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USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)

Revision as of 07:20, 29 March 2007 by Lordvoid (talk | contribs) (→‎Picard's seven-year mission)
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The USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) was a Galaxy class starship commissioned in 2363, the fifth Federation starship to bear the name. It served as the flagship of Starfleet for the duration of its lifetime.

The Enterprise-D was destroyed in 2371. (Star Trek Generations)

History

Construction

File:Enterprise-d extreme closeup.jpg

Enterprise-D at Earth Station McKinley

The Enterprise was built at Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards orbiting Mars in the Sol system. (TNG: "Booby Trap", "Eye of the Beholder") Construction was supervised by Commander Orfil Quinteros. (TNG: "11001001") Dr. Leah Brahms was responsible for much of the Enterprise's warp propulsion system design. (TNG: "Booby Trap", "Galaxy's Child")

In an alternate timeline the Enterprise D was the first Galaxy class starship constructed. (TNG: "Yesterday's Enterprise")

The ship's nacelle tube was the site of a multiple murder-suicide while it was still under construction at Utopia Planitia. A member of the construction team, Walter Pierce, became jealous of a former lover's new relationship. He killed the two officers, Marla Finn and William Hodges, then disposed of their bodies in the plasma stream. Pierce committed suicide in the same manner, leaving a telepathic imprint in a bulkhead that was not discovered until 2370. (TNG: "Eye of the Beholder")

Final systems completion and shakedown was conducted at Earth Station McKinley. Captain Jean-Luc Picard took command of the ship on stardate 41153.7 at the order of Rear Admiral Norah Satie. (TNG: "All Good Things...")

Picard's seven-year mission

Kavis Alpha sector

In orbit of a red giant

The Enterprise-D made first official contact with a number of species. (See below)

The Enterprise pushed its engines to the limit during the Farpoint mission in 2364, while fleeing from the entity known as Q; it also conducted the first high-warp saucer separation at that time. (TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint") It would break warp 9.9 later that year, during warp experiments run by Kosinski.

It was the first Federation starship to visit a distant galaxy. (TNG: "Where No One Has Gone Before")

La Forge stated that the Enterprise had passed warp 10 during this incident, but it is likely that the ship's systems were unable to register the tremendous speeds in traditional fashion. Furthermore, the warp factor scale placing warp 10 as an infinite speed may not have been fully established at the time of the episode's production. A more logical measurement of their speed would be in the 9.999999+ range. (Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual)
File:Enterprise distantgalaxy.jpg

Arriving at a distant galaxy

Later in 2364, the Enterprise was hijacked from Starbase 74 by the Bynars. They intended to use the ship to repair the damaged computer on their homeworld. The Enterprise was returned to Captain Picard's custody following the incident, and the Bynars freely accepted the consequences of their actions. (TNG: "11001001")

During its first encounter with the Borg, sections 27, 28, and 29 on decks 4, 5 and 6 were removed for analysis by the Borg. Eighteen people were killed. (TNG: "Q Who")

During the Borg incursion of 2366 and 2367, the Enterprise suffered heavy damage. Deck 36, including main engineering, was decompressed after a cutting beam damaged the engineering hull, killing at least eleven, and possibly eight more. (TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds")

File:Earth station mckinley.jpg

Receiving repairs at Earth

The main deflector dish was transformed into a last-ditch energy weapon, which failed due to the assimilated knowledge of Captain Picard. In the attempt, the deflector and warp core were overloaded, while several decks were flooded with radiation.

Later, the saucer module sustained damage to its impulse drive and decks 23 through 25 were sliced open by the enemy during the final battle over Earth. (TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II") The extent of the damage required a full refit at Earth Station McKinley, which lasted five to six weeks. (TNG: "Family")

During that refit, the starship received a phaser upgrade as well as full damage repair and a new dilithium chamber hatch. The hatch malfunctioned later that year, causing extensive damage to the warp core. Although Romulan sabotage was initially suspected, it was later learned that undetectable flaws in the hatch were responsible. (TNG: "The Drumhead")

The Enterprise was the command ship in Captain Picard's armada which blockaded Romulan assistance to the House of Duras during the Klingon Civil War. It coordinated a tachyon detection grid which was used to prevent cloaked Romulan ships from crossing the border. (TNG: "Redemption II")

File:Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) adrift.jpg

The Enterprise adrift

The ship struck a quantum filament in early 2368, causing a loss of all power aboard ship and severe damage to most systems. Antimatter containment was nearly compromised; fortunately, repairs were made before the ship was destroyed. (TNG: "Disaster")

The Enterprise was repeatedly destroyed in 2368, when the ship was trapped in a temporal causality loop near the Typhon Expanse. Each cycle ended in a catastrophic collision with the USS Bozeman. Feelings of déjà vu allowed the Enterprise crew to gather clues which allowed them to send a message into the next loop and avoid the collision. The ship spent a total of seventeen days repeating the same interval of time. (TNG: "Cause and Effect")

Galaxy class docked at DS9

The Enterprise-D at Deep Space 9

The Enterprise was one of the first Starfleet vessels to dock at the newly commissioned Deep Space 9, where it offloaded most of the station's Starfleet contingent and its first complement of runabouts. (DS9: "Emissary")

The Enterprise underwent its first baryon sweep at the Remmler Array in 2369. A stronger field was needed due to the Enterprise's heavy use of warp drive. During the sweep, a mercenary group nearly stole dangerous trilithium resin from the warp core, but was thwarted by the Enterprise senior staff. (TNG: "Starship Mine")

One of the most important discoveries in the history of the Federation was made aboard the Enterprise-D; its crew pieced together Dr. Richard Galen's final research to decipher a message from the ancient humanoids, the first humanoid species in the Milky Way Galaxy. (TNG: "The Chase")

Late in 2369, the Enterprise was damaged while rescuing the crew of a Romulan warbird, whose warp core had been colonized by lifeforms which mistook it for a genuine quantum singularity, causing severe disruptions in space-time.

The Enterprise was nearly destroyed due to feedback from a power transfer beam, which was killing the lifeforms' young. Fortunately, several Enterprise crewmembers were returning to the ship at the time and were able to rescue the Enterprise and the Romulan crew. (TNG: "Timescape")

A new warp core was tested aboard the Enterprise in early 2370. The core was installed at Starbase 84; several points of the power transfer conduits were replaced as well.

The core and the conduits had been manufactured on Thanatos VII using interphase technology, attracting interphasic organisms which attached themselves to the crew and began to digest their cellular structures. An interphasic pulse was successful in destroying the creatures. (TNG: "Phantasms")

The new warp core was gone by the next episode, suggesting the upgrades were not completed due to the problems with the interphasic manufacturing technique. Curiously, the upgraded hatch appeared in one of the universes visited by Worf in "Parallels."

Also during 2370, Commander La Forge engaged in a friendly contest with Donald Kaplan, chief engineer of the USS Intrepid. They competed to have the best power conversion rates in the fleet, with the Enterprise frequently beating out the Intrepid. (TNG: "Force of Nature")

The Enterprise became one of the few Federation ships to use a cloaking device in 2370, and perhaps the first to successfully use a phasing cloak. It had been retrieved from the wreckage of the USS Pegasus and was installed aboard the Enterprise to allow it to pass through an asteroid after a Romulan vessel sealed the ship inside. (TNG: "The Pegasus")

USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) enters asteroid field

Investigating the asteroid field in 2370

The events of TNG: "The Pegasus" were revisited during ENT: "These Are the Voyages...," including several scenes set aboard the Enterprise-D. The 1701-D was also part of the montage during the final moments of the episode, along with the original USS Enterprise and the NX-01.

While investigating a rogue comet in 2370, the Enterprise stumbled upon an archive of the lost D'Arsay civilization. The archive trapped the ship and used matter and DNA aboard to create artifacts from the D'Arsay culture. The Enterprise was later returned to normal. (TNG: "Masks")

Lieutenant Worf supervised an upgrade of the Enterprise's weapons systems in late 2370. The tests were interrupted after the ship was ravaged by Barclay's Protomorphosis Syndrome. (TNG: "Genesis")

The Enterprise temporarily became sentient in 2370 when an emergent lifeform used the ship's systems to reproduce. (TNG: "Emergence")

When Miles O'Brien, one of the ship's former transporter chiefs, was captured by the Cardassians, the Enterprise was sent to patrol the Demilitarized Zone as a warning to the Cardassian government. (DS9: "Tribunal")

In early 2371, the Enterprise received a number of refits to its internal spaces. Color and lighting schemes were slightly altered, and the bridge inherited a number of new consoles on the port and starboard sides.

