Everything about Ten Forward totally explained
The
USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) (or
Enterprise-D, to distinguish it from
prior starships with the same name) is a 24th century
starship in the
Star Trek fictional universe and the principal setting of the
television series. The
Enterprise-D is a
Galaxy-class ship and the fifth
Federation starship to carry the name.
The
Enterprise-D also appears in the
pilot episode of ("
Emissary"), For the third season, model-maker Greg Jein built a four-foot miniature, which had an added layer of surface plating detail.
ILM's
John Knoll also built a
CGI Electric Image model of the
Enterprise-D for the 1994 film
Star Trek Generations.
That model was transferred to
LightWave and used to create various
Galaxy-class starships in episodes of and in the episode "
Timeless."
Eden FX's
Gabriel Köerner built a new CGI LightWave model for the
Enterprise-D's appearance in
's series finale, "
These Are the Voyages...".
The proportions of the Galaxy-class
Enterprise-D were different from the original series
Enterprise while retaining its familiar dual warp nacelles and saucer section appearance. The warp
nacelles were made proportionally smaller than the saucer section based on the idea that warp engines would have become more efficient over time.
History
The
Enterprise-D is first seen in "
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 around
Mars.
The
Enterprise-D is the third
Galaxy-class starship, after the prototype
USS Galaxy (from which the Galaxy-class takes its name) and the
USS Yamato.
The dedication plaque gives its commissioning date as 40759.5, which was intended to represent
October 4, 2363.
Throughout the course of
Star Trek: The Next Generation, 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 "."
In 2371, as depicted in
Star Trek Generations, the Klingon
Duras sisters render the
Enterprise-D's
shields 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 impacts the saucer, disabling propulsion and other primary systems, sending it into
Veridian III's atmosphere.
Caught in the planet's gravity, the saucer section crash-lands on the surface, damaged beyond repair.
It was replaced by the
Enterprise-E, which was introduced in the film .
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 crash, produced for the .
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 featured in the
TNG series
finale "
All Good Things...," the
Enterprise-D is intact in 2395.
In this alternate future, the ship is commanded by
Admiral William Riker and 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.
[Further Information]
Get more info on 'Ten Forward'.
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