter would also detect hidden weapons such as knives or phases and could selectively remove them.

The transporters were the primary means for the crew to perform away missions on planet surfaces as the Enterprise-D was not designed for atmospheric landings. Instead, the ship would instead enter orbit and then beam down away teams. The transporters could not be used while moving at warp nor could it beam through energy shields. The transporters were divided roughly equally between the saucer and engineering hulls for convenience.

In addition, the Enterprise-D had a series of cargo transporters which were used primarily for transferring bulk cargo but could be configured for personnel transport as well. The Enterprise-D also incorporated 4 emergency transporters in the saucer hull and 2 more in the engineering hull. The emergency transporters were intended to rapidly beam people out and lacked various phase-transition coils necessary to receive an incoming matter stream like a fully equipped transporter room would. These emergency transporters only had a range of only 15,000 kilometers and were intended to serve as part of the Enterprise-D's emergency evacuation system. With all of the regular transporter rooms, cargo transporters, and emergency transporters in use; it was estimated that the crew could safely evacuate the entire population of the ship in roughly 45 minutes.

Like traditional Starfleet designs; the engineering hull was connected via a "neck" from the saucer section. The Enterprise-D's engineering hull was a flattened, more streamlined hull than the old style tubular cigar-shaped hull. The engineering hull contained the main anti-matter/matter power reactor which was the largest ever designed, spanning over twelve decks. In addition, the engineering hull housed the warp engine nacelles, life support, and the main deflector array located at the front end of the hull. When at warp, the deflector array would generate powerful subspace forcefield beams to jolt or knock potential obstacles such as micro-meteorites, space debris, asteroids, and other navigational hazards out of the path of the ship.

The Enterprise-D was equipped with a small fleet of shuttles as well as support and auxiliary crafts. This ranged from short range shuttlepods to more capable personnel shuttlecrafts intended for long range transport duties and were capable of planetary landings and low-level warp travel; to large cargo shuttlecrafts; to smaller extravehicular crafts such as "workbees" which were intended for exterior maintenance of the Enterprise-D. Scattered across the ship were no less than three huge shuttlebays; the main shuttlebay spanned two separate decks on the saucer section while the engineering hull had an additional two separate and smaller dedicated shuttlebay facilities.

The Enterprise-D was easily one of the most powerfully armed Starfleet ships when first deployed. It possessed no less than twelve Type X phaser arrays which were the most powerful weapons ever mounted on a Starfleet starship and only some planetary phaser emitters possessed higher destructive capacity. Two large arrays encircled the dorsal and ventral surfaces of the saucer section with an additional nine strip arrays scattered on the engineering section for adequate coverage both laterally, aft, forward, dorsal, and ventral sections. A twelfth phaser array was exposed and useable when the Enterprise-D was in its separated configuration (see Special Features Section).

The Galaxy-Class design also mounted three photon torpedo launchers, all on the engineering section. Two launchers faced forward while the third was located on the aft section and all were capable of rapid-firing ten photon torpedoes at one time.

Special Features
The Enterprise-D contained a very specially designed shuttlecraft known as the Captain's Yacht which was significantly larger than regular shuttlecrafts. It was typically plugged directly into a customized docking collar on the ventral or underside of the saucer section. The Yacht was reserved exclusively for the private usage of the Captain himself and was intended as a diplomatic shuttle, although it did contain limited combat capabilities mainly for self-defense. It contained private staterooms for passengers, a galley and was capable of both sublight or atmospheric travel, even planetary landings. The Enterprise-D's yacht was named '  The Calypso'  by its first Captain, Jean-Luc Picard. One of the most striking features of the Enterprise-D was the ability to detach the saucer and the engineering hulls into two separate space-going vehicles. Even though this was a concept used in numerous Starfleet vessels, dating back over a century to the Constitution-Class Starships; the Galaxy-Class design took it a step further. Previous designs all intended this to be an emergency, last-ditch one-shot measure where the saucer section would be used as a lifeboat. Instead the Galaxy-Class Starships made it a reuseable (if not routine capability) in which the two sections could separate and then at a later point, reattach themselves without outside assistance.

Due to the fact that the Galaxy-Class Starships were intended to carry a large civilian population and families, this concept was conceived that if the ship was ever in grave danger; it would be possible to evacuate the civilians to the saucer module and detach it, carrying them to safety while the engineering hull (containing the warp drive engines and the majority of the weapons) would be able to engage the enemy without fear of endangering the innocent populace. The saucer section was designed to be capable of making a survivable crash landings on a planetary surface; although it would not be capable of leaving the atmosphere again without external assistance. In this mode, the engineering hull was referred to as the "Stardrive Section". In essence, the Enterprise-D is actually TWO spaceships in one. This unique feature however was only rarely utilized as saucer separation was a complicated process that required some preparation to undergo and trying to detach the saucer module in mid-battle was extremely risky. The saucer hull was only lightly armed and lacked the main power reactor of the engineering hull for its shields making it incredibly vulnerable; not to mention it was restricted to impulse or sublight speeds as it lacked the warp nacelles making it a very sluggish and slow vessel in comparison to the stardrive section.

Commander William T. Riker however once turned this capability to his advantage by initiating saucer separation and using the saucer to distract the Borg while engaging them with the Stardrive Section in combat, pioneering the Multi-Vector Assault Concept which Starfleet would attempt to recreate in the experimental USS Prometheus which was launched in 2374 which could separate into three distinct units which could then engage hostile threats from multiple angles.

Over a century previously, it became standard procedure that all Starfleet ships were outfitted with a security prefix codes that enabled Starfleet officers to remotely transmit the code and assume control over the various systems of the starship including weapons and shields in the event of an emergency or mutiny. Other starships of this era also still came equipped with such a code and it is assumed that the USS Enterprise-D was no different.

Due to the highly classified technologies and information aboard the USS Enterprise-D, it was deemed necessary that the crew might be forced to deny hostile forces the ability to study it or access the restricted information in the starship's information banks. It was required that the Captain and at least another senior officer give verbal orders, palm-print identifications, and their special personal and unique codes to set the auto-destruct sequence and only they could give the abort code as well. It was possible to also abort the sequence if necessary up until the last second.