There were now four science stations, three along the starboard wall and one at the starboard side of the aft stations. Mission Ops was now the second station, followed by environmental control. Two engineering stations rounded out the aft area, while three communications stations were now present along the port wall.

As well, the main floor (where the Captain's, Executive Officer's, and guest's chairs are) was slightly raised, and a chair was placed at the tactical station for the chief of security to sit while manning his/her console.

File:Duras sisters b-o-p and Enteprise-D, Generations.jpg

Battling the Duras in 2371

The Enterprise was lost in 2371 after an attack by a renegade Klingon bird of prey (commanded by the Duras sisters) caused extensive damage, leading to a warp core breach. Although the saucer section was safely separated before the breach, the shockwave from the explosion forced it into the atmosphere of Veridian III.

Fortunately, Commander Deanna Troi was successful in maneuvering the saucer to a safe landing and losses were minimal. The ship, however, was not salvageable and the crew was rescued by the USS Farragut, the Oberth class and a Miranda class ship.

According to a scene cut from the theatrical version of Star Trek Generations, eighteen crew were lost in the saucer section crash.
File:Enterprise-saucer-crash.jpg

The saucer section of the Enterprise-D on Veridian III

Commander Riker was upset over the loss of the Enterprise, as he hoped he would one day command the ship. However, Picard expressed his doubt that the Enterprise-D would be the last vessel to carry the name. (Star Trek Generations)

In 2372, Captain Benjamin Sisko offered his condolences over the loss of the Enterprise to Lieutenant Commander Worf, saying the Enterprise was a good ship. (DS9: "The Way of the Warrior")

List of first contacts

In most cases, the date indicated is the first time open communication was initiated with at least one member of the species. Otherwise, it is the first known contact with the species.

The Enterprise also encountered the Paxans in 2367 during TNG: "Clues," but all recollection of that encounter was erased from memories and ship's logs. Furthermore, the Enterprise may not have been the first Starfleet ship to stumble upon the Paxans.

Technical data

Physical arrangement

File:Ent d at warp.jpg

The Enterprise-D at warp

With a total of 42 decks, the USS Enterprise-D was twice the length and had eight times the interior space of the Constitution class ships of over a century earlier; it carried a combined crew and passenger load of about 1014. (TNG: "Remember Me", "Rascals", "Genesis")

The bridge, captain's ready room, and conference lounge were on Deck 1, and were protected by redundant safety interlocks to prevent environmental systems failure. (TNG: "Brothers")

The main shuttlebay was on Deck 4, supported by several cargo bays on Deck 4 and Deck 18. (TNG: "Power Play", "Schisms") Two additional shuttlebays were found on Deck 13. (TNG: "The Next Phase")

File:Galaxy class - stardrive section.jpg

The secondary hull or stardrive section

Deck 8 of the ship was a non-finished multi-purpose deck. Additional work spaces were set there when needed. (TNG: "Liaisons") It also contained the officers' quarters and the battle bridge. (TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds")

Deck 12 contained sickbay (TNG: "Remember Me"), while main engineering was located on Deck 36. (TNG: "The Hunted") Engineering took up twelve decks of the secondary hull, with the antimatter storage pods housed on Deck 42. (TNG: "Liaisons")

The primary docking ports were located on either side of the torpedo launcher on Deck 25 (TNG: "11001001"); the nacelle control room was also on that deck. (TNG: "Eye of the Beholder") According to Lieutenant Commander Nella Daren, the most acoustically perfect spot on the ship was the fourth intersect of Jefferies tube 25. (TNG: "Lessons")

TNG: "Time Squared" and "The Hunted" both stated that shuttlebays two and three were on Deck 11. However, the shuttlebays actually spanned Decks 12 and 13 on the Enterprise miniature. The error was corrected in subsequent episodes. Cargo bay four also moved between the fifth and sixth seasons; in TNG: "Power Play," it was on Deck 18, while in TNG: "Schisms" it was now on Deck 4.
File:Galaxy class aft.jpg

The aft section

The Enterprise had a maximum sustainable speed of warp 9.6 for 12 hours. (TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint") In 2369, the ship generated about 12.75 billion gigawatts of power, simply while in orbit of a planet. (TNG: "True Q") The warp core could generate a tremendous amount of energy at once if needed; the only device on the ship capable of channeling such energy all at once would be the main deflector dish. (TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds")

The Enterprise-D carried twelve phaser arrays, three torpedo launchers, a complement of 250 photon torpedoes, and a high capacity shield grid (TNG: "Conundrum") which operated at a frequency of 257.4 (Star Trek Generations); there are some 4,000 power systems in all on board the ship. It also had twenty transporter rooms. (TNG: "11001001")

Although TNG: "Conundrum" establishes the Enterprise had ten phaser banks, a visual inspection of the filming model clearly shows twelve arrays. The Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual also supports the higher number. A visual effects blooper in TNG: "Darmok" showed phaser fire coming from the forward torpedo launcher.

