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Star Trek: The 15 Most Powerful Versions Of The Enterprise, Ranked

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Star Trek is one of the most celebrated franchises in the entire world, and why shouldn’t it be? Since its inception over 50 years ago, this franchise has helped recruit (pardon the pun) entire generations of fans. And we’ve had several different shows to help us explore the frontiers of this awesome universe. While there have been some notable exceptions, such as Deep Space Nine and Voyager, the heart of Star Trek has always been the Starship Enterprise . Fans quickly understood that the ship was as much of a character as Kirk or Picard was, and everyone became defensively protective over “their” Enterprise .

Of course, this leads to the inevitable fan debates of which version was the best. While all the fans love Star Trek , what they arguably love even more is constantly comparing show and characters to each other. Is Kirk better than Picard? Is Spock better than Data? These debates have raged for years, and they show no sign of letting up anytime soon. Those arguments are long and bitter because they are subjective. How do you determine if one character is better than another? That’s why we like to stick to arguments that you can easily prove. For instance, which Starship Enterprise is the strongest of them all? There have been quite a few ships to bear this name over the years, and not all of them are equally powerful. How can you figure out which ship is strongest without setting off an angry internet debate? It’s simple: replicate yourself some Earl Grey Tea and keep scrolling to read   which version of the Enterprise is the best of the best.

15 THE VERY FIRST

Here at the top of our list is the very first Starship Enterprise . While it’s true that Earth Naval vessels had previously had the title, this was the first starship with the name. Furthermore, it was the first Earth vessel that specifically sought out new life, under the command of Captain Archer.

This ship was immensely powerful for its day and time, boasting phasers, photon torpedoes, and even a newfangled transporter device. However, this ship was built a whopping one hundred years before the adventures of Captain Kirk, which is why everything else on this list is a little bit higher.

14 ENTERPRISE MIRROR UNIVERSE

As time went on, the Enterprise creators felt more comfortable creating connections to The Original Series. Eventually, we got two episodes of Enterprise set in the infamous “mirror universe” in which all our familiar and friendly characters are maniacal and manipulative. This meant that, technically, we got a new Enterprise .

We don’t get to see a whole lot of this Enterprise in battle. However, the opening credits alone show us that in this warlike reality, weapons systems are a higher priority. You never know when a single ship might need to bombard a planet! So, for having weapons built with no scruples whatsoever, this mirror ship edges out the original Enterprise .

13 DISCOVERY'S ENTERPRISE

Part of what makes it difficult to evaluate some of these ships is that we haven’t seen much of them yet. For instance, this next ship is the familiar Starship Enterprise from Kirk’s day, but with a twist: this is the version of the ship we see on Star Trek: Discovery .

However, the ship only pops up in the last minutes of the last episode of Discovery ’s first season. Aside from cooing over the sexy modern design of the ship, we haven’t seen yet what this baby can do. That’s why this ship is at the bottom of the list in terms of Kirk-era ships.

12 THE CLASSIC

Your first Starship Enterprise is a lot like your first boyfriend or girlfriend: there will never be an experience like it ever again and for most Trek fans, that first experience occurred during the Original Series with Kirk’s familiar Starship Enterprise .

Over three seasons, we got to see what this ship could do. It was capable of beating Romulans in a pitched battle, and on any given day, it could travel backwards in time. Basically, any ship with Scotty could do just about anything, making this one of the most powerful ships for its time period, and the Enterprise , like Scotty himself, would only get better with age!

11 ENTERPRISE MIRROR UNIVERSE, PART II

Like the Enterprise of Captain Archer’s era, there is also a Mirror Universe version of Captain Kirk’s Enterprise  and for many of the same reasons, we are forced to rate this new Enterprise as just a little bit higher than its primary universe counterpart.

We don’t see this “evil” Enterprise in a lot of combat. However, we do see them threatening to destroy an entire planet’s population as a form of punishment. In this way, this Enterprise is as deadly as the Death Star from Star Wars , and it gets the nod for being more powerful than the main universe ship that we know and love.

10 THE MOTION PICTURE

Many casual fans think that the Enterprise in the first Trek movies was the same as the one in the show. However, this isn’t entirely true. While this is still the trusty NCC-1701, the ship receives an extensive refit in-between the end of Kirk’s five-year mission and the beginning of Star Trek: The Motion Picture .

This refit was far from being only cosmetic. It got upgraded phaser banks, a better torpedo launcher, and an entirely new engine. It was these refits that helped the ship survive its encounter with V’ger, but unfortunately, Kirk would eventually have to self-destruct this ship to save it from Klingon capture.

9 THE REFITTED ENTERPRISE

Shortly after the destruction of the refitted Enterprise (and after Kirk and his crew helped save planet Earth), Starfleet presented a new Enterprise with the NCC-1701 A. Visually, this ship was basically the same as the previous one: the creative teams of these movies were still using the old models.

However, we’re giving the 1701-A an edge over the original because it would have benefited from having the most recent weapons and other tactical advantages. It also had a brand new style of warp core (the same style later used on the Enterprise-D ), which may give the ship another advantage in combat and pursuit.

8 THE ENTERPRISE-B

In man ways, the Enterprise-B is the ship we know the least. It only appeared at the beginning of Star Trek: Generations . However, during a crisis -- and with the help of Captain Kirk -- this Excelsior-class ship was able to demonstrate why it was more powerful than previous vessels to bear that name.

It was a running joke in the movie that this ship was missing several key components (all arriving “on Tuesday”), and that the ship setting out was basically a PR stunt. However, even missing these components, the Enterprise-B survived the reality-warping The Nexus and managed to save 47 people, including fan-favorite character, Guinan.

7 THE ENTERPRISE-C

The Enterprise-C had a unique design. It was an Ambassador-class ship, and we would rarely see this ship class again (at least, outside of Peter David’s amazing New Frontier novels). But thanks to Star Trek: The Next Generation , we know how important, and powerful, this ship really was.

In “Yesterday’s Enterprise,” we see this ship come through a time portal into the future. This ended up altering reality into an ongoing war between Starfleet and the Klingons. The ship is sent back through the portal into what was allegedly its doom with four Romulan warbirds attacking at once. Nonetheless, the ship seemingly survived the barrage because the Romulans took prisoners (including a reality-displaced Tasha Yar) back to their homeworld. Bottom line? It’s one tough ship.

6 THE KELVINVERSE

Next up is the Enterprise from the rebooted Star Trek movies. This ship is from a different universe (the Kelvinverse), but fans might be surprised to see it this high up on the list. After all, isn’t this basically the same ship from The Original Series?

In actuality, this is only the same ship when it comes to the general design. In terms of sheer size, this vessel is larger than any of the previous ones on this list, and it even rivals Captain Picard’s Enterprise-D . Aside from size, it seems to have power and endurance, as it survives attacking Nero’s stolen ship, which canonical comics tell us was outfitted with Borg weaponry and other scary weapons from nearly a hundred years in the future.

5 STAR TREK: BEYOND

As we said before, some of the ships on this list are ones we haven’t really seen in action. That means we had to have Mr. Data boot up the Sherlock Holmes program and help us brush up on our deductive skills. That’s what we did with this next ship, the Kelvinverse 1701-A.

We only really see this ship being built in the last few minutes of Star Trek: Beyond . That means we don’t know what all it can do in terms of strength and speed. However, it’s an updated and upgraded version of a ship that was already powerful, so we’re confident about its place on the list.

4 THE ENTERPRISE-D

Next is one of the most iconic ships on this list -- the Enterprise-D . Under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, we have seen this ship tested in a variety of ways and by a number of deadly foes. That’s why we feel confident about placing it so highly on the list.

This is basically the only ship that survived attacking the Borg when they first assaulted Earth. It has also survived encounters with giant crystals, hostile armies, and a malevolent, god-like being. It boasts powerful shields, strong engines, and top-of-the-line phasers and photon torpedoes, and as a tactical option, the saucer section can be separated, forcing enemies to suddenly fight a two-front war.

3 THE ENTERPRISE-E

As cool as the Enterprise-D was, it couldn’t last forever and after its destruction, it was replaced with a new ship in the Sovereign-class Enterprise-E . We see this ship for several movies, and that lets it firmly establish itself as the strongest Enterprise in this particular timeline and reality.

This ship personally led the charge in destroying a Borg cube when it attacked the Earth. Later, it was able to take out multiple enemy ships at once in The Briar Patch area of space. Finally, it is used to disable the giant Reman ship named the Scimitar in the most metal way: by ramming it! Ultimately, it’s helpful to have such a tough ship helmed by someone as tough as Captain Picard.

2 THE MODIFIED ENTERPRISE-D

Star Trek basically wrote the book on things like alternate timelines and altered realities. So, it’s not much of a surprise that one of the strongest ships on this list is from a future that will never happen. What is it? It’s the modified Enterprise-D that we see in the future timeline of “All Good Things.”

We know this ship has powerful engines -- after all, it’s got a third nacelle. We also know it’s strong, too as it’s able to take out a powerful Klingon vessel with a single shot. So, even though we don’t see this ship on-screen that much, we’re confident that it’s almost as tough as they come.

1 THE 1701-J

The show Enterprise was deliberately set in the past as a kind of prequel to Kirk’s adventures. Nonetheless, Captain Archer and crew often got involved in weird time adventures with foes from the future, and this meant getting a glimpse of the toughest Enterprise of all in the 1701-J.

Archer is actually taken onboard this ship by a Temporal Agent so he can get a glimpse of how the future could potentially change. There could be peace with the Xindi, or possibly endless war. As for the ship itself, it’s a Universe-class vessel that is from the 26th century -- its tech should blow everyone else out of the water!

• The Inventory

All 11 Versions of the U.S.S. Enterprise , Ranked

The Enterprise isn’t just quintessential to the long history of Star Trek , it’s also one of the most iconic starships of all time. It was the star of the classic series, but later and earlier versions of it also sat at the heart of The Next Generation and Enterprise , and beyond that in film. Now that we know the ship is coming to Discovery ’s second season, it’s time to look back and rank the best of them.

It’s too early to judge Discovery ’s take on the ship—it was only glimpsed in dark lighting at the very end of the first season’s finale —but we can still look to the many models of the U.S.S. Enterprise and judge them all.

Related Content

11) enterprise -j.

This far-flung Enterprise of a future 26th century where the evil Sphere-Builders invade the Federation was barely seen during Star Trek: Enterprise ’s Temporal Cold War storyline, and for good reason: It’s an ugly, ugly ship. Our best look at it actually came in a render for an official calendar, which really shows off how spindly and flat-looking the J is. It’s like someone had a perfectly good render of a future-y take on the Enterprise and just squished it down a bit too much. There’s a difference between sleek and “looking like a space pancake with nacelles”—nacelles are the structures that house the warp engines on a ship, by the way, non- Trek fans—and the J is definitely the latter.

10) Enterprise (Kelvin Timeline)

The Trek reboot’s take on the Enterprise is, similar to the rest of the movie, an Apple-ified take on ‘60s retro-futurism. It’s blindingly shiny and has curves like a classic roadster, but as an Enterprise , it’s just a little too curvy for its own good. This is especially let down by the struts attached to the nacelles, which position the two engines far too close together, making the whole ship look off and any angle other than from the side.

9) Enterprise -B

The design, seen in the Star Trek: Generations movie, was ostensibly right in the middle of the evolution between the Enterprise of the original series and the Enterprise-D of TNG . It’s also kind of a mess—the tiny nacelle struts, the weird body around the deflector dish, and unlike the J it just looks too chunky. But the B’s biggest problem is that it’s a rehash of a design we’d already seen at that point: The U.S.S. Excelsior captained by Sulu in The Search for Spock and onwards to The Undiscovered Country . Sure, the Excelsior-class was meant to be one of Starfleet’s finest models at the time, but the Enterprise is an iconic ship and deserves to at least be a little unique.

8) Enterprise -A (Kelvin Timeline)

We don’t get to see much of it in Star Trek Beyond , but the replacement for the Kelvin universe’s Enterprise is a marked improvement on the first, if only because it corrects the mistakes of the first design by having wider-positioned, straighter nacelles (which themselves are a little more like the classic Enterprise ’s). It adds a lot of thickness in the back of the ship to do so, though, but it’s a welcome change... if only we’d actually, you know, get to see it in action in a movie anytime soon.

7) Enterprise NX-01

Okay, so it’s not a traditional version of the Enterprise . But the NX, used by the crew featured in Enterprise the TV series, at least manages to feel familiar to the silhouette of the ship we all know and love, and like one of the earliest prototypes of it, which it literally is meant to be. Not having the bottom section below the saucer gives it a svelte profile many other Enterprise iterations have tried their hand at, but it serves to give the NX it’s own look of its own while still crucially maintaining the elements you know are meant to be picked up by the time of the original Star Trek .

6) Enterprise -D (Alternate Future)

We barely got to see this 30-years-in-an-alternate future version of the Enterprise -D as The Next Generation series finale, “All Good Things.” And yes, while it was cool to see a cloaking-equipped, beefier warship version of TNG ’s iconic flagship... we have to talk about that third nacelle. It’s just too much . The D is not the prettiest looking ship in the Alpha Quadrant at the best of times (more on that in a bit), but giving it more proverbial junk in the space-trunk both ruins the Enterprise ’s shape and just makes it look silly.

5) Enterprise -D

The Next Generation ’s normal Enterprise -D, used for the remaining 99.9999 percent of the series, is a weird-looking starship. In some ways, that’s understandable. It’s noticeably bulky—unlike its predecessors, it’s a ship designed to hold both its crew and their extended families, so it needs a good deal bigger than the classic Enterprise . Plus, it’s got all sorts of cool advanced tech, like swanky holodecks and the very silly but also totally rad saucer separation/battle bridge set-up. But from a looks standpoint, it’s hardly the most graceful-looking thing around. Borrowing the angular struts of the Enterprise -B is a nice carryover, but positioning them so low (and giving the Galaxy-Class   such a ginormous saucer too) makes the whole thing look so gangly and awkward. A less than stellar ship for a totally stellar show.

4) Enterprise -C

The Enterprise of “Yesterday’s Enterprise” is only in one episode of TNG , but it’s an important part of the lineage of Star Trek ’s most iconic vessel. In the Trek timeline, it was destroyed defending a Klingon outpost at Narendra-III before the Enterprise-D was built, but thanks to a time-space rift it popped up briefly and encountered a version of its successor thanks to some time-altering shenanigans. The crew of the C must have been pleased to realize their ship looked better because it actually looks a little more like a mash-up between the D and the ships that came before it, canceling out some of the clunkiness of TNG ’s design while making a ship that feels like a natural evolution on what came before it. It’s almost a shame this wasn’t the Enterprise of the show and the D was the one-off design.

3) Enterprise -E

If the Kelvin Enterprise was a Apple-esque take on the original series’ Enterprise , the E—exclusively seen in the Next Generation movies, most of which aren’t great—is a hot rod take in the classic Star Trek aesthetic. The Sovereign-Class slims out the Enterprise ’s form by removing the “neck” piece connecting the deflector dish section to the saucer (itself slimmer, instead of the hilariously wide one on the Enterprise -D) and extending the length of the nacelles, which manages to keep everything still vaguely within the Enterprise shape we all know and love while delivering a sleek sports car feel. More than any other iteration of the Enterprise , this one feels like the slickest, most modern take on the original’s design without actually breaking too much about it to push it into unfamiliarity.

