The USS Enterprise (NX-01) was the ship captained by Jonathan Archer. It appeared in the Star Trek: Enterprise, as a TV prequel series which is supposed to predate the original series.
Overview[]
Launched in 2151, the NX-01 heralded the first major breakthrough in warp drive by humanity since the launch of the Phoenix by Zefram Cochrane in 2063. The NX-01 was the fastest ship ever developed by humans and could attain a warp factor in excess of Warp 2 which allowed humanity to traverse beyond their solar system.
Named after the United States' NASA Space Shuttle Program, the NX-01 Enterprise was Earth's first interstellar explorer and made numerous important historical discoveries and first contacts with a number of species including the Andorians, the Klingons, the Orions, and the Thollians as well as fighting against the Romulans and the Xindi. It and its crew also played an important role in the formation of the Coalition of Planets, the immediate predecessor to the United Federation of Planets and would inspire it's immediate successor, the Constitution-Class NCC-1701, the USS Enterprise.
Technical Specifications[]
- OVERALL LENGTH: 225 meters (738.2 feet)
- OVERALL BEAM: 135.8 meters (445.5 feet)
- OVERALL DRAFT: 33.3 meters (109.3 feet)
- MASS: 675,000 metric tons
- DISPLACEMENT: 80,000 metric tons
- DECKS: 7
- CREW COMPLEMENT: 83 persons
- CRUISING SPEED: Warp 4.5
- MAXIMUM SPEED: Warp 5.2
NX-01 Cutaway
Design Features[]
The NX-01 consisted of the iconic saucer section; a roughly circular shaped structure containing seven separate decks labeled A through G. There were also two half-decks between D and E decks and between decks E and F which contained plasma conduits and were not generally accessible and not counted.
This saucer section contained the bridge module, crew living quarters, a gymnasium, sickbay, and a mess hall and attached food preparation galley. The mess hall was capable of seating up to 40 and doubled as a movie theater. There was also a private dining room reserved for the captain's personal use nearby. The Enterprise also had a hydroponics section which allowed it to grow fresh food and vegetables which allowed it to supplement their food supplies. The NX-01 also contained research laboratories for astronomical sciences and cultural anthropology.
The forward section of the saucer contained the main deflector dish and the very aft of the saucer was the engineering bay which contained the Warp 5 engine reactor which fed power through two main conduit pylons that was attached to the two warp nacelles. The NX-01 also contained a pair of ventral shuttle launchbays located on the underside of the saucer with sliding doors and had to be depressurized and repressurized after every launch. The NX-01 carried two shuttlepods that were deployed via a magnetic docking arm.
Special Features[]
The NX-01 also featured the new and revolutionary transporter system which allowed the NX-01 to dematerialize, transmit, and reassemble matter over extremely short ranges; approximately 10,000 kilometers. The transporter were highly experimental and had no protection against foreign matter being caught in the transporter beam. For example, it was discovered that mere wind could blow debris during a transport that would become literally imbedded within a transported subject. Although rated to transport organic matter even living organisms such as the crew, the transporters were typically utilized for cargo only except in emergencies. Shields and a wide variety of other phenomena also interrupted or disrupted transporter use. That and due to its experimental nature resulted in many crew members being extremely leery of utilizing the transporters.
History[]
The First Enterprise
Following the successful warp test flight of the Phoenix by Zefram Cochrane in 2063, he dedicated himself towards further refining and improving upon the warp drive engine. Dr. Henry Archer (the father of Captain Johnathan Archer) spent the next three decades developing the Warp Five Engine and was the primary architect and designer behind the NX-01. Archer unfortunately never lived to see his designs become reality, falling ill and dying two years before his Warp Five Engine was constructed.
See Also[]
Production Notes[]
Due to the faltering ratings of Star Trek: Voyager, a new series Enterprise was created in hopes of revitalizing the franchise and it was decided for this series to focus on an era untouched before, of the generation of explorers and heroes before Kirk and Spock. The NX-01 was created to be the focal point of the series and was also the first to use no physical models for the exterior of the primary starship, relying entirely on CGI.
Towards the Fifth Season!
The producers deliberately had the designers create several mockups of the ship and was intended to be "unfinished". It was planned that over the course of the seasons that the NX-01 would "evolve" with several refits and redesigns. In fact, had the series continued for the fifth season; the ship would have undergone a radical refit that would have led to the addition of the traditional secondary or engineering hull. However the cancellation of the series resulted in the NX-01 never actually finishing its planned evolution.
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