Shipboard life

In 2367, an average day aboard ship recorded by Lieutenant Commander Data included four birthdays, two personnel transfers, two chess tournaments, a secondary school play, four promotions, and at least one birth. (TNG: "Data's Day")

The Enterprise normally ran on three duty shifts. (TNG: "Lower Decks") Increasing to four duty shifts would cause many personnel scheduling problems, as when Captain Jellico ordered a change during his tenure in 2369. (TNG: "Chain of Command, Part I")

Crewmembers of ensign rank were required to share crew quarters, but were allowed their own quarters upon promotion to lieutenant, junior grade. (TNG: "Lower Decks") Families often shared quarters. (TNG: "Lonely Among Us", "When The Bough Breaks", "Imaginary Friend", "A Fistful of Datas", "Journey's End")

Ten Forward, located at the extreme forward of Deck 10 in the saucer section, was the center of the ship's social activity; nearly everyone on board passed through the lounge. (TNG: "The Child", "The Offspring") Holodecks located on Deck 10 and Deck 12 also provided entertainment for the crew. (TNG: "The Big Goodbye", "Homeward")

Ship's directory

This contains USS Enterprise-D specific information; for more, see Galaxy class decks.

Crew

As of 2366, some thirteen species were represented among the ship's complement, at that time including Betazoid, Klingon, El-Aurian, Vulcan and Human. Over the course of its mission, crew species included Bolian, Benzite, Bajoran, Napean, and an android. (2366 crew makeup is from TNG: "Sins of the Father") As of 2369, there were 17 crew members from non-Federation worlds. (TNG: "The Chase") The ship also carried dolphins. (TNG: "The Perfect Mate")

On the holographic Enterprise-D commanded by Riker in TNG: "Future Imperfect," a Ferengi sat the helm. In a parallel universe in TNG: "Parallels," a Cardassian was a helm crewman.

Although Starfleet crewmembers staffed the vital positions onboard the Enterprise, civilian crewmembers were allowed to hold important jobs in the ship's science and medical departments, as well as support areas like Ten Forward and the ship's school or the Arboretum. (TNG: "Night Terrors", "Hero Worship", "Ethics") The Enterprise also carried children as part of its civilian complement, a concept which was not initially embraced by Captain Picard. (TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint", "The Bonding")

Crew evaluations were conducted every three months, and were usually supervised by Will Riker and Deanna Troi. (TNG: "Man of the People", "Lower Decks", "Eye of the Beholder")

Commanding officers

Although Captain Jean-Luc Picard commanded the Enterprise most of its life, his first officer, William T. Riker, was field promoted to captain in 2367, following Picard's capture by the Borg and assimilation as Locutus. (TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II") In early 2369, the Enterprise was briefly commanded by Captain Edward Jellico, as Captain Picard was assigned to a covert mission on the Cardassian planet of Celtris III. (TNG: "Chain of Command, Part I", "Chain of Command, Part II")

In Q's timeline created by Picard's failure to fight the Nausicaans in TNG: "Tapestry," the Enterprise was commanded by Thomas Halloway. Riker and then Data were placed in provisional command of the Enterprise during TNG: "Gambit, Part I and Part II" while Picard was working undercover with Arctus Baran's mercenaries, but neither was formally promoted to the rank of captain for the assignment.
For full listing of Enterprise crew, see: USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) personnel

Command crew under Picard's command

Alternate Enterprises

Numerous alternate timeline versions of the Enterprise have been observed.

"Time Squared"

One alternate version of the Enterprise was observed in 2365. A ship from several hours in the future was destroyed following an encounter with a spatial anomaly, which was later determined to be a sentient presence. There was a single survivor, Captain Picard, who was thrown back in time and picked up by the Enterprise. The other Picard was able to determine that the Enterprise needed to fly through the anomaly rather than attempt to escape it via the entrance, and the timeline was averted. (TNG: "Time Squared")

"Yesterday's Enterprise"

File:Ent duality.jpg

Two Enterprises meet

In another alternate timeline, following the disappearance of the USS Enterprise-C, and the destruction of the Klingon outpost at Narendra III, relations between the Federation and the Klingon Empire deteriorated into war.