2) Enterprise -A

The Enterprise ’s first refit—which debuted in The Search for Spock movie, even if technically, it borrowed the design of the upgraded original Enterprise that appeared in The Motion Picture, Wrath of Khan , and Spock —may not have hung around for that long, and even when it did, it was the butt of a few jokes for most of its main appearance in The Final Frontier for the fact that most of its systems were malfunctioning half the time (it was rushed out of drydock). But even then, it’s still a good-looking ship, keeping everything that made its predecessor great (or rather, the predecessor before its tune-up into what would become the A’s design too). Same great ship, just a little different.

1) Enterprise

The original series’ Enterprise is iconic for a reason. It’s a beautiful design, simple and clean—and sharply angled in all the right places—compared to the busy predecessors and successors that would come in Trek series after the original. It set the legacy of everything that would come after it, not just in terms of future Enterprise refits, but for what a good Federation vessel should evoke to feel like part of the Star Trek universe. Forget the word salad mayhem of the refits that came after it—try as you can to evolve and improve on it, you can’t beat a design that cuts such an iconic appearance the first time round.

Every Version Of The USS Enterprise Ranked Worst To Best

The name "USS Enterprise" has a long and storied history. Although two Enterprises briefly served the Colonial Forces and Continental Navy , the first true United States Navy vessel to bear the title came into service in 1799, followed by a schooner in 1831, a screw sloop-of-war in 1874, the 1938 Yorktown-class aircraft carrier that fought with distinction in World War II, and the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in 1961. But barely three years after that last ship was commissioned, Gene Roddenberry gave the name to a fictional spacecraft: the Federation starship USS Enterprise NCC-1701.

Prior to the original Enterprise boldly going to NBC in September 1966, you'd be hard-pressed to find a spaceship in film or on television that didn't look like a rocket, a flying saucer, or something cobbled together out of commercial model kits. Two years before "2001: A Space Odyssey" debuted, the starship Enterprise broke the mold, and science fiction hasn't been the same since.

The Star Trek spinoffs and reboots that arrived in the intervening decades have introduced many other starships named Enterprise, but how do they all stack up? Starships are more than a pretty face, so ranking them must take into account their demonstrated on-screen performance and special features in addition to their visual appeal. With that criteria in mind, here are all the main starships named Enterprise, ranked.

11. Enterprise J: Universe-class Pizza Cutter

Although this list won't include every Enterprise glimpsed in one-off alternate timelines, one deserves a mention because the episode in which it appears suggests that it's from a future that a hostile force wishes to prevent from happening, so we might assume that it's the timeline that's supposed to occur. That ship would be the 26th century's NCC-1701-J, which features briefly in the "Star Trek: Enterprise" episode "Azati Prime." That's the one where Captain Archer is shown a history-defining battle in order to convince him to change his course of action.

We see almost nothing of this ship — just a corridor and a window looking out on a swath of her underbelly. As the most briefly seen of all the Enterprises, we have effectively zero information about her capabilities, other than the fact that she fires beams that we presume are phasers. Our only on-screen clue to her overall configuration is a diagram that appears on a screen; from that, one can surmise that this supposed Universe-class starship is awkward and ugly, looking like it's been flattened by a steamroller a la Judge Doom in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" For all these reasons, she can only land in last place.

10. Enterprise 1701-B: The Hybrid

Throughout the first four seasons of "The Next Generation," a display in the Enterprise-D's observation lounge featured six vessels, each one representing a different Enterprise. Amongst these were an Excelsior-type ship that was presumably the 1701-B. However, it wasn't until 1994 and the film "Star Trek: Generations" that the B would actually appear on screen.

The 1701-B's single outing is brief and figuring out her capabilities is mere guesswork, as her cruise, already nothing more than a publicity stunt, is interrupted by an actual emergency for which the not-quite-fully outfitted vessel is ill-prepared.

What we can judge is the ship's appearance. We see next to nothing of the B's interiors, and the exterior is simply the USS Excelsior model with a few fresh modifications. In an attempt to make the Enterprise-B something new, the existing miniature had extra bits glommed on, most notably a pair of oversized impulse engine blisters that bracket the already large impulse deck, both foolishly aimed at the warp nacelles. Worse, to add something to the ship that could be visibly damaged without harming the model , a flared beltline was added to the B's hull, which utterly destroys the lines of the ship.

9. Enterprise 1701-C: The Compromised Class

The aforementioned display on the Enterprise-D suggested that the 1701-C would look like something between the Excelsior-class ship and the Galaxy-class Enterprise. In fact, as "The Next Generation" season 1 consulting senior illustrator Andrew Probert told Star Trek Futures , if he'd had his way, we would have seen a ship of the C's class (which he dubbed "Ambassador-class") appear as the USS Fearless in the episode "Where No One Has Gone Before." Probert was overruled, however, and stock footage of the Excelsior model was used instead.

When the 1701-C finally appeared in the third season episode "Yesterday's Enterprise," she wasn't quite the ship that Probert had imagined. In a rush to get a miniature built quickly, the ship's design was greatly simplified , and the engineering hull's compound curves eliminated for expediency. The result looks less like a progression from the B to the D, and more like it belongs between the A and the B.

Given how utterly beat up she is upon popping out of the space anomaly of the week, and since she's destined to be destroyed in order to set history straight, it's difficult to gauge the ship's capabilities. Again, that design is really all we have to go on.

8. Enterprise 1701-A: The Changeling

After the scuttling of the refit Enterprise in "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock," many fans expected that the replacement ship would be the "great experiment" known as the USS Excelsior, with her transwarp drive. The very end of "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" plays on that expectation, showing the Enterprise crew heading towards the Excelsior before pulling a gotcha and revealing an Enterprise identical to her late predecessor in every way but her registry: NCC-1701-A.

However, "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier," which is often considered one of the worst films in the series , demonstrated that the A was a lemon and a joke. It was only in its sequel, "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country," that her capabilities were demonstrated and her reputation redeemed.

The ship's interiors change drastically between the two films. The A has a "The Next Generation"-like aesthetic in "The Final Frontier," and feels like a cramped warship in "The Undiscovered Country." They're basically different ships. A mix of new sets and standing sets then in use for "The Next Generation" resulted in the mismatch; such inconsistencies in both performance and design merit her less than stellar position here.

7. Enterprise NX-01: The Early Bird

Unlike the other Enterprises discussed here, the NX-01's name was not preceded by the letters USS (United Space Ship), but that's not enough to leave her off this list.

If we were merely ranking these starships by their technological sophistication, the "Star Trek: Enterprise" flagship would land squarely at the bottom, being a veritable antique. Comparing her to even the original NCC-1701 would be like comparing the first Navy flattop to a modern supercarrier. However, taking into account the time in which the ship was built and the fact that she's merely a prototype, Captain Archer's Enterprise more than distinguishes herself.

As repeatedly demonstrated in the series' four seasons, the first Starfleet ship named Enterprise was tough and capable. Her interior detailing rests comfortably and logically between NASA's design sense and that of the Federation. The ship's exterior design isn't quite as good, and she doesn't have as many good angles as most of her fellow Enterprises. In addition, like the E, she suffers from looking terrible in profile, with an undistinguished silhouette.

6. Enterprise 1701-E: The Borg Buster

Following the ignominious destruction of the D in "Star Trek: Generations" and the trashing of the Enterprise's main bridge set for that film, a new ship had to be built for "Star Trek: First Contact." The result was the Sovereign-class Enterprise 1701-E, which would go on to star in "Star Trek: Insurrection" and "Star Trek: Nemesis."

In her three cinematic adventures, the E performs admirably, and avoids getting completely blown to bits despite facing vessels vastly more powerful and more numerous. "First Contact" features a lot of action, but, as is ever the case of the movie Enterprises, we never really get to see her function as an exploration vessel.

Appropriately, the ship's interiors eschew the hotel-like aspects of her predecessor in favor of a harder, less comfortable look. Externally, she was designed to look leaner and meaner than any other Enterprise, with angles and swept back elements suggesting a forward momentum. The result is a ship that looks great from above, behind, and a few other angles, but ungainly in others — her profile suggests that she's been stepped on. The design also suffers from one of the B's flaws: oversized impulse engines whose exhaust ports point too close to the warp nacelles.

5. Enterprise 1701: Kelvin Times

While it's supposedly the same ship each time, the Enterprise looks somewhat different in all three of the Kelvin timeline films (2009's "Star Trek," "Star Trek Into Darkness," and "Star Trek Beyond"); the "Beyond" variant in particular is a rather extensive overhaul. How much you like any of these rests on how big a fan of "ample nacelles" you are, but as a cohesive design they're all a bit of a miss, with a saucer section that appears mismatched with the rest of the ship, an engineering hull that's too far forward, and nacelles that are too close together.

On the other hand, the interiors are gorgeous and roomy with plenty of points of visual interest. You might hate the brewery-like engineering spaces featured in the first film and think the bridge looks like an Apple Store (it doesn't), but the designs are fantastic. overall.

How good this Enterprise is as a functioning starship remains questionable, however, as she gets thrashed repeatedly in all three films, and is ultimately chopped to bits and replaced by a briefly glimpsed A of her own in the closing moments of "Beyond."

4. Pike's Enterprise 1701: Strange New Starship

"Strange New Worlds" revised the Pike-era Enterprise NCC-1701, which was first introduced in its current form on "Star Trek: Discovery." That ship had a thankless job: It needed to satisfy old school fans, who expected a ship that honored the original '60s model, while also featuring a more modern design to satiate newer viewers. As such, she harkens back to both the Enterprise of "The Original Series" and the refitted version from "The Motion Picture." The spinning nacelle caps and copper deflector dish come from the former, and the swept back pylons and glowing engine grills recall the latter. She's a handsome ship both inside and out, with detailed, roomy interiors that rank up there with the Kelvin timeline's Enterprise in terms of design and visual appeal.

Sadly, Pike's vessel seems to have a glass jaw, getting repeatedly beaten up in the first season. Her reach is apparently worse than an old U.S. Navy battleship's, too, as objects that are visible in the same shot are somehow "out of weapons range." Season two of "Strange New Worlds" should clarify how good of a ship this Enterprise ultimately is. Let's hope she learns how to take a punch.

3. The Refit Enterprise 1701: The Pearlescent Beauty

The redesigned Enterprise from "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" is, in a word, gorgeous. From her subtle curves and art deco influences to her spectacular pearlescent finish, she's a great looking ship.

Sadly, she doesn't age gracefully in the two following films. She's scarred in "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan," and is inexplicably even more battered at the beginning of "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock." That "Motion Picture" shine literally fades away to a flatter look throughout the second film, likely because of a change in visual effects companies and a dulling down of her paintjob. By the third film she's lost her luster, and then she's blown to smithereens.

Still by the end of that first movie, the refit ship feels ready for any adventure. Her shields are capable of withstanding the V'ger energy bolts that chew up Klingon ships in seconds, and she can torpedo mountain-sized asteroids into rubble with a single shot. Her capabilities diminish in the next two installments, though; were she not treated like a tired old punching bag in those films, she'd be number two on this list.

2. Enterprise 1701-D: The Galaxy Class Swoop

Fans are sharply divided on the Galaxy-class NCC-1701-D. Some think she's awkward and ungainly, while others argue that she's the embodiment of "technology unchained." The D stands out among other Enterprises like a Luigi Colani car in a parking lot full of Toyotas: If nothing else, it's distinctive. Of all Enterprises, she's the most carefully thought out in terms of features, from her transporter emitters to her escape pods to her ability to split into two independent vehicles.

One problem with ranking this ship's visual appeal is that the two main models used to portray it are fairly dissimilar, with the smaller one making it look like the ship has been binging Cheetos. The original 6-foot miniature is an A+, but the fatter 4-footer is a B-. Whichever model you're looking at, however, the main visual sin this Enterprise commits is a saucer that's so big that it can entirely hide the rest of the ship, making high forward angles a no-no. The ship's interiors are a mixed bag, too — some fans complain that it feels too much like a hotel or a cruise ship, and not an interstellar vessel built to boldly go into the final frontier.

1. Enterprise 1701: The Original

Polls indicate that "The Original Series" is still the most popular Star Trek show . Accordingly, the OG USS Enterprise belongs at the top of this list.

Despite her vintage, the original 1701 is a badass. She always manages to go faster than she's designed to without flying apart. She's capable of glassing a planet's surface ("A Taste of Armageddon"), and blowing an unshielded starship to dust with a single phaser blast ("Day of the Dove"). She survives galaxy-enveloping energy barriers and antimatter-spewing planet killers, and always comes out on top.

Visually, interiors are her weak point, even making allowances for a '60s series. Outside of the bridge, the cabins, and engineering, too many corridors and compartments are visually flat and feel unlived in. Externally, she might look simple to audiences accustomed to heavily textured hulls with complex curvatures, but the genius of her design is in her simplicity; she combines familiar icons of space travel — rockets and flying saucers — in a fashion that instantly tells you that not only is this is a spacecraft, but it's one intended to operate entirely outside of the confines of atmosphere and gravity. That, along with a paint job that resembles a Navy cruiser, communicates what she is at a glance. That's brilliant, and why the original Enterprise is still number one.

USS Enterprise Evolution in Photos: The Many Faces of Star Trek's Favorite Starship

The enterprise throughout history.

Starship USS Enterprise, serial number NCC-1701, of the United Federation of Planets, has captivated audiences since the debut of "Star Trek" on television in 1966. That fascination has continued to the present day, as the latest installment of the science-fiction franchise, "Star Trek Into Darkness," opens in the US on May 16, 2013. Here we take a look at ships bearing the name of Enterprise in many different incarnations.

USS Enterprise (Sailing Vessel)

The first of all US ships to bear the name of Enterprise was a Continental Navy sloop-of-war that served in the American Revolutionary War on Lake Champlain. Originally a British sloop named "George," it was captured by a small American force commanded by Colonel Benedict Arnold in 1775 and renamed. Later the US forces had to run the ship aground and destroy it in 1777 to avoid capture.

USS Enterprise (CVN 65) in Real Life

A long series of sea vessels were named Enterprise throughout history. The eighth US ship to bear the name was the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. The US Navy commissioned the giant vessel in 1962, which served until its deactivation in 2012. A new USS Enterprise (CVN-80) is scheduled to become operational in 2025. Regarding Star Trek, the naval warship may have inspired the name of the fictional starship. Also, in "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home," Uhura and Chekov visit the aircraft carrier Enterprise, though the filmmakers could not shoot aboard the actual ship.

Star Trek Crew Welcomes Real-Life Enterprise

In 1976, NASA's space shuttle Enterprise rolled out of the Palmdale manufacturing facilities, and was greeted by NASA officials and cast members from the original "Star Trek" television series. They are (L to R): NASA Administrator Dr. James D. Fletcher; DeForest Kelley, who portrayed Dr. "Bones" McCoy on the series; George Takei (Mr. Sulu); James Doohan (Chief Engineer Montgomery "Scotty" Scott); Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura); Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock); series creator Gene Roddenberry; an unnamed NASA official; and, Walter Koenig (Ensign Pavel Chekov).

Space Shuttle Enterprise

In real life, the prototype space shuttle was named Enterprise (OV-101) following a write-in campaign by Star Trek fans. The orbiter conducts a 1977 test flight in this photo.

The VSS Enterprise of Virgin Galactic

Another real-life craft, one of Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo vehicles, bears the name VSS Enterprise. It glided over California's Mojave Air and Space Port during the first drop and glide test on Oct. 10, 2010. Eventually the company plans to take "space tourists" on commercial flights.

