USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)/Background information

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USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)
Ncc-1701-enterprise-2267-versiga-01.jpg
The Enterprise in interstellar space. (2267)
History
United Federation of Planets
Name: USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)
Builder:
  • Star Fleet Division
  • San Francisco Yards, Earth
Laid down: 16 Jul 2218
Launched: 04 Jul 2220
Commissioned: 01 Jan 2221
Status: Converted
Builder:
  • Star Fleet Division
  • Orbital Drydock 5, Earth
In service: 30 Aug 2241
Out of service: 04 Dec 2242
Status: Converted
Builder:
  • Starfleet Engineering
  • Orbital Drydock 10, Earth
In service: 4 Dec 2271
Struck: 4 Dec 2285
Fate: Lost
General characteristics
Class and type: Constitution-class
Displacement: 2,391 tons
Length: 94.98 metres (311 ft 7 12 in)
Beam: 8.31 metres (27 ft 3 in)
Complement: 240
General characteristics (2241-refit)
Class and type: Bonhamme Richard-class
Displacement: 2,391 tons
Complement: 430
General characteristics (2271-refit)
Class and type: Enterprise-class
Displacement: 2,391 tons
Length: 94.98 metres (311 ft 7 12 in)
Beam: 8.31 metres (27 ft 3 in)
Complement: 430
Real-World This article has a real-world perspective! Click here for more information
File:MarsTOSremastered-Intro.jpg
The CG Enterprise from the "remastered" opening credits
File:Sickbay painting.jpg
The Enterprise on a painting aboard the Enterprise-D

The Enterprise and its interiors 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 TOS: "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 seen mixed together in TOS.

In the final draft script of TOS: "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."[1]

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.[2]

The refit 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 Andrew Probert, based on designs for the vessel made by Matt Jefferies for undeveloped television series Star Trek: Phase II. The design for the movie refit 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 that revealed the design of the ship in TOS was actually a refit; the original design resembled Enterprise NX-01, though that vessel was created years later.

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 (NCC-1764), 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 Star Trek: The Original Series (for more detailed treatises on the studio models used, see the appropriate articles: Constitution-class model (original) and Constitution-class model (refit)).

Visual effects artist Gabriel Koerner created a re-imagined version of the pre-refit Enterprise. The design is more contemporary, while keeping the design of the original 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 refitted vessel in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, on a painting in the waiting area of the sickbay aboard the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)1= 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. [1] 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 updates the appearance of the USS Enterprise to better match the style of Starfleet ships seen in the show, most noticeably changing the warp nacelles to have visible, glowing blue cutouts on the inner surface. The impulse engine is also different and the nacelle pylons are swept back with openings in their centers similar to the refit configuration. The new model also has a longer "runway" before the shuttlebay doors.

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Appendices[edit | edit source]

See also[edit | edit source]

For the alternate reality counterpart, please see USS Enterprise (NCC-1701 alternate reality).
For the mirror universe counterpart, please see ISS Enterprise (NCC-1701).
For the Gideon replica, please see USS Enterprise (replica).
"All I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by."
– James T. Kirk, 2268[3]

References[edit | edit source]

External links[edit | edit source]