The Enterprise-D in this alternate timeline was the first of the Galaxy class warships constructed by the Federation, capable of carrying over 6,000 troops. The vessel was entirely militarized, with no civilian complement or counselor. The bridge contained multiple redundant consoles, with a single command chair for the captain. Replicators throughout the ship were restricted to minimal power, and all available power was routed to the defensive systems.

In 2366, on combat date 43625.2, the Enterprise-D investigated a radiation anomaly near Starbase 105, where it encountered the Enterprise-C, transported through time by the anomaly, a temporal rift. As the Enterprise-D assisted in repairs, it was made clear that the Enterprise-C had to return through the rift, in order to prevent the chain of events that would lead to war. Enterprise-D crewmember Guinan was aware of the change to the timeline, and convinced Captain Picard to send the Enterprise-C back through the rift.

The Enterprise-D laid down cover fire in order for the Enterprise-C to return through the rift. Heavy casualties were suffered, and the vessel was on the verge of a warp core breach when the timeline was restored. However, the Enterprise-C crew retained memories of their encounter, and one Enterprise-D crewmember, Tasha Yar, went back in time with the Enterprise-C. (TNG: "Yesterday's Enterprise", "Redemption II")

"Remember Me"

In 2367, the thoughts of Dr. Beverly Crusher after she was trapped in a warp bubble created a completely separate universe, in which people and objects began disappearing. At various points, the crew of the Enterprise was reduced to a normal operating contingent of about 300, then 100, then simply 2. All crew eventually disappeared, as the bubble began to collapse and the universe destroyed. This Enterprise was gradually erased from existence as the bubble collapsed. (TNG: "Remember Me")

"Future Imperfect"

When Commander Riker was captured on Alpha Onias III, he experienced an apparent future 16 years later. In this future, Riker was the Captain of the Enterprise-D, was married to then late-Minuet and had a son, Jean-Luc Riker. Data served as first officer.

A Ferengi and several Klingons were on the ship and the bridge had a number more science stations. Jean-Luc Picard, then Admiral, served as an ambassador for the Romulan Empire, with which the Federation was about to sign a peace treaty, since Captain Riker rescued a severely damaged Romulan Warbird four years ago.

The interior of the ship was slightly altered, but no hint as to the ship's exterior was given. (TNG: "Future Imperfect")

"Parallels"

Several thousand Enterprises from many different quantum realities spilled into a single universe in early 2370. This was due to Lieutenant Worf's encounter with a quantum fissure, and the attempts to return him to his proper universe.

All sorts of scenarios for possible realities were presented. Different personnel were in different positions in many of the scenarios. In some, Captain Picard was lost and Riker was the Captain. Wesley Crusher was still (or again) part of the crew in some realities. On occasion, races that in our timeline are adversarial to the Federation, such as Cardassians and Ferengi, were part of the crew. In at least one reality, Alyssa Ogawa, who was a long-time nurse in our timeline, was the Chief Medical Officer.

The fissure was eventually sealed and most of the ships returned to their proper universes. One Enterprise, (from a universe where the Borg had emerged victorious from the Battle of Wolf 359), was lost as it attempted to prevent its return to its own reality. In another reality, Geordi LaForge was killed in an attack by the Cardassians.

When Worf returned to his normal universe, time was reversed and these events no longer occurred. (TNG: "Parallels")

"All Good Things..."

File:USS Enterprise-D 2395.jpg

The future Enterprise

Several alternate versions of the Enterprise-D were seen by Captain Picard after encountering the anti-time eruption in the Devron system caused by the Q entity. All were part of separate closed timelines.

In the anti-time past of 2364, the Enterprise was not sent to Farpoint Station, but instead was diverted to investigate the anomaly, which was feared to be a new Romulan presence. In this time period, Picard did not inform his crew of his time shifts, worrying that it may influence the future.

He initially ignored Starfleet's orders and proceeded to Farpoint, but then diverted the ship to the Devron system and began scanning the anomaly with an inverse tachyon beam. When it was discovered that the beam actually caused the anomaly and that the ship would need to create a static warp shell to contain the eruption, the crew was hesitant to accept the orders of their commander, who seemed to be making arbitrary decisions.