USS Enterprise (XCV 330)

The experimental craft represents the first Starship Enterprise, although it only appeared as a illustration in "Star Trek: The Motion Picture." It again appeared in a painting during the Star Trek: Enterprise episode, "First Flight," thereby dating it prior to 2143 in the Star Trek timeline.

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Enterprise (NX-01)

The United Earth Starfleet's Enterprise was an experimental prototype ship, commanded by Captain Jonathan Archer. It appeared as the titular vessel of the prequel television series Star Trek: Enterprise (2001–2005). A mirror version of the ship, ISS Enterprise (NX-01), appeared in the episode "In a Mirror, Darkly."

The Original Starship Enterprise (NCC-1701)

This model of the fictional starship Enterprise was used in filming the weekly hourlong “Star Trek” TV series that aired September 1966 to June 1969. The National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC, now displays the iconic model.

ISS Enterprise in the Mirror Universe

This ship of the Terran Empire appeared in the Star Trek episode "Mirror, Mirror," which involved a treacherous, violent mirror crew. The mirror ship appears almost identical to the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701).

USC Enterprise (NCC-1701) Animated

Star Trek: The Animated Series ran from 1973-1974, and featured a Starship Enterprise retaining the original TV show's design, though the producers altered certain interior features, such as a second turbolift accessing the bridge.

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USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)

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The USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) was a 23rd century Federation Constitution -class starship operated by Starfleet , and the first Federation starship to bear the name Enterprise . During its career, the Enterprise served as the Federation flagship and was in service from 2245 to 2285 . During the latter years of its life, the Enterprise was refitted into a Constitution II -class starship and served as a training vessel until its destruction in 2285.

• 2.1 Construction and launch
• 2.2 Robert April's command
• 2.3.1 Early voyages
• 2.3.2 A new science officer
• 2.3.3 Rigel VII
• 2.3.4 Talos IV
• 2.3.5 Federation-Klingon War
• 2.3.6 The red bursts
• 2.3.7 Battling Control
• 2.3.8 Continuing mission
• 2.4.1 Discoveries
• 2.4.2.1 Klingon engagements
• 2.4.2.2 Romulan engagements
• 2.5 Refit of the 2270s
• 2.7 Khan's return
• 2.8 Final mission
• 4 Alternate timelines and realities
• 5.1 Robert April's notable first contacts
• 5.2 Christopher Pike's notable first contacts
• 5.3 James T. Kirk's notable first contacts
• 6.1 Robert April's command crew
• 6.2 Christopher Pike's command crew
• 6.3 James T. Kirk's command crew
• 7.1 Complement
• 7.2 Casualties
• 8.1 Appearances
• 8.2 Background information
• 8.3 External links

Lineage [ ]

Service history [ ], construction and launch [ ].

Specifications of the USS Enterprise

In the early- to mid-23rd century, at least twelve heavy cruiser -type starships , the Constitution -class , were commissioned by the Federation Starfleet . ( TOS : " Tomorrow is Yesterday ") Constructed at the San Francisco Fleet Yards in San Francisco , California , the Federation vessel registered NCC -1701 was christened "the Enterprise " in a long line of ships of the same name . ( DIS : " Brother "; TAS : " The Counter-Clock Incident ")

Captain Robert April oversaw construction of the ship's components as well as its initial trial runs. His wife, Sarah April , designed several tools for the ship's sickbay . ( TAS : " The Counter-Clock Incident ") Larry Marvick was one of the designers of the Enterprise itself, while Doctor Richard Daystrom designed its computer systems. ( TOS : " Is There in Truth No Beauty? ", " The Ultimate Computer ")

During its construction, a piece of the Enterprise NX-01 was used as it was the previous ship to bear the name. ( SNW : " Those Old Scientists ")

Robert April's command [ ]

Robert April commanded the Enterprise from 2245 to 2250

The Enterprise was launched on April 11, 2245 , under the command of Captain April. ( DIS : " Brother ") Sarah April served as the ship's first chief medical officer , with Christopher Pike serving as Captain April's first officer . ( TAS : " The Counter-Clock Incident "; DIS : " Brother "; SNW : " Strange New Worlds ")

In 2246 , April chose to break General Order 1 and warn a pre-warp civilization, the Perricans , about a possible apocalyptic meteor shower that was due to hit their planet. ( SNW : " Ad Astra per Aspera ")

In 2248 , April sent his science officer to the industrial-age planet Na'rel to solve the imminent threat of an extinction-level drought by sharing Federation technology. ( SNW : " Ad Astra per Aspera ")

Una Chin-Riley was assigned to the Enterprise as Captain April's science officer . ( SNW : " Ad Astra per Aspera "; display graphic ) One deep space cruise took it within half a light year of 99 Pegasi . ( ST : " Q&A ")

He also visited Man-us II without his security officer, during which he chose to reveal the Enterprise to the Ohawk , a pre-warp civilization. ( SNW : " Ad Astra per Aspera ")

Christopher Pike's command [ ]

In 2250 , April left the Enterprise and command was turned over to Pike. Pike also chose Chin-Riley to be his first officer. ( DIS : " Brother "; SNW : " Ad Astra per Aspera " display graphic )

Early voyages [ ]

The Enterprise orbiting Pragine 63

At one point, the Enterprise visited Pragine 63 , where science officer Lynne Lucero was transferred to the USS Cabot , to serve as its new captain. ( ST : " The Trouble with Edward ")

A new science officer [ ]

In 2253 , Pike and the Enterprise traveled to Starbase 40 where Pike would obtain a half Human - Vulcan science officer, Spock , who served under him for over eleven years. ( TOS : " The Menagerie, Part I "; ST : " Q&A "; SNW : " Among the Lotus Eaters " display graphic )

Rigel VII [ ]

The Enterprise visited Rigel VII in 2254

In 2254 On stardate 2496.4, the Enterprise visit Rigel VII as a routine exploration of a remote class M planet. Captain Pike, along with a landing party consisting of Spock, Yeoman Zac Nguyen , Ensign C. Plummer and M. Aberth and several others went down to the planet where they were attacked by the Kalar . Yeoman Ngyugen, Ensign Plummer and Aberth were killed, while Spock and six others were injured. The mission lasted all of four hours. The remaining members of the landing party returned to the Enterprise and set course to Vega colony to get medical aid for those injured. Unbeknownst to the crew, Ngyugen had actually survived and been left stranded on the planet. ( TOS : " The Cage "; SNW : " Among the Lotus Eaters ")

Talos IV [ ]

The Enterprise was the first starship to visit the Talos star systems in nearly 20 years.

While traveling to the Vega Colony, the Enterprise learned there were survivors of the SS Columbia that were marooned on Talos IV nearly eighteen years earlier . Following the stop at Vega, the Enterprise traveled to Talos to rescue the Columbia survivors only to find out it was a trap devised by the Talosians . ( TOS : " The Cage ")

Federation-Klingon War [ ]

In late 2256 , Michael Burnham encouraged Cadet Sylvia Tilly to improve her physical conditioning so that she would stand out amongst her peers and be assigned to the Enterprise or one of its "sister ships." ( DIS : " Lethe ")

At that time, the Enterprise was on a five-year mission under Pike. With the Federation-Klingon War underway, Starfleet elected not to recall the starship and leave the vessel as an instrument of last resort, so ordered Pike and his crew to remain out of the fighting. ( DIS : " Brother ")

Pike later accused Starfleet Command of not recalling Enterprise because they knew he would steadfastly remind them of Federation values, but Admiral Katrina Cornwell , the only Starfleet Command representative present to hear the accusation, countered that they "wanted the best of Starfleet to survive," if the war was lost, and they had deemed that to be Enterprise . ( DIS : " Project Daedalus ")

The red bursts [ ]

The Enterprise and Discovery rendezvous in 2257

Following the conclusion of the war in 2257 , the Enterprise was dispatched by Starfleet to investigate one of a series of unidentified signals detected throughout the galaxy . ( DIS : " Brother ") En route, the ship suffered multiple catastrophic systems failures, leading Pike to issue a priority 1 distress call .

The call was received by the USS Discovery , en route to Vulcan . ( DIS : " Will You Take My Hand? ", " Brother ") Pike and two senior officers transferred to Discovery to continue their mission, while a team was dispatched to tow the Enterprise back to Spacedock for a diagnostic , where the damage was assessed as severe, with no estimate for repair. ( DIS : " Brother ")

The Enterprise being towed to drydock for repairs

A week later, Pike's first officer, Una Chin-Riley, reported to Pike that the holographic comm system was the source of the failures, which had compromised primary systems. Pike ordered Una to tell Chief Engineer Louvier to strip the system from the ship in favor of viewscreen communication. ( DIS : " An Obol for Charon ")

Battling Control [ ]

The Enterprise taking on Discovery 's crew

After the Discovery acquired data from a Sphere that would ultimately lead to the evolution of Section 31 artificial intelligence Control which would threaten all sentient life in the Milky Way Galaxy , Pike was left with no other option but to set the Discovery 's auto-destruct system and call the Enterprise for immediate evacuation of the ship's crew. ( DIS : " Through the Valley of Shadows ")

On stardate 1051.8, the Enterprise finally rendezvoused with the Discovery and began taking on the ship's crew. When all personnel were fully evacuated, Captain Pike ordered Discovery 's destruction. However, the Sphere intelligence utilized Discovery 's defensive systems to block the Enterprise 's torpedo volley. Unable to eliminate Discovery , the crew determined that sending the Discovery into the future was the only method to secure the Sphere data from Control.

The Enterprise and Discovery engage Section 31 vessels

With the appearance of a fifth red burst, both ships traveled to the planet Xahea , which was ultimately the position Cornwell and Pike decided to fight Leland/Control's armada. ( DIS : " Such Sweet Sorrow ")

After the decision was made to destroy Discovery to prevent its capture by Control, the ship deployed evacuation corridors to transfer its crew to Enterprise . ( DIS : " Such Sweet Sorrow ")

The Enterprise undergoes repairs in 2258

During a decisive battle with Control, the Enterprise lost a significant portion of her saucer section when an undetonated photon torpedo penetrated it and later detonated. Admiral Katrina Cornwell was killed while sacrificing herself to stop the torpedo from destroying the entire ship. As the Discovery traveled into the future, the Enterprise and a fleet of Klingon and Kelpien reinforcements provided covering fire against the attacking Section 31 drone ships and then finished them off when Georgiou neutralizing Control left the enemy ships dead in the water. Following the battle, the Enterprise underwent extensive repairs in orbit of Earth while the crew lied to Starfleet that the Discovery had been destroyed. ( DIS : " Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2 ")

Continuing mission [ ]

Following the repairs to the Enterprise , the ship resumed its mission of exploration, once again under the command of Christopher Pike. Their first stop was a shakedown run to a new moon that was discovered at Edrin II . ( DIS : " Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2 ")

The Enterprise at Kiley 279

Following the mission to Edrin II, the Enterprise returned to Earth where its crew was enjoying some much-needed downtime. In 2259 , the Enterprise was undergoing scheduled maintenance and system upgrades when April, now a fleet admiral, pulled Pike out of exile and the Enterprise out of drydock when Una Chin-Riley and the USS Archer went missing during a first contact mission to Kiley 279 . General Order 1 was violated in this mission, leading to Starfleet command to rename it the " Prime Directive ". ( SNW : " Strange New Worlds ")

On stardate 2259.42, the Enterprise left Starbase 1 to continue its third five-year mission of exploration. ( SNW : " Strange New Worlds ")

The Enterprise in the Persephone system

The Enterprise 's first stop on her mission was observing a planet in the Persephone system , at which she tried to divert a comet away but ended up getting into a fight with a species known as the " Shepherds ". ( SNW : " Children of the Comet ")

The Enterprise visited an abandoned Illyrian colony at Hetemit IX to find out what had happened to the colonists; however, an Illyrian light-based virus broke out aboard the ship, forcing the crew to shut the Enterprise down. After becoming infected, chief engineer Hemmer nearly destroyed the ship after disengaging the ship's warp core containment field. ( SNW : " Ghosts of Illyria ")

The Enterprise engaged the Gorn at Finibus III.

The Enterprise later encountered a small Gorn fleet at Finibus III , and narrowly escaped after taking major damage to her hull, torpedo bay, and structural integrity field. ( SNW : " Memento Mori ")

The ship visited Starbase 1 after the fight with the Gorn and underwent repairs. While the crew enjoyed some shore leave, Captain Pike engaged in negotiations with the R'ongovian Protectorate . ( SNW : " Spock Amok ")

The Enterprise encountered a shuttlecraft under attack by presumed pirates and assisted, delivering the inhabitants back to their planet, and later investigated what the pirates were doing when looking into the wreckage. ( SNW : " Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach ")

The Enterprise was hijacked by a group of rogue pirates after her crew was betrayed by a passenger . After tricking the pirates and taking control of one of their ships, the crew were able to reclaim the Enterprise after disabling her warp and impulse engines. ( SNW : " The Serene Squall ")

The Enterprise visited Earth Outpost Station 4 and helped the Outposts with retrofitting and supplies.

The Enterprise , along with the USS Cayuga , visited the Neutral Zone and helped with retrofitting the Earth Outpost Stations and delivering supplies. However, after witnessing an alternate timeline version of the Neutral Zone Incursion , Captain Pike became aware of James T. Kirk , recognizing that he had the potential to be a good captain for the Enterprise . Commander Chin-Riley was arrested shortly thereafter after being discovered to be an Illyrian . ( SNW : " A Quality of Mercy ")

While Captain Pike was off of the ship securing a lawyer for Chin-Riley and it was undergoing routine maintenance and inspection by Commander Pelia 's inspection team at Starbase 1 , the Enterprise received a distress call from Lieutenant La'an Noonien-Singh on Cajitar IV , a planet on the edge of Klingon space, about an "anti-Federation threat." However, Admiral April refused to allow the ship to investigate, fearing that it could reignite the Klingon War due to the Klingons currently being in control of the planet following a painstakingly-negotiated treaty. ( SNW : " The Broken Circle ")

Under Lieutenant Spock's leadership, the crew faked a potential warp core breach in order to evacuate the inspection team, steal the Enterprise and go to Noonien-Singh's aid. Although Pelia deduced their deception, she aided the crew in stealing the ship rather than stopping them and she acted as Chief Engineer. ( SNW : " The Broken Circle ")

The crew uncovered a false flag operation by the Broken Circle to reignite the Klingon war using the rebuilt NCC-1279 . The Enterprise destroyed the rogue ship and foiled the Broken Circle's plot. Afterwards, Pelia expressed an interest in sticking around as a part of the crew and April let Spock off easy, concerned about a potential upcoming war with the Gorn that Starfleet would need every good officer they had for. ( SNW : " The Broken Circle ")

The Enterprise returned to Earth for Commander Chin-Riley's court martial . After Chin-Riley was acquitted, she was allowed to return to duty aboard the ship as first officer. ( SNW : " Ad Astra per Aspera ")

The Enterprise and the Cayuga were assigned to a joint mission charting a new binary star system when the Enterprise was reassigned to investigate and correct cultural contamination on Rigel VII after depiction of a Starfleet delta was discovered in a garden . Five years after the Enterprise's disastrous mission to the planet, the ship returned to discover that " High Lord Zacarias" was actually Yeoman Zac Nguyen who was believed to have been killed in the mission five years before but had actually been left behind instead. Due to exotic radiation from the debris field around the planet, the crew lost their memories, but eventually managed to pilot the Enterprise out of it to a safe distance. Spock was subsequently able to develop a shield harmonic that protected the crew against the radiation and Pike had the ship lift an asteroid from the planet that was emitting the same radiation and keeping the Kalar from forming explicit memories and was thus stunting the growth of life on Rigel VII. Pike arrested Nguyen who was then transferred to the Cayuga to face punishment for his actions from Starfleet. ( SNW : " Among the Lotus Eaters ")

