The USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) is a starship in Star Trek, which chronicles the vessel's mission "to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before" under the command of Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner). A refit version of the ship also appears in the first three Star Trek films.

Origin and design

Art Director Matt Jefferies designed the original Enterprise. The first miniature built for the pilot episode "The Cage" was unlit and approximately 3 feet (91.4 cm) long. It was modified during the course of the series to match the changes eventually made to the larger miniature, and appears on-set in "Requiem for Methuselah". The second miniature built for the first pilot measures 11 feet 2 inches (3.4 m) long and was built by Richard Datin. Initially, the model was static and had no electronics. For the second pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before", various details were altered, and the window ports and running lights were internally illuminated, except on the port side of the model, which was left unfinished. When the series was picked up and went into production, the model was altered yet again. These alterations included the addition of translucent domes and blinking lights at the forward ends of the engine nacelles, smaller round domes at the stern end of the engine nacelles, a shorter bridge dome, and a smaller deflector/sensor dish. Save for re-used footage from the two pilot episodes, this was the appearance of the ship throughout the series. The larger model is in a display case on the lower level of the gift shop at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC. The smaller model was presented to Gene Roddenberry after the series' cancellation. It was later loaned to someone who did not return it and its present status is unknown.

Another model of the original Enterprise seen on screen was Greg Jein's, built for the Deep Space Nine episode "Trials and Tribble-ations." Jein's model was built to be exactly half the size of the larger of the two original models, and later appeared in the 1998 Star Trek wall calendar. In addition, a CGI model of the ship makes a brief cameo at the end of the final episode of Star Trek: Enterprise, "These Are the Voyages...", and another CG version was created for the remastered episodes of the original Star Trek series that began airing in syndication in September 2006 (the model was then revised, with more accurate detail added, in November 2006).

The Enterprise as it appears in the first three Star Trek films was designed by Mike Minor, Joe Jennings, Andrew Probert, Douglas Trumbull, and Harold Michaelson, all based on conceptual sketches done by Matt Jeffries for the never-filmed Star Trek: Phase II TV series. The 8-foot-long (152 cm) model was re-used as the USS Enterprise-A in the fourth, fifth, and sixth Star Trek movies.

Foundation Imaging built a CGI model of the ship for the "Director's Edition" release of Star Trek: The Motion Picture to add footage envisioned by director Robert Wise during the 1970s filming but never shot because of budget and time constraints. This CGI model appears at the end of the "wormhole" sequence, when the "Ilia Probe" stops outside the hull of the bridge before entering, and just prior to the scene when V'Ger creates a bridge between its command center and the Enterprise.

Designation

The designation "NCC-1701" stands for nothing in particular. The apocryphal tale that "NCC" stands for "Naval Construction Contract" is incorrect, with Gene Roddenberry indicating as much despite its inclusion in the Stephen Whitfield-Gene Roddenberry-authored book, The Making of Star Trek. In that book, Roddenberry indicated that the starting point was the fact that "NC" is one of the international aircraft registration codes assigned to aircraft registered in the United States; the second "C" was added for differentiation. The "1701" was a homage to the house across the street from where Mr. Roddenberry grew up.^[1]

Depiction

Built between 2243 and 2245, the USS Enterprise was commissioned in the year 2245,^[2] the USS Enterprise is the first United Federation of Planets starship to bear the name "Enterprise". During the show's run, the ship's dedication plaque lists it as "Starship Class"; Star Trek Expanded Universe literature often refers to the ship as Constitution class, and its Constitution-class status was confirmed in dialog in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes "The Naked Now" and "Relics".

Star Trek: The Animated Series and novels by Diane Carey state that Robert April was the Enterprises first commanding officer. Captain Christopher Pike (Jeffrey Hunter) commanded the Enterprise for a decade, and Pike is the commanding officer in the original Star Trek pilot, "The Cage". Throughout the Star Trek television series, Captain Kirk commands the ship on a five-year mission of exploration. The ship appears in every Star Trek episode. The USS Enterprise undergoes a major refit overseen by its new commanding officer, Willard Decker (Stephen Collins), prior to the events in The Motion Picture; Decker describes the refit vessel to Admiral Kirk, who assumes command of the ship to confront the V'Ger probe, as "an almost entirely new Enterprise". Star Trek novels depict another exploratory mission under Kirk's command between the events of the first and second films. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) takes command of the Enterprise, serving as a training ship, at the beginning of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan; Kirk then assumes command when the ship is called to actual duty to investigate problems with Project Genesis. The USS Reliant, hijacked by Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalbán), inflicts substantial damage to the Enterprise; Spock sacrifices his life in order to save the ship. Shortly after returning to spacedock at the beginning of Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, the Enterprise is marked for decommissioning. Kirk leads his officers in hijacking the ship in an attempt to restore Spock's life, and Kirk is forced to destroy the Enterprise to prevent its capture by Klingons. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home opens with Kirk and his officers agreeing to return to Earth to face judgment for their actions in the previous film. En route, they travel back in time to stop a probe threatening to destroy Earth. Upon the success of their mission and return to the 23rd century, the charges against the crew are dismissed. Kirk is "punished" with a demotion to captain and given command of the Enterprise's successor, the USS Enterprise, NCC-1701-A.

New 'Star Trek' film

The USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) being constructed on Earth

According to The Making of Star Trek by Gene Roddenberry and Stephen E. Whitfield, the components of the Enterprise were built at the San Francisco Navy Yards and the vessel itself was constructed in space. Roberto Orci acknowledged that this would cause debates among fans regarding canon. Explaining that the concept came from their own creative licence and the precedent set in Star Trek novels, he said that the idea that some things have to be constructed in space is normally associated with "flimsy" objects which have to be delicately assembled and would not normally be required to enter a gravity well. He said that this did not apply to the Enterprise because of the artificial gravity employed on the ship and its requirement for sustaining warp speed, and therefore the calibration of the ship's machinery would be best done in the exact gravity well which is to be simulated.

Large models

A number of large models of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) have been made including:

Large model from Star Trek: The Original Series. The Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC has an Enterprise model on display that was used in the original TV series (also known as TOS).

Las Vegas Hilton Hotel - USS Enterprise NCC-1701 Model. The Las Vegas Hilton Hotel features several 20-foot Star Trek spaceship models (Enterprise NCC-1701, NCC-1701-D, and Voyager) as part of its Star Trek: The Experience display

Vulcan Alberta - Starship Enterprise FX6-1995-A Though not an exact replica, the 31-foot long FX6-1995-A is modeled closely after the Enterprise of the Original Series. On the 10th of June, 1995, this model became the first project completed for the Vulcan, Alberta's "Science and Trek theme".

Cultural impact

• Construction on the first Space Shuttle began on June 4, 1974. Designated OV-101, it was originally planned to be named Constitution. However, a write-in campaign caused it to be renamed after the Enterprise. The Space Shuttle Enterprise was used as a test vehicle and was never refitted to become a space vehicle.

• According to The Making of Star Trek, by Stephen Whitfield and Gene Roddenberry, the bridge design of the NCC-1701 was once considered for use by the real-life United States Navy, because of the efficiency of its style and layout.

• The original series-era Enterprise appears on a commemorative stamp released by the United States Postal Service.

• The first commercial spaceship built by Virgin Galactic will be named the VSS Enterprise in honor of the NCC-1701.

References

External links

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