After a quick reassurance from Picard, the crew cooperated and the ship joined the two other Enterprises in order to seal the breach. It was the first to be destroyed after the stress from the static warp shell caused a warp core breach.

The second ship existed in the anti-time present 2370. Its history was identical to the real ship up until that point. It was also sent to the Devron system, and began to scan the anomaly with the inverse tachyon beam. Picard did tell this crew about his time shifts, and this ship was most drastically affected by the anomaly's effects.

This Enterprise joined the two other ships inside the anomaly, but was also destroyed trying to maintain a static warp shell.

In the anti-time future, the Enterprise was not destroyed at Veridian III, but remained in service until at least the early 25th century, where Admiral Riker had saved the vessel from being decommissioned by making it his personal flagship based out of Starbase 247. The Enterprise was refitted at this point to reflect a Dreadnaught Class ship.

In this alternate future, the Enterprise had undergone several significant modifications, including the addition of a third nacelle, a cloaking device, and a Heavy phaser cannon mounted underneath the saucer section. It single-handedly destroyed one Klingon battleship and forced another to retreat while rescuing the USS Pasteur crew, following their attempt to find the anomaly.

Riker ordered the Enterprise back to Federation space, but Picard later convinced him to return to the Devron system and the ship arrived in time to watch the initial formation of the anomaly. It was the last ship to be destroyed in the attempt to seal the anomaly. (TNG: "All Good Things...")

The exact date of the future events shown in "All Good Things..." is not known. It is possible they took place in 2395, but this is assuming that the Enterprise crew broke up immediately following the end of the series. It was only stated that it had been twenty-five years since the entire crew had been together on the Enterprise.

Generations

In yet another alternate timeline, the saucer section of the Enterprise-D was destroyed with the loss of all hands shortly after its crash-landing on the surface of Veridian III. In this version of events, Doctor Tolian Soran successfully launched his trilithium missile into the Veridian star; the resulting shockwave destroyed all planets in the system. The Enterprise-D's saucer section and all aboard were wiped out when the shockwave reached Veridian III.

Fortunately, before the wave reached the planet, both Soran and Captain Picard were swept into the Nexus. Acquiring the assistance of James T. Kirk, Picard was able to return to a point before Soran launched his weapon and prevent the destruction of the Veridian star, sparing the lives aboard the saucer section of the Enterprise-D at the same time. (Star Trek Generations)

Template:StarshipEnterprise Template:GalaxyClassStarships

Appendices

Appearances

With appearances in all 178 episodes of TNG, one episode of DS9, the movie Star Trek Generations, and one Star Trek: Enterprise episode, the Enterprise-D has been seen more than any other vessel in Star Trek.

Background

File:Probert Enterprise sketch.jpg

Andrew Probert's Enterprise concept, from before TNG was announced

The Enterprise model was designed by Andrew Probert. The basic layout of the ship was derived from a painting Probert had done following Star Trek: The Motion Picture of how he would redesign the Enterprise had he been allowed to break with the basic plan Matt Jefferies and Joe Jennings created for Star Trek: Phase II. When he was hired to work in the Star Trek: The Next Generation art department, he brought the painting with him and hung it in his office, then set to work on the design of the bridge. Out of pure luck, David Gerrold saw the painting and brought it to Gene Roddenberry's attention. Roddenberry immediately approved the general direction. Probert further refined the design into the familiar shape; however, he originally conceived the battle section as a smaller vessel shaped like a "D" which detached from an area on the saucer. Later, the producers informed him that they wanted the ship to split in two and have the engineering hull serve as the battle section. This presented an additional problem for Probert, as he needed to figure out some way to fulfill the producers' requests while keeping the original lines of the design. Eventually, he found a way to incorporate a separation using the approved design, and after several more minor changes, the design reached its final form. Roddenberry's only requests were to lengthen the ends of the warp nacelles and keep the bridge on the top of the saucer section rather than within the ship. Roddenberry felt that having the bridge on the exterior gave a sense of scale to the vessel.