The Enterprise joined the USS Farragut in repairing a deuterium refinery that would serve as a " gas station " for Federation starships for further exploration of that region. Ensign Uhura and Lieutenant Saul Ramon of the Farragut began to experience hallucinations, and the intense brain damage this caused to Ramon caused him to sabotage the Enterprise and die in an explosion. Uhura eventually realized that the deuterium contained a living species that was trying to communicate with them. Uhura then convinced Captain Pike to destroy the refinery to save them. ( SNW : " Lost in Translation ")

Ensigns Brad Boimler and Beckett Mariner in the Enterprise 's engine room

On stardate 2291.6, the Enterprise crew encountered Ensigns Brad Boimler and Beckett Mariner from the late 24th century while they were investigating a time portal on Krulmuth-B . To return the officers to their own time, the crew discovered a hidden component from the Enterprise NX-01 built into the ship that contained horonium , the very material needed to power the time portal. ( SNW : " Those Old Scientists ")

Ambassador Dak'Rah , son of Ra'Ul , was picked up by the Enterprise from the USS Kelcie Mae on stardate 1875.4 to transport the ambassador to Starbase 12 . However, his divisive presence on the vessel resulted in his death. ( SNW : " Under the Cloak of War ")

The bridge crew dancing and singing

On stardate 2398.3, while the Enterprise was traveling in the far edges of the Alpha Quadrant , they encountered a naturally-occurring subspace fold . While conducting experiments, Ensign Uhura sent a message containing music through the fold. This caused the fold to release a quantum uncertainty field that created a musical reality aboard the ship. Crewmembers started to express themselves through uncontrollable singing, which was deemed a security threat by Lieutenant Noonien-Singh. The entire crew, singing in unison, were able to shatter the uncertainty field before an approaching Klingon force could fire upon it, with disastrous consequences. ( SNW : " Subspace Rhapsody ")

James T. Kirk's command [ ]

The Enterprise in orbit, 2267

In 2265, after nearly twenty years of service aboard the Enterprise , Captain Pike would be promoted to fleet captain and command of the Enterprise would be transferred to James Kirk. The Enterprise would also be assigned to another five-year mission of deep space exploration . The ship's primary goal during this mission was to seek out and contact alien life. Captain Kirk's standing orders also included the investigation of all quasars and quasar-like phenomena.

Beyond its primary mission, the Enterprise defended Federation territories from aggression, aided member worlds in crisis, and provided scientific expeditions and colonies in its patrol area with annual examinations and support. ( TOS : " Balance of Terror ", " The Man Trap ", " The Cloud Minders ", " Journey to Babel "); ( TOS : " The Galileo Seven ", " The Deadly Years ")

Discoveries [ ]

From 2265 to 2270, the Enterprise visited over seventy different worlds and encountered representatives of over sixty different species . More than twenty of those were first contacts with beings previously unknown to the Federation, including stellar neighbors like the First Federation and Gorn, voyagers from the Kelvan Empire in distant Andromeda , and powerful non-corporeal entities like the Thasians , Trelane , and the Organians . ( TOS : , " The Corbomite Maneuver ", " Arena ", " By Any Other Name ") Two discovered species were the first known examples of silicon-based lifeforms : the Horta and the Excalbians . ( TOS : " The Devil in the Dark ", " The Savage Curtain ", " That Which Survives ")

In the barrier void in 2265

The Enterprise was the first Federation vessel to survive an encounter with the galactic barrier . The ship's warp drive and other systems, however, were critically damaged (which later prompted the ship to be refit and repaired, changing its appearance slightly for the rest of Kirk's mission) and casualties totaled twelve crewmembers and officers . By stardate 4657.5, the Enterprise was traveling through space in a region hundreds of light years further than any Earth starship had explored. ( TOS : " Where No Man Has Gone Before ", " Return to Tomorrow ")

The reality of time travel , externally influenced, had been known for over a century , but following two accidental temporal displacements , the Enterprise became the Federation's first deliberately-controlled timeship . Observing the death-throes of Psi 2000 , the crew suffered from polywater intoxication and the Enterprise nearly lost orbit after an engine shutdown. A previously untested " cold start ", via controlled matter-antimatter implosion , saved the ship, but the high-speed escape from the planet's gravity well caused the ship to travel three days into the past. ( TOS : " The Naked Time ")

Orbiting 1960s Earth

In 2267 , while escaping the gravitational pull of a black star , the Enterprise was hurled through space and time to Earth of 1969 . The crew developed and executed a method to return to their own time, by warping around the sun 's gravity well in a slingshot maneuver . A year later, the Enterprise was ordered to repeat the recently proven slingshot effect, and returned to Earth's past on a mission of historical observation. ( TOS : " Tomorrow is Yesterday ", " Assignment: Earth ")

The space amoeba in 2268

Some missions of discovery confronted Enterprise with entities and mechanisms that threatened great swaths of Federation and neighboring space.

An ancient " planet killer ", fueled by the consumption of planets it destroyed with its antiproton weapon , approached Federation population centers in 2267. It required the combined efforts of the Enterprise and its "sister ship", USS Constellation , to destroy the invader. ( TOS : " The Doomsday Machine ")

One year later, in 2268 , a single-cell organism of colossal scale emitted negative energy , toxic to humanoid life, killing the entire Vulcan crew of the USS Intrepid . The Enterprise penetrated the cell interior and destroyed the organism before its imminent cell division threatened to overwhelm the rest of the galaxy. ( TOS : " The Immunity Syndrome ")

In around 2268, the Enterprise visited Planet 0042692 where they detected an approaching catastrophe, but couldn't intervene directly due to the Prime Directive . Ensign David Garrovick volunteered to embark upon a solo mission in the shuttle Galileo , but the Galileo ended up crashing. The Enterprise departed the planet without Garrovick after which no other Starfleet ship would visit that sector for over a hundred years and there was no record of first contact . Having survived the crash, Garrovick predicted that Starfleet would return one day and sent out a distress call . Learning about Starfleet from Garrovick, the planet's natives began calling themselves Enderprizians , named their settlement New Enda-Prize , and adopted versions of the Enterprise crew's names. ( PRO : " All the World's a Stage ")

Battles [ ]

The Enterprise fires a phaser proximity blast .

The nature of its mission of exploration meant the Enterprise was frequently the only Federation military asset in a little-known, otherwise undefended frontier. When called into harm's way, the ship regularly did so with little chance of immediate support against previously unknown enemies and threats.

Happily, the Enterprise 's earliest engagement of its five-year mission, against a deceptively powerful starship called the Fesarius , ended with an amicable first contact with the First Federation in 2266 . ( TOS : " The Corbomite Maneuver ") Following the destruction of a colony on Cestus III , a surprise attack – from a previously unknown species – led the Enterprise to battle and pursue an evenly matched Gorn starship in 2267. ( TOS : " Arena ")

The Enterprise played the fox for four of its " sister ships " in a war games problem on stardate 4729.4, as part of a series of M-5 drills . Equipped with the new M-5 multitronic unit computer and stripped of most of its crew, the Enterprise became a killing machine – crippling the USS Excalibur and killing its entire crew – before Kirk could re-assert control. ( TOS : " The Ultimate Computer ")

Klingon engagements [ ]

The Battle of Organia in 2267

Warships of the Imperial Klingon Fleet were frequent opponents of the Enterprise . Commander Kor held the Enterprise and Kirk in high professional regard, and relished the prospect of battle. Lower ranks chose to mock the starship; on one such occasion, Korax compared the vessel to a " garbage scow " before he corrected himself, adding, " It should be hauled away as garbage. " ( TOS : " Errand of Mercy ", " The Trouble with Tribbles ")

While Starfleet rallied its forces at the outbreak of a Federation-Klingon War in 2267, the Enterprise was sent forward to secure a border region anchored by the planet Organia . The vessel destroyed a Klingon ship and prepared to engage an approaching Klingon fleet , before the Organian Peace Treaty precluded a full-scale war . ( TOS : " Errand of Mercy ")

The Enterprise sporadically engaged Klingons throughout its voyage. A warship failed in an attempt to blockade the Enterprise from Capella IV in 2267. Sabotaged during a diplomatic mission to the Tellun system in 2268, the ship successfully fought off the assault of a harassing D7 . The same year, the Enterprise was forced to destroy a battle cruiser that Kang had commanded but had recently abandoned, and the rescued Klingons (influenced by the Beta XII-A entity ) subsequently made an unsuccessful attempt to wrest control of the Enterprise from Kirk. ( TOS : " Friday's Child ", " Elaan of Troyius ", " Day of the Dove ")

Romulan engagements [ ]

Ventral view of a Romulan Bird-of-Prey during the Neutral Zone Incursion of 2266

The Romulan Star Empire re-emerged from a century of isolation to antagonize the Federation with the Neutral Zone Incursion of 2266. The Enterprise responded and was victorious against a new Romulan Bird-of-Prey , which was equipped with a cloaking device and a plasma torpedo system. ( TOS : " Balance of Terror ")

In later encounters, the Romulan fleet used strength of numbers in their efforts to overwhelm the Enterprise . When Commodore Stocker took temporary command and violated the Neutral Zone in 2267, up to ten Birds-of-Prey swarmed and pummeled the starship until Kirk's " corbomite " bluff inspired their withdrawal. ( TOS : " The Deadly Years ")

In 2268, the Enterprise again violated the Neutral Zone – for the purpose of espionage – and was quickly surrounded by three Romulan D7-class battle cruisers. The Enterprise escaped by becoming the first Federation vessel to install and successfully utilize a (stolen) Romulan cloaking device. ( TOS : " The Enterprise Incident ")

Near Tau Ceti in the following year, Kirk employed the Cochrane deceleration maneuver , allowing the Enterprise to defeat a Romulan vessel . ( TOS : " Whom Gods Destroy ")

In the final year of Kirk's original mission, the ship was ambushed by a trio of Romulan battle cruisers while on a routine survey. The Enterprise managed to escape through an energy field that adversely affected the ship's main computer. The malfunctioning systems were corrected by another pass through the field, this time with the Romulan ships in pursuit. The attackers then became incapacitated by the same computer malfunctions, and the Enterprise managed to escape. ( TAS : " The Practical Joker ")

Refit of the 2270s [ ]

The Enterprise underwent another major refit into what would later be known as the Constitution II -class . The refitting took eighteen months of work, and essentially a new vessel was built onto the bones of the old, replacing virtually every major system. This ensured Enterprise's continued service for the next several years, enabling the ship to continue to serve in its prominent role.

The Enterprise in drydock, 2270s

Refits and overhauls with new technologies after long deployments were far from unusual in the ship's history. However, the Enterprise 's overhaul of the early 2270s became a nearly keel-up redesign and reconstruction project.

The very heart of the ship was replaced with a radically different vertical warp core assembly, linked to new and heavier warp engine nacelles, atop swept-back pylons and integrated with the impulse engines. The new drive system allowed for an expanded cargo hold in the secondary hull , linked to the shuttlebay . The deflector dish at the front of the main housing was replaced with an entirely new design, one where it was recessed into the housing.

Weapons system upgrades included the phaser banks having power channeled directly from the warp engines. A double photon torpedo /probe launcher was installed atop the secondary hull.

Extra egress points were added for better access/exit from the ship and now included a port -side spacedock hatch, dual ventral space walk bays, four dorsal service hatches, and a standardized docking ring port, which was aft of the bridge on the primary hull . Also included were four more docking ring ports, paired on the port and starboard sides of the launcher and secondary hulls respectively, and service hatch airlocks on the port and starboard sides of the hangar bay's main clam-shell doors. Unlike from before the refit, these new egress points were not covered by retractable hull plating.

A new bridge module reflected the modern computer systems, operating interfaces, and ergonomics that ran throughout the ship.

Following Kirk's promotion to rear admiral and posting as Chief of Starfleet Operations , his successor, Captain Will Decker (whom Kirk himself picked to succeed him), oversaw the refit, assisted by chief engineer Commander Montgomery Scott . ( Star Trek: The Motion Picture )

Following its refit, the Enterprise , in the early 2270s, went on to be critical in defending the Federation from several external threats, including V'ger and Khan Noonien Singh . ( Star Trek: The Motion Picture , Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan )

After eighteen months in drydock for refit, the Enterprise was pressed into service, weeks ahead of schedule, in response to the V'ger crisis, once again under Kirk's command.

Making contact with V'ger

Decker was temporarily demoted to commander and posted as an executive officer because of his familiarity with the new design. Incomplete systems had to be serviced during the vessel's shakedown en route to V'ger , including the first test of the new warp engines.

Shortly after launch, a matter/ antimatter intermix malfunction ruptured the warp field and led to the Enterprise entering into an unstable wormhole . Commander Decker belayed an order from Admiral Kirk to destroy an asteroid in their path, which had been dragged into the ruptured warp field along with them, with phasers. The refitted phasers now channeled power directly from the main engines at a point beyond the dilithium/magnatomic-initiator stage.

Because of this refitted function, both the intermix malfunction and the resultant antimatter imbalance within the warp nacelles caused automatic cutoff of the phasers, a design change of which Kirk had not been aware. Decker ordered the use of photon torpedoes , instead; as a backup, they had been designed to draw power from a separate system in case of a major phaser loss. Commander Spock arrived at a timely point and brought correction to the intermix problem. ( Star Trek: The Motion Picture )

Once the V'ger threat was averted, Captain Decker was listed as "missing in action", and the Enterprise remained under Admiral Kirk's command for an interim period. ( Star Trek: The Motion Picture ) At some point, Kirk passed command on to the newly promoted Captain Spock. ( Star Trek: The Motion Picture , Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan )

Khan's return [ ]

In 2285 , the Enterprise had been pulled from the front lines of Starfleet and the Federation and, near the end of its life, was relegated to a training vessel. The ship participated in a low-tempo training cycle , based in the Sol system . Admiral Kirk boarded his old command to observe a cadet training cruise.

The Enterprise , engaged with the hijacked Reliant

Meanwhile, Khan Noonien Singh had escaped from exile on Ceti Alpha V and hijacked the USS Reliant , after which he stole the Genesis Device from the Regula I space station .

The Enterprise was tasked to investigate, and Spock deferred his command to Admiral Kirk. Subsequent engagements with Reliant left the ship badly damaged, with cadet and crew deaths, including Captain Spock. ( Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan )

Final mission [ ]

The Enterprise , heavily damaged, leaving the Spacedock orbiting Earth

Upon the Enterprise returning to Earth, Starfleet Commander Fleet Admiral Morrow announced that the starship, at that point forty years old and heavily damaged, would be decommissioned. When Morrow denied Kirk requesting permission to return to the Mutara sector , Kirk conspired with his senior officers and stole the Enterprise from Spacedock One , in order to recover Spock's body from the Genesis Planet – to bring it and Spock's katra , the latter possessed by Leonard McCoy , to Mount Seleya on Vulcan . As part of the plan, Kirk had Scott rig up an automation system to run the Enterprise so easily that "a chimpanzee and two trainees " could have handled the craft.

" My God, Bones… what have I done? " – Admiral James T. Kirk

At the Enterprise 's destination, the ship was attacked by a Klingon Bird-of-Prey operated by Klingon Commander Kruge , an assault that left the Enterprise disabled; Scotty's automation system was not designed for combat and overloaded when the ship was attacked. After setting the auto-destruct sequence, Kirk and his crew abandoned the ship for the surface of the Genesis Planet. Demolition charges in place on the bridge, and elsewhere throughout the ship, exploded, killing a Klingon boarding party . The battered secondary hull (with what was left of the saucer) fell from orbit and blazingly streaked across the planet's atmosphere . ( Star Trek III: The Search for Spock )

The Enterprise burning in Genesis' atmosphere

Being forty years old at the time of its destruction, the Enterprise had surpassed its designer's original projected eighteen-year endurance by twenty-two years, when the ship was launched back in 2245. ( DIS : " Brother " graphic display ) The next USS Enterprise , a Constitution II -class heavy cruiser USS Enterprise -A , was launched a year later . ( Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home )

A hologram of the USS Enterprise in 2258 was displayed in Starfleet Headquarters in 2399

The Enterprise 's long history would be remembered for the next century. ( TNG : " The Naked Now "; DS9 : " Trials and Tribble-ations "; VOY : " Flashback ", " Q2 "; PIC : " Penance ", " Fly Me to the Moon ") Captain John Harriman of the USS Enterprise -B would learn of Kirk's missions when he was in grade school . ( Star Trek Generations )

In 2369 , when Montgomery Scott was rescued from the crash landed USS Jenolen , and his surprise that he was found by the USS Enterprise -D , Scott's immediate response was "Enterprise ? I should have known. I bet Jim Kirk himself hauled the old girl out of mothballs to come looking for me, " even though he, along with Pavel Chekov and Kirk were on the USS Enterprise -B during its maiden voyage when Kirk was presumed killed. ( TNG : " Relics "; Star Trek Generations )

In 2383 , Hologram Janeway showed the young crew of the USS Protostar an image of the Enterprise while explaining the history of the Federation and Starfleet to them. ( PRO : " Starstruck ")

In 2384 , the Protostar responded to Ensign David Garrovick 's distress call that had been sent from Planet 0042692 over a hundred years before, discovering that Starfleet had no record of the Enterprise 's mission to the planet, but learning of it from the natives, the Enderprizians . The Protostar crew made second contact and fulfilled Garrovick's promise that Starfleet would some day return to save the Enderprizians from the curse of " the Gallows ," in reality toxic runoff caused by the crashed shuttle Galileo . ( PRO : " All the World's a Stage ")

In 2399 , retired Starfleet Admiral Jean-Luc Picard observed holographic images of the original Enterprise from 2258 and the Enterprise -D in the central lobby of Starfleet Headquarters . ( PIC : " Maps and Legends ")

Kirk's use of the slingshot maneuver using the Enterprise in order to travel through time was mentioned as an example by Picard as one of the methods for travelling back through time in order to repair changes made in 2024 by Q . ( PIC : " Penance ")

Alternate timelines and realities [ ]

• In an alternate timeline shown to Commander Michael Burnham by the time crystal , Enterprise failed to destroy the USS Discovery with photon torpedoes after Discovery 's auto-destruct didn't go off. As in the current timeline, Enterprise was hit in the saucer section with an undetonated photon torpedo which presumably destroyed the ship as Control won in that timeline. Having been shown this vision moments before Enterprise 's failure to destroy Discovery , Burnham stopped the crew from even attempting to do so. Later, Admiral Katrina Cornwell sacrificed herself to save Enterprise from destruction by the torpedo which she predicted would kill at least the bridge crew if it went off and maybe everyone else on the ship. Burnham and Spock came to the conclusion that the time crystal had showed her this possible future so that she could change it. ( DIS : " Such Sweet Sorrow ", " Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2 ")

The Enterprise at Earth Outpost Station 4 in an alternate timeline

• In an alternate timeline in which Captain Christopher Pike managed to avoid his crippling fate, he was still in command of the Enterprise in 2266 during the Neutral Zone Incursion while James T. Kirk was the captain of the USS Farragut instead. In this timeline, the ship suffered heavy damage from the Romulan warbird and took on the Farragut 's survivors before Pike negotiated a cease fire between the two sides. When the Romulans showed up with a full armada in response to the perceived weakness of the Federation, the Enterprise barely escaped, taking severe damage to several more decks. The incident resulted in an endless war between the Federation and the Romulans before the Pike of this future traveled back in time and showed his past self the consequences of avoiding his fate. ( SNW : " A Quality of Mercy ")
• In an alternate timeline created by the death of Spock at the age of seven, Thelin served as the first officer and science officer of the Enterprise . Upon learning of the damaged timeline that Kirk and Spock decided to correct, Thelin was supportive. Upon hearing that, Spock wished Thelin a long and prosperous life in whatever circumstances the corrected timeline placed him in. ( TAS : " Yesteryear ")

List of first contacts [ ]

Over its forty-years of service, the Enterprise made first contact with numerous species.

Robert April's notable first contacts [ ]

• Perricans ( SNW : " Ad Astra per Aspera ")

Christopher Pike's notable first contacts [ ]

• Kalar ( TOS : " The Cage "; SNW : " Among the Lotus Eaters ")
• Talosians ( TOS : " The Cage "; DIS : " If Memory Serves ")
• Gorn ( SNW : " Memento Mori ")
• Kerkhovian ( SNW : " Charades ")
• Kiley ( SNW : " Strange New Worlds ")
• Shepherd ( SNW : " Children of the Comet ")

James T. Kirk's notable 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.

• Balok's species ( TOS : " The Corbomite Maneuver ")
• Miri natives ( TOS : " Miri ")
• Thasians ( TOS : " Charlie X ")
• Greek gods ( TOS : " Who Mourns for Adonais? ")
• Guardian of Forever ( TOS : " The City on the Edge of Forever ") Note: While the Guardian is not necessarily a species, the Enterprise did make first contact with the Guardian of Forever
• Horta ( TOS : " The Devil in the Dark ")
• Keeper's species ( TOS : " Shore Leave ")
• Metrons ( TOS : " Arena ")
• Organians ( TOS : " Errand of Mercy ")
• Ornithoids ( TOS : " Catspaw ")
• Trelane's species ( TOS : " The Squire of Gothos ")
• Vaalians ( TOS : " The Apple ")
• 892-IV natives ( TOS : " Bread and Circuses ")
• Beta XII-A entity ( TOS : " Day of the Dove ")
• Cheron natives ( TOS : " Let That Be Your Last Battlefield ")
• Fabrini ( TOS : " For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky ")
• Gem's species ( TOS : " The Empath ")
• Gorgan ( TOS : " And the Children Shall Lead ")
• Kelvans ( TOS : " By Any Other Name ")
• Melkots ( TOS : " Spectre of the Gun ")
• Platonians ( TOS : " Plato's Stepchildren ")
• Providers ( TOS : " The Gamesters of Triskelion ")
• Arretan ( TOS : " Return to Tomorrow ")
• Scalosians ( TOS : " Wink of an Eye ")
• Sigma Draconis VI natives ( TOS : " Spock's Brain ")
• Vians ( TOS : " The Empath ")
• Aquans ( TAS : " The Ambergris Element ")
• Excalbians ( TOS : " The Savage Curtain ")
• Lactrans ( TAS : " The Eye of the Beholder ")
• Matter-energy cloud ( TAS : " One of Our Planets Is Missing ")
• Megans ( TOS : " The Magicks of Megas-Tu ")
• Phylosians ( TAS : " The Infinite Vulcan ")
• Planet 0042692 natives ( PRO : " All the World's a Stage ") Note: date approximate
• Sarpeidon natives ( TOS : " All Our Yesterdays ")
• Theela's species ( TAS : " The Lorelei Signal ")
• Zetarians ( TOS : " The Lights of Zetar ")
• Delta Theta III aborigines ( TAS : " Bem ")
• Kukulkan's species ( TAS : " How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth ")

Command crew [ ]

Robert april's command crew [ ].

• Robert April ( 2245 – 2250 )
• Christopher Pike ( 2240s –2250)
• Sarah April (2245– 2250s )
• Una Chin-Riley (2240s–2250)

Christopher Pike's command crew [ ]

The crew of the Enterprise under the command of Christopher Pike in 2258

The crew of the Enterprise under the command Christopher Pike in 2259

• Christopher Pike (2250–early 2260s )
• Katrina Cornwell ( 2258 )
• Una Chin-Riley (2250–)
• Louvier ( 2257 )
• Hemmer ( 2259 )
• Pelia (2259)
• Phil Boyce ( 2254 )
• Joseph M'Benga (2259)
• Una Chin-Riley (2250s–2259)
• Erica Ortegas (2259)
• Garison (2254)
• Nicola (2258)
• Nyota Uhura (2259)
• Christina (2259)
• Shankar (2259)
• José Tyler (2254)
• Amin (2258)
• Jenna Mitchell (2259)
• Una Chin-Riley (2259)
• Mann (2258)
• Zuniga (2259)
• Lynne Lucero (sometime after 2250)
• Evan Connolly (2257)
• Kroad (2258)
• Spock ( 2253 –2260s)
• George Samuel Kirk (2259)
• La'an Noonien-Singh (2259)

James T. Kirk's command crew [ ]

The crew of the USS Enterprise enjoy a jovial moment with Captain Kirk

The crew of the USS Enterprise in the early 2270s

The crew of the USS Enterprise in 2285

• James T. Kirk ( 2265 – 2270 , 2270s , 2285 )
• Robert April (2270)
• Will Decker (2270s)
• Spock (2285)
• Spock (2265–2270, 2270s, 2285)
• Willard Decker (2270s)
• Montgomery Scott (2265–2270s, 2285)
• Mark Piper (2265)
• Leonard McCoy ( 2266 –2270, 2270s, 2285)
• Christine Chapel (2270s)
• Gary Mitchell (2265)
• Hikaru Sulu (2266–2270s, 2285)
• Leslie (2266– 2267 )
• Hansen (2267)
• Hadley (2267– 2268 )
• DePaul (2267)
• Spinelli (2267)
• Kyle (2268)
• Rahda (2268)
• Walking Bear (2270)
• Alden (2265)
• Nyota Uhura (2266–2270s, 2285)
• John Farrell (2266)
• Palmer (2267– 2269 )
• Angela Martine (2267)
• Lisa (2269)
• M'Ress (2269–2270)
• Lee Kelso (2265)
• Dave Bailey (2266)
• Kevin Riley (2266)
• Stiles (2266)
• Hadley (2267–2269)
• DeSalle (2267)
• Osborne (2267)
• Leslie (2267)
• Painter (2267)
• Pavel Chekov (2267–2269)
• Jana Haines (2268)
• Arex (2269–2270)
• Ilia (2270s)
• DiFalco (2270s)
• Saavik (2285)
• Pitcairn (2267)
• Giotto (2267)
• Freeman (2268)
• Pavel Chekov (2270s, 2285)
• Hikaru Sulu (2266–2270)
• Pavel Chekov (2267–2270s, 2285)
• Hikaru Sulu (2265)
• Spock (2265–2270, 2270s)
• Sonak (2270s)

Complement [ ]

The number of the Enterprise 's crew complement more than doubled over the duration of its service.

In 2254 , the Enterprise had a complement of 203, this stated following the loss of three crewmembers at Rigel VII. ( TOS : " The Cage ", " The Menagerie, Part I ")

Enterprise 's file

In 2257 , scans showed the entire crew complement was also stated to be 203, yet in a display graphic specifically stated that the crew compliment was 430; 43 officers and 387 enlisted .

In 2265 , the Enterprise 's complement consisted of "almost a hundred women." ( TOS : " Where No Man Has Gone Before ")

In 2266 , Captain Ramart commented to Charlie Evans that the Enterprise was "like a whole city in space ," compared to his ship, the USS Antares , which had a relatively meager complement of twenty. Ramart further explained that there were "over 400 in the crew of a starship ," which was clarified by Kirk as actually "428, to be exact." ( TOS : " Charlie X ")

Jadzia Dax observed to Benjamin Sisko , after they transported aboard the Enterprise , that " they really packed them in on these old ships. " ( DS9 : " Trials and Tribble-ations ")

Casualties [ ]

Service aboard the Enterprise proved to be hazardous duty. Between 2265 and 2269, individuals who were killed while assigned to the ship included at least fifty-eight officers and crew. Nine crew members were killed when the Enterprise encountered the galactic barrier in 2265. Gary Mitchell , Lee Kelso , and Elizabeth Dehner later died on Delta Vega . ( TOS : " Where No Man Has Gone Before ")

Two of seven crewmembers assigned to study Murasaki 312 on the shuttlecraft Galileo – Latimer and Gaetano – both met an unfortunate end, by the hand of a large creature on the planet Taurus II . ( TOS : " The Galileo Seven ")

In 2267, Enterprise security officers Hendorff , Kaplan , Mallory , and Marple were killed on planet Gamma Trianguli VI . ( TOS : " The Apple ") Further incidents with multiple fatalities included four security guards killed by Nomad in 2267, as well as five security guards killed by a dikironium cloud creature on Argus X in 2268. ( TOS : " The Changeling ", " Obsession ") An outbreak of Rigelian fever , in 2269, killed three crewmen and imperiled the rest until a source of ryetalyn could be obtained. ( TOS : " Requiem for Methuselah ")

As well, two Enterprise security officers were beamed out into open space while the ship was under the control of Gorgan . ( TOS : " And the Children Shall Lead ") Lieutenant Galloway was vaporized by Captain Tracey on Omega IV , ( TOS : " The Omega Glory ") but later was somehow resurrected. ( TOS : " Turnabout Intruder ") Yeoman Thompson was reduced to a dry cuboctahedron solid. She was killed when the Kelvan Rojan crushed the object in his hand. ( TOS : " By Any Other Name ")

At some point after stardate 3619.2 in 2268, but before 2270 , security officer Ensign David Garrovick vanished along with the shuttlecraft Galileo from the ship. His ultimate fate on Planet 0042692 was not discovered until 2384 . ( PRO : " All the World's a Stage ")

In the mid- 2270s , Commander Sonak and an Enterprise officer were killed in a transporter accident while beaming to the ship. ( Star Trek: The Motion Picture )

Appendices [ ]

Appearances [ ].