Enterprised miniatures

The three miniatures used to represent the Enterprise-D: from front to back, the two-footer, the four-footer, and the six-footer

Two versions of the filming miniature were built by Industrial Light and Magic for the first season: a large six-foot model and a smaller less-detailed two-foot model, both constructed under the supervision of Ease Owyeung. Both were capable of saucer separation. For the third season, Greg Jein built a new four-foot miniature. It was not built to separate, but for the first time it accurately depicted the Ten Forward windows. It first appeared in TNG: "The Defector" and completely replaced the previous two models, although stock footage of the original models was still used. The six-foot model was briefly reused for the saucer separation in TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II." It was completely refurbished and overhauled for Star Trek Generations, where it represented the Enterprise alongside a computer generated version and a special twelve-foot wide saucer, created for the crash sequence. ILM crewmember Bill George relabeled the registry on the saucer to "NCC-1701-E" before the model was returned to the Paramount archives. The four-foot model was modified into the three-nacelled Enterprise from TNG: "All Good Things..." and later restored to become the USS Odyssey in DS9: "The Jem'Hadar" and the USS Venture in DS9: "The Way of the Warrior." It may have also been labeled as the USS Trinculo at some point during DS9's run.

The original six-foot filming model of the Enterprise-D (Lot #712) was sold at the 40 Years of Star Trek: The Collection auction on October 7, 2006 for $576,000 including the buyer's premium (the winning bid was $500,000), by far the highest price for any item in the auction.

The Star Trek Generations CGI model was utilized as various Galaxy class ships during Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager. A new computer-generated version of the Enterprise-D was created by Gabriel Koerner for the ship's appearance in ENT: "These Are the Voyages..."

During the early planning stages of TNG, it was intended for the series to be set in the late 25th century. The Enterprise-D would have been the seventh starship to bear the name, with a registry of NCC-1701-7. After the release of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home featuring the USS Enterprise-A, the designation was changed to NCC-1701-G before the producers finally moved the series to eighty years after the original series and settled on NCC-1701-D. There was also talk of eliminating the starship from the TNG series altogether and merely boosting the abilities of the transporter, but this idea was quickly dropped.

It is unknown why so much time passed between the loss of the Enterprise-C (in 2344) and the commissioning of the Enterprise-D 20 years later. Some fans speculate that since the Enterprise-C was destroyed with all hands lost - the only Enterprise to date to do so - Starfleet may have intentionally delayed a replacement vessel out of respect for the loss of the Enterprise-C's crew.

Probert Bridge Sketch

Conceptual sketch for the Enterprise bridge by Andrew Probert

Interior sets were supervised by Herman Zimmerman during the first season and Star Trek Generations. Andrew Probert also contributed design sketches, most importantly for the bridge. Richard James took over the role from the second season until the end of the series. Many sets were recycled from those created by Harold Michelson for Star Trek: The Motion Picture and the aborted Star Trek: Phase II. In turn, many of the Enterprise-D sets were transformed into those of the USS Voyager for Star Trek: Voyager.

Parts of the Enterprise-D sets, including the bridge tactical station, command chairs, and main engineering master systems display are preserved at the Hollywood Entertainment Museum. [1] Other smaller set pieces and walls have been kept in the Paramount archives and used in other Star Trek productions, even becoming parts of the recreated TNG sets in ENT: "These Are the Voyages..."

A design patent was issued in 1990 for the "ornamental design" of the Enterprise-D. Andrew Probert was recognized in that patent as the sole "inventor" of the design.

References

Apocrypha

Reference manuals

The Enterprise-D is the subject of the highly-detailed Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual by Rick Sternbach and Michael Okuda, and had its sets rendered in QuickTime VR for the interactive version of the book.

Sternbach later produced a set of blueprints depicting every single deck of the Enterprise.

Games

The Enterprise-D was seen in several officially-licensed games, including Star Trek: The Next Generation - A Final Unity, Star Trek: The Next Generation - Echoes from the Past, and Star Trek Generations. It also made a brief appearance at the end of the Star Trek: Armada strategy game. It was also seen in Star Trek: Legacy in a brief mission.

Attractions

The Enterprise-D met the science vessel Antares at the conclusion of Star Trek: Orion Rendezvous, a Star Trek-themed planetarium show produced in 1992 in conjunction with the Star Trek: Federation Science exhibit. That exhibit featured displays and interactive learning games modeled after the Enterprise-D bridge, engineering, sickbay, science lab, and transporter room.

Fans can visit the Enterprise-D via Star Trek: The Experience, which takes guests through the transporter room, corridors, bridge, and shuttle deck while attempting to escape into a temporal rift aboard a shuttle motion simulator ride. Similar recreations of certain sets were included in the European Star Trek World Tour. [2]

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