• " The Cage "
• " Where No Man Has Gone Before "
• " The Corbomite Maneuver "
• " Mudd's Women "
• " The Enemy Within "
• " The Man Trap "
• " The Naked Time "
• " Charlie X "
• " Balance of Terror "
• " What Are Little Girls Made Of? "
• " Dagger of the Mind "
• " The Conscience of the King "
• " The Galileo Seven "
• " Court Martial "
• " The Menagerie, Part I "
• " The Menagerie, Part II "
• " Shore Leave "
• " The Squire of Gothos "
• " The Alternative Factor "
• " Tomorrow is Yesterday "
• " The Return of the Archons "
• " A Taste of Armageddon "
• " Space Seed "
• " This Side of Paradise "
• " The Devil in the Dark "
• " Errand of Mercy "
• " The City on the Edge of Forever "
• " Operation -- Annihilate! "
• " Catspaw "
• " Metamorphosis "
• " Friday's Child "
• " Who Mourns for Adonais? "
• " Amok Time "
• " The Doomsday Machine "
• " Wolf in the Fold "
• " The Changeling "
• " The Apple "
• " Mirror, Mirror "
• " The Deadly Years "
• " I, Mudd "
• " The Trouble with Tribbles "
• " Bread and Circuses "
• " Journey to Babel "
• " A Private Little War "
• " The Gamesters of Triskelion "
• " Obsession "
• " The Immunity Syndrome "
• " A Piece of the Action "
• " By Any Other Name "
• " Return to Tomorrow "
• " Patterns of Force "
• " The Ultimate Computer "
• " The Omega Glory "
• " Assignment: Earth "
• " Spectre of the Gun "
• " Elaan of Troyius "
• " The Paradise Syndrome "
• " The Enterprise Incident "
• " And the Children Shall Lead "
• " Spock's Brain "
• " Is There in Truth No Beauty? "
• " The Empath "
• " The Tholian Web "
• " For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky "
• " Day of the Dove "
• " Plato's Stepchildren "
• " Wink of an Eye "
• " That Which Survives "
• " Let That Be Your Last Battlefield "
• " Whom Gods Destroy "
• " The Mark of Gideon "
• " The Lights of Zetar "
• " The Cloud Minders "
• " The Way to Eden "
• " Requiem for Methuselah "
• " The Savage Curtain "
• " All Our Yesterdays "
• " Turnabout Intruder "
• " Beyond the Farthest Star "
• " Yesteryear "
• " One of Our Planets Is Missing "
• " The Lorelei Signal "
• " More Tribbles, More Troubles "
• " The Survivor "
• " The Infinite Vulcan "
• " The Magicks of Megas-Tu "
• " Once Upon a Planet "
• " Mudd's Passion "
• " The Terratin Incident "
• " The Time Trap "
• " The Ambergris Element "
• " The Eye of the Beholder "
• " The Jihad "
• " The Pirates of Orion "
• " The Practical Joker "
• " Albatross "
• " How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth "
• " The Counter-Clock Incident "
• Star Trek: The Motion Picture
• Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
• Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
• Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (recording only)
• " The Naked Now " (exterior shown on bridge readout –Blu-ray version)
• " Datalore " (exterior shown on readout in Data's quarters – Blu-ray version)
• " Relics " (bridge shown on holodeck)
• " Trials and Tribble-ations "
• " What You Leave Behind " (corridor shown in montage)
• ENT : " These Are the Voyages... " (closing montage)
• " Will You Take My Hand? "
• " Brother "
• " If Memory Serves " (archive footage)
• " Such Sweet Sorrow "
• " Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2 "
• " Q&A "
• " Ask Not "
• " Ephraim and Dot "
• PIC : " Maps and Legends " (hologram)
• PRO : " Starstruck " (digital image)
• " Strange New Worlds "
• " Children of the Comet "
• " Ghosts of Illyria "
• " Memento Mori "
• " Spock Amok "
• " Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach "
• " The Serene Squall "
• " The Elysian Kingdom "
• " All Those Who Wander "
• " A Quality of Mercy "
• " The Broken Circle "
• " Ad Astra per Aspera "
• " Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow "
• " Among the Lotus Eaters "
• " Charades "
• " Lost in Translation "
• " Those Old Scientists "
• " Under the Cloak of War "
• " Subspace Rhapsody "
• " Hegemony "
• " Skin a Cat "
• " Holiday Party "
• " Walk, Don't Run "

Background information [ ]

The CG Enterprise from the "remastered" opening credits

The Enterprise on a painting aboard the Enterprise -D

The Enterprise and its interiors in The Original Series were designed primarily by Matt Jefferies . A three-foot demonstration model was completed in November 1964 by the Howard Anderson Company to show to Gene Roddenberry . After getting his approval, an eleven-foot model was then constructed by Richard C. Datin, Jr. , Mel Keys , and Vern Sion at Volmer Jensen 's model shop, and was finished in December 1964 . The eleven-foot model was modified for " Where No Man Has Gone Before " and again for the regular series effect shots. Re-used footage of all three stages of the eleven-foot model's appearance are shown mixed together in TOS.

In the final draft script of " The Naked Time ", the Enterprise was somewhat poetically described thus; " Sleek… efficient… the look of man in space… tooled… equipped… "

For Star Trek: The Animated Series , the color of the Enterprise was limited. D.C. Fontana commented, " For the purposes of animation you can't do the light white, silver kinds of colors. So they made the Enterprise gray and it came off all right. " ( Star Trek: The Magazine  Volume 1, Issue 16 , p. 68)

Some distinctive effects shots of the Enterprise from TOS were recreated in animation for Star Trek: The Animated Series . Depicting the ship performing any new, impressive maneuvers would have been too costly for TAS and would have taken the animators too long to show, despite frequent TAS Director Hal Sutherland later implying that a desire to portray the ship doing " barrel rolls and that kind of thing" was quite common. ( Star Trek: The Magazine  Volume 1, Issue 16 , pp. 63 & 64)

The 2270s configuration of the Enterprise depicted in the films Star Trek: The Motion Picture , Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan , and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock was designed by Richard Taylor and Andrew Probert , based on designs for the vessel made by Matt Jefferies for the undeveloped television series Star Trek: Phase II . The design for the movie version was the basis of a design patent issued by the US Patent and Trademark Office.

The Enterprise was to have appeared in Star Trek: The First Adventure , which would have revealed that the design of the ship in TOS was actually a refit; the original design resembled Enterprise NX-01 , though that vessel was created years earlier. When Star Trek: Discovery season 1's finale aired, this idea was continued, as when the Enterprise showed up at the end, it had elements of the NX-01 incorporated into the new model.

The Enterprise was recreated as a new physical model for the DS9 Season 5 episode " Trials and Tribble-ations ". The ship's interior was represented with sets built on Paramount Stage 11 . ( Information from Larry Nemecek ) The CG model of Constitution -class USS Defiant , created for " In a Mirror, Darkly ", was relabeled as the Enterprise for the final scene of " These Are the Voyages... ", the last episode of Star Trek: Enterprise .

A new CG model, built from caliper measurements of the original eleven-foot physical model, was created for use in the remastered and recreated version of The Original Series (for more detailed treatises on the studio models used, see Constitution -class model (original) .

Visual effects artist Gabriel Koerner created a re-imagined version of the pre-refit Enterprise from the movies. The design is more contemporary, while keeping the design of The Original Series version of the ship. A video showing the ship from various angles can be seen on YouTube. The model was also featured as the August image for the 2007 Ships of the Line calendar , as well as in the Ships of the Line coffee-table book, placed between TOS and TMP images, which included text from Michael Okuda suggesting it as one of the ideas on how to refit the ship.

The Enterprise was pictured on three paintings during the Star Trek franchise: on a painting in the recreation deck of the 2270s configuration of the vessel, in Star Trek: The Motion Picture ; on a painting in the waiting area of the sickbay aboard the USS Enterprise -D , in the Star Trek: The Next Generation fifth season episode " Ethics "; and on a painting on the wall of Kirk's kitchen in the Nexus , in Star Trek Generations .

Upon preparing to view the bridge of the Enterprise in the first draft script of TNG : " Relics ", Montgomery Scott specified, " Show her the way she was before stardate 5928, " referencing the stardate on which TOS series finale " Turnabout Intruder " takes place. Consequently, this line of dialogue would have established that the holographic simulation of the Enterprise 's bridge in "Relics" was definitely contemporaneous with the exact setting of TOS. Scott did not specify that in the final draft of the script, however. [4] The line is also not spoken on screen.

The Enterprise was to have been referenced in the first draft script of VOY : " Flashback ", in connection with its near-destruction at Eminiar VII . However, all mention of the vessel was eliminated from the episode by the time the final draft of the script was written.

A new CGI model was created for the appearance of the USS Enterprise in the Season 1 finale of Star Trek: Discovery , " Will You Take My Hand? ". This model updated the appearance of the USS Enterprise to better match the style of other Starfleet ships depicted in the show, most noticeably changing the Enterprise 's nacelles to have visible, glowing blue cutouts on the inner surface. The impulse engine was also different, and the nacelle pylons were swept back with openings in their centers similar to the 2270s configuration . The new model also had a longer "runway" before the shuttlebay doors.

External links [ ]

• USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) at Wikipedia
• USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) at the Star Trek Online Wiki
• 1 Daniels (Crewman)
• 3 Calypso (episode)

Every "Star Trek" USS Enterprise, Ranked

For the 50th anniversary of the original series, let's look back at the ships of Star Trek .

Star Trek is not solely the story of Enterprise . There's "Deep Space Nine" and "Voyager" and a whole galaxy full of other vessels and settings. But the name ties the icon of the original series back in time to the aircraft carrier and space shuttle of today and forward in time to the other fictional starships Enterprise that would follow. Today, 50 years after the first episode of "Star Trek" aired on TV, let's rank 'em.

9. NCC-1701-B

Of the two Enterprises that fell between the ships of the original series crew and the ships of "The Next Generation" crew, one heroically sacrificed itself to stop a war (we'll get to it in a minute). Then there's the B, which makes a cameo appearance in Generations , a not-great movie, captained by Ferris Bueller's best friend. The Enterprise-B isn't even the definitive ship of its class. It's a clone of the Excelsior , last seen under the command of Captain Sulu in The Undiscovered Country .

The ship of "Star Trek: Enterprise." It's fine.

7. NCC-1701-D ("Next Generation" series finale alternate universe Enterprise)

Bringing in elements from alternate timelines that exist solely within single episodes is a good way to fall down a rabbit hole. However: I reserve the right to talk about this ship and none of the others, because when tween me saw the Enterprise-D transformed into a three-nacelle cloaking-equipped war machine, a barely suppressed "hell yes" sprang from my heart.

6. NCC-1701-A

I always thought the -A was a good-looking ship. It just doesn't have the track record to ascend any higher here. Following its introduction at the end of Star Trek IV , the ship spends Star Trek V the butt of running jokes about how the damn thing doesn't work yet. It's shot up and decommissioned by the conclusion of Star Trek VI . The Enterprise-A has to live down the list because it saved the galaxy only what, twice?

5. NCC-1701-E

Enterprise-E stars in three movies, two of which aren't very good. That scene at the beginning of First Contact , though. Captain Picard defies orders and swoops in with his jagged new Sovereign-Class vessel to kick a little Borg ass and save the fleet. It tells you all you need to know about the swashbuckling version of Star Trek you're about to watch.

4. NCC-1701-C

This ship is a one-shot hero. It appears only in "Yesterday's Enterprise," one of the best episodes of "The Next Generation" and most thoughtful uses of time travel in the series. Accidentally transported to Picard and Riker's era, the ship and her crew must choose to return to certain death in their rightful time, sacrificing themselves to protect a Klingon outpost and ignite the Klingon-Federation alliance that blooms a peace in the 24th century.

3. NCC-1701-D

TNG will forever be my Trek show. I watched it live with my dad and rewatched the collection of episodes he recorded to VHS. I am a Picard man.

The ship, though. For all its neat features like the holodeck and the battle bridge, the Enterprise-D looks like a Mercury Sable station wagon on the outside and a mid-sized American city's convention center on the inside.

2. NCC-1701 (J.J. Abrams universe)

1. NCC-1701

" No bloody A, B, C, or D ."

Andrew's from Nebraska. His work has also appeared in Discover, The Awl, Scientific American, Mental Floss, Playboy, and elsewhere. He lives in Brooklyn with two cats and a snake.

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Star Trek's Odyssey-Class Enterprise-F Starship Explained

This weekend, "Star Trek" fans have been hit with a spate of news from New York Comic-Con, where Paramount+ held three panels on Saturday afternoon revealing developments in the series "Discovery," "Prodigy," and "Picard" ( per Variety ). Among the much-talked-about revelations came a new trailer for the third and final season of "Picard," which is bringing back some familiar villains, such as Moriarty (Daniel Davis) and Lore (Brent Spiner) from "Star Trek: The Next Generation," and giving Worf (Michael Dorn) a new pacifist stance .

Those examining the trailer in minute detail noticed another new addition to the "Star Trek" universe: a version of the Enterprise that's not new to die-hard fans but is now making its way onto television screens: the Odyssey-class Enterprise-F starship. If you're up on your "Star Trek" universe details, you know that its predecessor, the Enterprise-E, first appeared in several installments in the 1990s, and its demise was chronicled in the "Star Trek Online" magazine, issue No. 40, in a short story called "Unexpected Honor" by Christine Thompson. This event made way for a new starship, which will be apparently making its first canon appearance. So, what's the story with the Enterprise-F, anyway? 

The starship was created as a contest entry for Star Trek Online

Back in 2011, Cryptic Design held a "Design the Next Enterprise" contest that was open to fans. Adam Ihle, a Florida-based sculptor and artist , won the competition with a double-necked Enterprise design that is larger and sleeker than previous iterations of the Enterprise starship, with bows at the neck and nacelles. It's designed to work well in the MMORPG's timeline, which takes place in 2409 during an era in which the Federation is at war with the Klingons, with the Romulans, the Dominion, and the Borg Collective as major players and other empires joining in additional expansions.

StarTrek.com's announcement of the win said, "Adam's sketch inspired us. It created internal discussions about the evolution of the Starfleet Cruiser and how this ship represented a new approach to design that would lead us into the future. The silhouette remains familiar and recognizable, yet the ship offers an evolution in design that adds both beauty and function worthy of the name Enterprise ... We're thrilled to have brought this design to life and feel that the final render elegantly captures in high detail the spirit and flow of Adam's original."

The ship was then revealed in a "Star Trek Online" feature episode from 2012 ( via TrekNews.com ). Given that the ship's design is more than a decade old, it might have been a surprise to Ihle that it has appeared in canon, but he is clearly reveling in the attention the "Picard" announcement has provided. "Don't like the Enterprise F? Well, you can hate it all you want and I'll be over here enjoying being a part of canon Star Trek history," he tweeted yesterday .

The ship's graphics were also rebuilt in 2021 by Thomas Marrone, a Cryptic Studios artist.

The Enterprise F has some impressive specs

According to a fan who analyzed the Enterprise-F's design, you can see both elements of the Enterprise-D and -E in the ship's profile; it has an overall shape and elonged front disc shape borrowed from the Enterprise-E, with a hull design, impulse exhaust ports, main shuttle bay, and a sensor array strip on the ship's saucer section that more closely resembles the Enterprise-D.  YouTuber Junkball also points out that the main body of the saucer section has an hourglass section that resembles that of the Enterprise-J, a ship introduced from a possible future in the third season of "Star Trek: Enterprise."

According to Giant Freakin Robot , the size of the Enterprise-F is 1,061.1 meters in length and 371 meters in width, which is much larger than the 685-meter-long Enterprise-E. It holds a standard crew of 1,600 with a crew cap of 2,500 and can travel at a maximum warp speed of 9.99. It is equipped with transwarp and slipstream drives. Giant Bomb further reveals that — at least in-game — the ship has four fore and four aft weapons, and five officer stations. 

However, although the Odyssey-class ship is being made canon, that doesn't mean every detail of it — including the crew's identities — will be. Hopefully, more will be revealed once "Picard" returns to the Paramount+ streaming service with Season 3 on February 16, 2023.

Star Trek: Discovery Proved Burnhams Starship Is Better Than USS EnterpriseIn 1 Big Way

Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Discovery's Series Finale, "Life, Itself"

• The USS Discovery outlasts every version of the USS Enterprise, showcasing its eternal durability and longevity in the Star Trek universe.
• The series finale of Star Trek: Discovery sets up a future where the USS Discovery remains intact for a thousand years, with its final mission shrouded in mystery.
• While many versions of the USS Enterprise have met their demise, the USS Discovery's fate is a lonely but hopeful journey to eventually reunite with its crew centuries later.

Star Trek: Discovery ' s series finale proved that the USS Discovery is better than every known version of the USS Enterprise in one big way. Written by Kyle Jarrow and Michelle Paradise, and directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi, Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 10, "Life, Itself", not only concluded the hunt for the Progenitors' ancient technology, but it ended with a coda that wrapped up the entire series. Discovery 's finale epilogue jumped ahead over 30 years to show Admiral Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) leading the USS Discovery on its final mission - setting up the events of the 2018 Star Trek: Short Treks episode, "Calypso" .

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Finale Ending & Shocking Epilogue Explained

Star Trek: Discovery comes to an end with season 5's finale wrapping up the Progenitors treasure hunt and an epilogue concluding the entire series.

In Star Trek: Short Treks ' "Calypso", the USS Discovery and its artificial intelligence, Zora (Annabelle Wallis), have been isolated in a section of galaxy for about a thousand years. Zora rescues Craft (Aldis Hodge), a human soldier, and brings him aboard. The lonely Zora quickly develops feelings for Craft, and they strike up a touching relationship. However, Craft chooses to return to his family on Alcor IV, and Zora lets him go. Since it premiered in 2018, it was questionable whether "Calypso" was part of Star Trek: Discovery 's canon, but Discovery 's series finale establishes that Zora's final mission is to one day meet Craft so that the events of "Calypso" happen.

Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 4, "Face the Strange", was also an ersatz version of "Calypso", with Zora and the USS Discovery alone in an alternate timeline after the Breen destroyed the United Federation of Planets.

USS Discovery Is Better Than USS Enterprise In One Big Way

Discovery is the eternal starship..

It's clear after Star Trek: Discovery 's finale that the USS Discovery is never destroyed, unlike many versions of the USS Enterprise . The USS Discovery was built in the mid-23rd century and will ultimately survive intact for roughly two thousand years. Discovery leaves the 23rd century for good in the year 2258 and arrives in the 32nd century in the year 3189, with the events of Star Trek: Discovery season 5 occurring in 3191. Star Trek: Discovery 's finale coda takes place roughly 30 years later, in the 3220s, and Discovery survives nearly a thousand years after that, according to Star Trek: Short Treks ' "Calypso". No known version of the USS Enterprise lasts anywhere near that long.

Star Trek: Discovery season 5 established the Mirror Universe's ISS Enterprise survived from the 23rd into the 32nd century, and it's now in storage at Federation HQ.

In contrast, the most beloved versions of the USS Enterprise have famously been destroyed on-screen . The Constitution Class USS Enterprise NCC-1701 was in service for over 40 years but was self-destructed by Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner) in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock . Captain Jean-Luc Picard's (Patrick Stewart) Galaxy Class USS Enterprise-D was destroyed in Star Trek Generations after only 7+ years of service. Other versions of the Starship Enterprise have also been destroyed, while some have lasted and have been displayed at the Fleet Museum on Athan Prime, but it's safe to say no Enterprise can touch the USS Discovery's lifespan.

USS Discoverys Future In Star Trek Explained

Discovery will return in another thousand years..

Star Trek: Discovery ends with the future of the USS Discovery assured, although it is a lonely and tragic destiny that awaits poor Zora. According to Admiral Michael Burnham, Zora must go on a Red Directive mission to an unknown sector of space and the USS Discovery will be abandoned by its crew. Then, Zora's only function is to "wait" for "Craft" - and Admiral Burnham did not know who or what Craft is. To line up with its appearance in Star Trek: Short Treks ' "Calypso", USS Discovery is retrofitted back to its original 23rd century Crossfield Class appearance and given the honor of a full Starfleet sendoff.

There will only ever be one USS Discovery.

However, as Admiral Burnham briefed Zora, after the USS Discovery achieves its mission - however long it takes - it can return to the Federation. Zora will be able to meet the descendants of her original Discovery crew and be of service to Starfleet once more. Star Trek: Short Treks' "Calypso" now establishes that the USS Discovery won't be back until sometime around the 42nd century . By then, if the Federation still exists, it's possible there could have been dozens more versions of the USS Enterprise. But there will only ever be one USS Discovery, Star Trek: Discovery 's eternal starship.

Cast Blu del Barrio, Oded Fehr, Anthony Rapp, Sonequa Martin-Green, Doug Jones, Wilson Cruz, Eve Harlow, Mary Wiseman, Callum Keith Rennie

Streaming Service(s) Paramount+

Franchise(s) Star Trek

Writers Alex Kurtzman

Directors Jonathan Frakes, Olatunde Osunsanmi

Showrunner Alex Kurtzman

Where To Watch Paramount+

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Published May 29, 2024

The Darkest Treks: Star Trek's Closest Calls with Black Holes

From lost probes to ancient treasure, Starfleet's encounters with black holes require science know-how and faith of the heart.

This article contains story details and plot points for Star Trek: Discovery's "Lagrange Point."

StarTrek.com

As the journey of Star Trek: Discovery comes close to reaching its endpoint, the eponymous starship and crew have found themselves at the end of a very long road. In the search for the technology left behind by the mysterious Progenitors , we learn that the technology itself has been hidden at a specific spot, right in a tricky place, between two black holes. In scientific terms, this is called a " Lagrange Point ," which is where the episode gets its name and refers to a location in space between two bodies in which gravitational attraction and repulsion are enhanced, creating what NASA calls "parking spots," in space.

In this case, the two bodies that have created a small parking spot are two black holes, rendered in all their glory, resembling what physicist Kip Thorne posits black holes would really look like if observed from a spaceship. But, Star Trek has been thinking about black holes, long before current science was really sure what they might look like, and, as such, Starfleet's history with this phenomenon goes deep. So deep, you might say, that light can't even escape!

Here's a brief history of Star Trek 's best black hole adventures, and how these wonderfully mysterious phenomena continue to pull us in.

Voyager 6 … I Presume?

Star Trek: The Motion Picture

In Star Trek: The Motion Picture , the crew of the Enterprise learn that a giant machine intelligence known as V'Ger is really a mash-up of an ancient alien lifeform and an old Earth space probe called Voyager 6 . Decker tells us that the probe "disappeared into what they used to call a black hole." In 1979, the same year as the Disney sci-fi romp titled The Black Hole , the actual term "black hole" was still relatively new, at least in the popular consciousness. Although the etymology of "black hole," can be traced to the early 1960s, it was not until 1967 — smack-dab in the middle of the first run of The Original Series — that the scientific term became more widely used. Before the 1960s, referring to a collapsed star with an unbeatable gravitational pull wasn't standardized, and as far back as the 1700s, the term "dark star" was often used instead.

"Beyond the Farthest Star"

This is why Decker says people used to call various gravitational phenomena black holes. At the time, the coinage was still fairly new! In The Animated Series debut episode, "Beyond the Farthest Star," the Enterprise gets into the orbit of a "dead star," which is an imprecise astronomical term, because again, at the time, black holes had just recently become fully codified as black holes.The 1967 TOS episode " Tomorrow is Yesterday ," also mentions that the Enterprise uses a "black star" to create a slingshot effect and travel back in time. In theoretical physics, a "black star" is a kind of alternative theory to a black hole, but, it's also possible that in "Tomorrow is Yesterday," Starfleet merely called it a black star, and it was really a black hole.

In real life, NASA has not lost any probes to black holes, at least not that we know. But, on Voyager I and Voyager II , there is a golden record, containing various pieces of information about Earth, including an audio recording of Nick Sagan saying, "Hello from the children of planet Earth." Sagan is the son of Carl Sagan and was a writer for The Next Generation and Voyager .

Singularity Headaches from Voyager to Enterprise

"Parallax"

Speaking of spacecraft called " Voyager ," the wayward crew in Star Trek: Voyager dealt with more than their fair share of black hole conundrums. In the second regular episode of Voyager , ever, " Parallax ," they encounter an event horizon of a "quantum singularity." In physics, the center of a black hole is called a singularity, the place of infinite density. In "Parallax," the proximity to this singularity the Voyager crew believed there was another ship trapped in the same area of space, but, in reality, it was a time-delayed echo of Voyager itself.

In the episode " Hunters ," the Voyager crew was able to transform a microsingularity into a full-blown black hole, and thus, destroy an attacking Hirogen ship. A few years later in Earth time — but roughly 200 years prior in Star Trek time —  the Enterprise episode " Singularity " found the crew of the NX-01 skirting the edge of a black hole, resulting in everyone becoming obsessed with irritating minutiae. You could say, the proximity to the singularity of a black hole made the crew single-minded .

Real Black Holes Come To Star Trek

"If Memory Serves"

As NASA has pointed out over the years, black holes are not fully understood by contemporary science, an evolving truth that is reflected over the years throughout all of Star Trek , too. This is why, it wasn't until the 2019 Discovery episode " If Memory Serves " that we got our first Star Trek glimpse of what current science thinks a black hole might really look like. When siblings Spock and Burnham take an unauthorized road trip to Talos IV, the Talosians create an illusionary black hole around their planet to ward off the visitors. From this point, all versions of Star Trek have begun using this conception of black holes on-screen. While the red-matter-generated black hole Spock created in the 2009 Star Trek film looks incredible, the version first depicted in Discovery Season 2 is more scientifically up-to-date.

This contemporary version of a black hole also appeared in the Strange New Worlds episode " Memento Mori ," in which the Enterprise crew uses the gravity of a brown dwarf star — tethered to a black hole — to escape attacks from the Gorn. A black star of this nature also appears in the opening credits of every single episode of Lower Decks , in which it appears the U.S.S. Cerritos almost gets sucked into a black hole, but, thankfully, narrowly escapes.

"Lagrange Point"

Because Discovery pioneered this newer look for black holes, it's fitting that two black holes appear in the penultimate episode of the entire series. From navigating the multiverse to the mycelial network, Discovery has had more than its fair share of encounters with the stormy weather of outer space. But, with the double black holes of "Lagrange Point," Discovery proves that when it comes to space obstacles, sometimes, the classics work best.

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Ryan Britt is the author of the nonfiction books Phasers on Stun! How the Making and Remaking of Star Trek Changed the World (2022), The Spice Must Flow: The Journey of Dune from Cult Novels to Visionary Sci-Fi Movies (2023), and the essay collection Luke Skywalker Can’t Read (2015). He is a longtime contributor to Star Trek.com and his writing regularly appears with Inverse, Den of Geek!, Esquire and elsewhere. He lives in Portland, Maine with his family.

Star Trek: Discovery Seasons 1-4 are streaming exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S., the UK, Canada, Switzerland, South Korea, Latin America, Germany, France, Italy, Australia and Austria. Seasons 2 and 3 also are available on the Pluto TV “Star Trek” channel in Switzerland, Germany and Austria. The series streams on Super Drama in Japan, TVNZ in New Zealand, and SkyShowtime in Spain, Portugal, Poland, The Nordics, The Netherlands, and Central and Eastern Europe and also airs on Cosmote TV in Greece. The series is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.

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Star trek: enterprise’s time traveler daniels & discovery reveal explained.

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Star Trek: Discovery’s David Cronenberg & Doctor Kovich Explained

Pauley perrette reunites with longtime ncis co-star years after exiting as abby in new photos, daryl dixon season 2 can't ignore the 3-year-old zombie outbreak mystery season 1 forgot about.

WARNING: Contains SPOILERS for Star Trek: Discovery 's finale, "Life, Itself".

• Discovery's finale revealed Dr. Kovich was an older version of Crewman Daniels, linking the show to Enterprise.
• Kovich's true identity as Daniels reaffirms strong links between Discovery and Enterprise.
• The reveal opens up the possibility of future appearances by David Cronenberg in the Star Trek franchise.

Star Trek: Discovery 's finale revealed that the enigmatic Dr. Kovich (David Cronenberg) was an older version of Crewman Daniels (Matt Winston), so who was Star Trek: Enterprise 's time traveler? Since the USS Discovery arrived in the 32nd century, they've occasionally come under Dr. Kovich's jurisdiction, most notably during season 5's hunt for the Progenitors' technology. Kovich has always been an enigmatic figure, leading many to question the Federation scientist's motivations in Star Trek: Discovery seasons 3 to 5. As a reward for successfully completing her Red Directive mission, Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) got to learn Kovich's true identity.

By revealing that Kovich was actually the Star Trek: Enterprise character , Daniels, the ending of Star Trek: Discovery 's finale brought the show full circle in one key way. Discovery season 1 was set between the end of Enterprise and the start of Star Trek: The Original Series , meaning that it could only refer to the adventures of Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) and the Enterprise NX-01. For example, Discovery 's Mirror Universe arc heavily referenced Enterprise 's two-parter "Through a Mirror, Darkly", involving the original USS Defiant. By revealing that Kovich was actually Enterprise 's Temporal Agent Daniels, Discovery reaffirms its strong links to the Scott Bakula show.

Cult director and Star Trek fan David Cronenberg played the enigmatic Dr. Kovich in Discovery seasons 3 to 5, and now we finally know who he is.

Star Trek: Enterprise’s Daniels & Temporal Wars Explained

Daniels first appeared in Star Trek: Enterprise season 1, episode 11, "Cold Front", in which he was revealed to be a Temporal Agent from the far future. Daniels had infiltrated the Enterprise NX-01 prior to the leader of the Suliban Cabal, Silik (John Fleck) coming aboard. The Suliban Cabal were in the employ of one of the main powers in the Temporal Wars that started in the 29th century and rippled back through history. By capturing Silik, Daniels had hoped to reduce the Cabal's influence, but he was killed in the course of his mission.

In Star Trek: Discovery , Kovich refers to himself as "Agent Daniels, USS Enterprise", but Archer's Enterprise wasn't officially redesignated that until Star Trek: Picard season 3.

When Daniels returned in Star Trek: Enterprise 's season 1 finale, he told Archer that he had died " in a manner of speaking " which suggests the Temporal Agent retained knowledge of aborted timelines . This would also explain Kovich's reference to living " many lives " in Star Trek: Discovery 's finale. As the Enterprise NX-01 was a vitally important starship in the history of Starfleet and the Federation, it was a prime target for Temporal Wars powers who wanted to rewrite history without the Federation in it. Therefore, Daniels and Archer regularly worked together, ensuring that the course of history ran its correct course.

What Doctor Kovich’s Reveal As Daniels Means For Star Trek

There are some interesting ramifications for the wider franchise created by the revelations about Doctor Kovich in Star Trek: Discovery 's finale. Kovich always had an impressive amount of knowledge about the Temporal Wars and its damaging effects on the barriers between the alternate Star Trek timelines. Now that audiences know he's an older Agent Daniels, they know he's seen these effects first-hand, and is not merely repeating the archival information in the Federation databanks. More widely, however, Discovery 's Star Trek: Enterprise twist creates the possibility of future appearances by David Cronenberg.

While time travel was apparently banned by the Federation in the 32nd century, Dr. Kovich has proved time and again that he answers to a higher power. It wouldn't be beyond the realms of possibility, therefore, for Kovich to instigate a Red Directive mission that sees him enlist the services of Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds . After all, SNW season 2, episode 3, "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow" revealed that Star Trek: Enterprise 's Temporal Wars are still ongoing. Therefore, Star Trek: Discovery 's reveal that Daniels is still in active service could now reignite the conflict elsewhere in the franchise.

All episodes of Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Enterprise are streaming now on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Discovery

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Star Trek: Discovery is an entry in the legendary Sci-Fi franchise, set ten years before the original Star Trek series events. The show centers around Commander Michael Burnham, assigned to the USS Discovery, where the crew attempts to prevent a Klingon war while traveling through the vast reaches of space.

Star Trek: Enterprise

Star Trek: Enterprise acts as a prequel to Star Trek: The Original Series, detailing the voyages of the original crew of the Starship Enterprise in the 22nd century, a hundred years before Captain Kirk commanded the ship. Enterprise was the sixth series in the Star Trek franchise overall, and the final series before a twelve-year hiatus until the premiere of Star Trek: Discovery in 2017. The series stars Scott Bakula as Captain Jonathan Archer, with an ensemble cast that includes John Billingsley, Jolene Blalock, Dominic Keating, Anthony Montgomery, Linda Park, and Connor Trinneer.

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The voyages of the Starship Enterprise came to a sudden and premature end on June 3, 1969, with the airing of the final episode of the Star Trek original television series. Ironically, the show’s cancellation came just six weeks before humanity embarked on its first voyage to land on another celestial body. Although the show ran for only three seasons, it generated a devoted fan base disappointed by the cancellation despite their write-in campaign to keep it on the air. But as things turned out, over the decades Star Trek evolved into a global phenomenon, first with the original episodes replayed in syndication, followed by a series of full-length motion pictures, and eventually a multitude of spin-off series. With its primary focus on space exploration, along with themes of diversity, inclusion, and innovation, the Star Trek fictional universe formed a natural association with NASA’s real life activities.

Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry first had the idea for a science fiction television series in 1964. He presented his idea, a show set in the 23 rd century aboard a starship with a crew dedicated to exploring the galaxy, to Desilu Productions, an independent television production company headed by Lucille Ball. They produced a pilot titled “The Cage,” selling it to the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) network that then bought a second pilot titled “Where No Man Has Gone Before.” NBC introduced the show to its fall 1966 lineup, with the first episode “The Man Trap” airing on Sep. 8. To put that date in perspective, NASA launched Gemini XI four days later, one of the missions that helped the agency achieve the Moon landing nearly three years later. Meanwhile, Star Trek’s Starship Enterprise continued its fictional five-year mission through the galaxy to “seek out new life and new civilizations.” The makeup of the Enterprise’s crew made the show particularly attractive to late 1960s television audiences. The major characters included an African American woman communications officer, an Asian American helmsman, and a half-human half-Vulcan science officer, later joined by a Russian-born ensign. While the show enjoyed good ratings during its first two seasons, cuts to its production budget resulted in lower quality episodes during its third season leading to lower ratings and, despite a concerted letter-writing campaign from its dedicated fans, eventual cancellation.

Despite the show’s cancellation, Star Trek lived on and prospered in syndication and attracted an ever-growing fan base, turning into a worldwide sensation. Often dubbed “trekkies,” these fans held the first of many Star Trek conventions in 1972. When in 1976 NASA announced that it would name its first space shuttle orbiter Constitution, in honor of its unveiling on the anniversary of the U. S. Constitution’s ratification, trekkies engaged in a dedicated letter writing campaign to have the orbiter named Enterprise, after the starship in the television series. This time the fans’ letter writing campaign succeeded. President Gerald R. Ford agreed with the trekkies and directed NASA to rechristen the first space shuttle. When on Sept. 17, 1976 , it rolled out of its manufacturing plant in Palmdale, California, appropriately accompanied by a band playing the show’s theme song, it bore the name Enterprise. Many of the original cast members of the show as well as its creator Rodenberry participated in the rollout ceremony, hosted by NASA Administrator James C. Fletcher . Thus began a lengthy relationship between the space agency and the Star Trek brand.

During the development of the space shuttle in the 1970s, the need arose to recruit a new group of astronauts to fly the vehicle, deploy the satellites, and perform the science experiments. When NASA released the call for the new astronaut selection on July 8, 1976, it specifically encouraged women and minorities to apply. To encourage those applicants, NASA chose Nichelle Nichols, who played communications officer Lt. Uhura on the Starship Enterprise, to record a recruiting video and speak to audiences nationwide. She came to NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston in March 1977, and accompanied by Apollo 12 and Skylab 3 astronaut Alan L. Bean , toured the center and filmed scenes for the video in Mission Control and other facilities. NASA hoped that her stature and popularity would encourage women and minorities to apply, and indeed they did. In January 1978, when NASA announced the selection of 35 new astronauts from more than 8,000 applicants, for the first time the astronaut class included women and minorities. All distinguished themselves as NASA astronauts and paved the way for others in subsequent astronaut selections. Nichols returned to JSC in September 2010 with the Traveling Space Museum, an organization that partners with schools to promote space studies. She toured Mission Control and the International Space Station trainer accompanied by NASA astronaut B. Alvin Drew . She also flew aboard NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) airborne telescope aircraft managed by NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, California, in September 2015.

Meanwhile, the Star Trek brand renewed itself in 1979 as a full-length motion picture with the original TV series cast members reprising their roles. Over the years, several sequels followed this first film. And on the small screen, a reboot of sorts occurred in 1987 with the premiere of Star Trek: The Next Generation, a new series set in the 24 th century aboard the Enterprise-D, a next generation starship with a new crew. That series lasted seven seasons, followed by a near-bewildering array of spin-off series, all built on the Star Trek brand, that continue to this day.

James Doohan, the actor who played Lt. Cmdr. Montgomery “Scotty” Scott, the Starship Enterprise’s chief engineer, had early associations with NASA. In April 1967, Doohan visited NASA’s Dryden (now Armstrong) Flight Research Center in California, spending time with NASA test pilot Bruce A. Peterson. A month later, Peterson barely survived a horrific crash of the experimental M2-F2 lifting body aircraft. He inspired the 1970s TV series The Six-Million Dollar Man, and the show’s opening credits include film of the crash. Doohan narrated a documentary film about the space shuttle released shortly before Columbia made its first flight in April 1981. In January 1991, Doohan visited JSC and with NASA astronaut Mario Runco (who sometimes went by the nickname “Spock”) toured the shuttle trainers, Mission Control, and tried his hand at operating the shuttle’s robotic arm in the Manipulator Development Facility. In a unique tribute, astronaut Neil A. Armstrong , the first person to step on the lunar surface , spoke at Doohan’s retirement in 2004, addressing him as “one old engineer to another.”

George Takei, who played Enterprise helmsman Lt. Hikaru Sulu, and his husband Brad, visited JSC in May 2012. Invited by both Asian American and LGBTQ+ Employee Resource Groups, Takei spoke of leadership and inclusiveness, including overcoming challenges while in Japanese American internment camps during World War II and as a member of the LGBTQ+ community. He noted that Star Trek remained ahead of its time in creating a future when all members of society could equally participate in great undertakings, at a time when the country struggled through the Civil Rights movement and the conflict in Southeast Asia. The inclusiveness that is part of NASA’s culture greatly inspired him. JSC Director Michael L. Coats presented Takei with a plaque including a U.S. flag flown aboard space shuttle Atlantis’ STS-135 mission. He also visited Mission Control and spent some time with Robonaut.

Leonard Nimoy played the science officer aboard the Starship Enterprise, the half-human, half-Vulcan Mr. Spock. The actor watched in September 2012 when space shuttle Enterprise arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, on the last leg of its journey to the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, where it currently resides. “This is a reunion for me,” observed Nimoy. “Thirty-five years ago, I met the Enterprise for the first time.” As noted earlier, the Star Trek cast attended the first space shuttle’s rollout in 1976. Following his death in 2015, European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti paid tribute to Nimoy aboard the International Space Station by wearing a Star Trek science officer uniform, giving the Vulcan greeting, and proclaiming, “Of all the souls I have encountered … his was the most human.”

Captain James T. Kirk, played by actor William Shatner, a life-long advocate of science and space exploration, served at the helm of the Starship Enterprise. His relationship with NASA began during the original series, with references to the space agency incorporated into several story lines. In 2011, Shatner hosted and narrated a NASA documentary celebrating the 30 th anniversary of the Space Shuttle program , and gave his time and voice to other NASA documentaries. NASA recognized Shatner’s contributions in 2014 with a Distinguished Public Service Medal , the highest award NASA bestows on non-government individuals. NASA Deputy Associate Administrator for Communications Robert “Bob” N. Jacobs presented the medal to Shatner. The award’s citation read, “For outstanding generosity and dedication to inspiring new generations of explorers around the world, and for unwavering support for NASA and its missions of discovery.” In 2019, Shatner narrated the NASA video We Are Going , about NASA’s plans to return astronauts to the Moon. He has spoken at numerous NASA-themed events and moderated panels about NASA’s future plans. On Oct. 13, 2021, at the age of 90, Shatner reached the edge of space during the NS-18 suborbital flight of Blue Origin’s New Shepard vehicle, experiencing three minutes of weightlessness.

Elements of the Star Trek universe have made their way not only into popular culture but also into NASA culture. As noted above, Star Trek fans had a hand in naming the first space shuttle Enterprise. NASA’s Earth observation facility aboard the space station that makes use of its optical quality window bears the name the Window Observational Research Facility (WORF). The connection between that acronym and the name of a Klingon officer aboard the Enterprise in the Star Trek: The Next Generation TV series seemed like an opportunity not to be missed – the facility’s official patch bears its name in English and in Klingon. Several astronaut crews have embraced Star Trek themes for their unofficial photographs. The STS-54 crew dressed in the uniforms of Starship Enterprise officers from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn, the second full-length feature motion picture of the series. Space shuttle and space station crews created Space Flight Awareness (SFA) posters for their missions, and more than one embraced Star Trek themes. The Expedition 21 crew dressed in uniforms from the original series, while the STS-134 crew chose as their motif the 2009 reboot motion picture Star Trek.

As much as Star Trek has influenced NASA, in turn the agency has left its mark on the franchise, from episodes referencing actual and future spaceflight events to NASA astronauts making cameo appearances on the show. The first-season episode “Court Martial” that aired in February 1967 featured a photograph of the December 1965 Gemini VI launch adorning a wall aboard a star base. In the second-season episode “Return to Tomorrow,” airing in February 1968, Captain Kirk in a dialogue about risk-taking remarks, “Do you wish that the first Apollo mission hadn’t reached the Moon?” a prescient reference to the first Apollo mission to reach the Moon more than 10 months after the episode aired. Astronaut Mae C. Jemison , who credits Nichelle Nichols as her inspiration to become an astronaut, appeared in the 1993 episode “Second Chances” of Star Trek: The Next Generation , eight months after her actual spaceflight aboard space shuttle Endeavour. In May 2005, two other NASA astronauts, Terry W. Virts and E. Michael Fincke , appeared in “These are the Voyages…,” the final episode of the series Star Trek: Enterprise.

In the 2016 documentary “ NASA on the Edge of Forever: Science in Space ,” host NASA astronaut Victor J. Glover states, “Science and Star Trek go hand-in-hand.” The film explores how for 50 years, Star Trek influenced scientists, engineers, and even astronauts to reach beyond their potential. While the space station doesn’t speed through the galaxy like the Starship Enterprise, much of the research conducted aboard the orbiting facility can make the fiction of Star Trek come a little closer to reality. Several of the cast members from the original TV series share their viewpoints in the documentary, along with those of NASA managers and scientists. Over the years, NASA has created several videos highlighting the relationship between the agency and the Star Trek franchise. In 2016, NASA Administrator Charles F. Bolden led a video tribute to celebrate the 50 th anniversary of the first Star Trek episode.

In 2021, on the 100 th anniversary of Gene Roddenberry’s birth, his son Rod hosted a virtual panel discussion , introduced by NASA Administrator C. William “Bill” Nelson , about diversity and inspiration, two ideals the Star Trek creator infused into the series. Panelists included Star Trek actor Takei, Tracy D. Drain, flight systems engineer for the Europa Clipper spacecraft at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, NASA astronaut Jonny Kim , Swati Mohan, guidance and operations lead for the Mars 2020 rover at JPL, and Hortense B. Diggs, Director of the Office of Communication and Public Engagement at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The mutual attraction between NASA and Star Trek stems from, to paraphrase the opening voiceover from the TV series, that both seek to explore and discover new worlds, and to boldly go where no one has gone before. The diversity, inclusion, and inspiration involved in these endeavors ensure that they will live long and prosper.

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‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Costume Designer Breaks Down Wedding Outfits, Progenitors Looks and New Starfleet Uniforms

By Scott Mantz

Scott Mantz

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After 65 episodes, “ Star Trek: Discovery ” boldly wrapped up its ambitious five-season run with “Life, Itself,” in which Captain Michael Burnham ( Sonequa Martin-Green) finally found the technology of the Progenitors that she and her crew had searched for, only to let it stay hidden after deeming that it too powerful to be in the hands of one civilization.

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After they were first introduced in a 1993 episode of “The Next Generation,” the Progenitors were finally revealed in “Life, Itself,” though with updated attire. As Tran explains, “I think costumes from the older shows look like they’re from the time from when the show originated, so our Progenitor had to feel a bit more ethereal. It became a lot about the materials we used, which had some metallic flax in it. That made it feel kind of amorphous, and the way it was cut was meant to be modern with a little cape, which also made it feel a little angelic. But the overall goal was just to make it feel as timeless as possible.”

As for the royal 32nd Century wedding between Saru and T’Rina, Tran found inspiration from another royal wedding, this one from the 20th Century. “My main reference point was Grace Kelly’s wedding to Prince Rainier. He was wearing his traditional thing, and then she came from Hollywood wearing her traditional thing.”

When it came to T’Rina’s wedding gown, which weighed 27 pounds, Tran went much further back into “Star Trek’s” past. “We looked at Vulcan weddings from ‘Star Trek’ canon. We looked at T’Pring times two. There’s T’Pring from ‘The Original Series’ [from the 1967 episode ‘Amok Time’] and there’s T’Pring from ‘Strange New Worlds’ [from the 2023 episode ‘Charades’]. In the ’60s show, there was a metallic trim that ran down her dress, and then a similar idea that was updated for “Strange New Worlds.”

Tran further explains, “We also looked at ‘Enterprise,’ where the character T’Pol also had a Vulcan wedding [in the 2004 episode ‘Home’]. She had a veil perched on her head, but our version is much more dramatic and sculptural, and we used tent wire to make it as big as possible. Otherwise, the dress was very much inspired by Grace Kelly’s wedding dress. It’s just the 32nd Century version of that mixed with Vulcan.”

Soon after filming wrapped on the fifth season in November of 2022, Tran got a call from “Discovery” showrunner Michelle Paradise. “She said that this is going to be our final season, but we’re coming back, and we’re shooting this coda that will flash forward to the future. I’m going to send you the script pages, and then you’ll get to work. I had a little over a month to prep for that.”

About a third of Tran’s 65-person wardrobe department returned for the coda, which was filmed over just three days in the spring of 2023. A new time frame meant new Starfleet uniforms for now-Admiral Michael Burnham and her son, Captain Leto. “You can’t alter the look of the uniforms too much, and you can’t really change the color,” says Tran. “You also can’t do much with the silhouette. The shape is what it is, so it became more about putting it together in a way that felt interesting.”

Tran did just that by drawing inspiration from the look of two classic “Star Trek” eras. “We really wanted to honor ‘Discovery,’ but we also wanted to pay tribute to the ‘Star Trek’ legacy as a whole, so I looked at other uniforms. One was from ‘Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan,’ those red uniforms. That was definitely the reference for Burnham, and we wanted it to be as bold as possible. We did two shades in our version. One is a darker shade, and there’s a lighter shade, just to give it some contrast, especially with the way we were sewing it.”

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