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The USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) (or Enterprise-D, to distinguish it from prior starships with the same name) is a 24th century starship in the Star Trek fictional universe and the principal setting of the Star Trek: The Next Generation television series. The Enterprise-D is a ''Galaxy'' class ship and the fifth Federation starship to carry the name.
History Entering service in 2363, the Enterprise serves eight years as the flagship of the Federation Starfleet until its destruction in 2371. Throughout its mission, it is primarily under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard; however, William Riker and Edward Jellico briefly commanded the ship. As the third Galaxy class ship, after the prototype starship USS ''Galaxy'' and the USS ''Yamato'', the Enterprise-D was commissioned on October 4, 2363 after its construction at the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards orbiting Mars. It becomes one of the most important and noted ships of the late 24th century while under the command of Captain Picard. The ship's crew makes first contact with a multitude of species, including the Borg, the Q Continuum, and the Ferengi. The crew's diplomatic efforts, such as mitigating Romulan aid to the Duras faction during the Klingon Civil War and preventing a Cardassian strike near the McAllister C5 Nebula, help cool tensions among other races and prevent dramatic upheavals to Federation security. The Enterprise-D is instrumental in the defeat of the Borg during their 2366 attempt to invade the Federation. In 2371, as depicted in Star Trek: Generations, the Klingon Duras sisters render the Enterprise-D's shields useless by finding the shields' modulation frequency and altering their weapons accordingly. Although the Enterprise-D destroys the sisters' ship, damage to the warp drive coolant system prompts an emergency saucer separation. The warp core breaches moments after the saucer begins to move away. The resulting shock-wave impacts the saucer, disabling propulsion and other primary systems, sending it into Veridian III's atmosphere. Caught in the planet's gravity, the saucer section crash-lands on the surface, damaged beyond repair. Alternate future timeline In the alternate future featured in the TNG series finale "All Good Things...", the Enterprise-D is shown intact in 2395. In this alternate future, the ship is commanded by Admiral William Riker and has undergone major refits, including the addition of a third warp nacelle, new weapons, a faster propulsion system, and a cloaking device. This future timeline arises from a temporal anomaly that Picard, with Q's help, manages to eliminate. Design notes Andrew Probert, who assisted in updating the original Enterprise for Star Trek: The Motion Picture, designed the Enterprise-D. Originally tasked with designing the bridge, Probert had a "what if" sketch hanging on his wall that he had drawn after working on The Motion Picture. Story editor David Gerrold saw the sketch and brought it to creator Gene Roddenberry's attention, who approved the sketch as a starting point for the Enterprise-D's design. An Industrial Light and Magic supervised by Ease Owyeung built two filming miniatures (a six-foot model and a two-foot model) for the "Encounter at Farpoint" pilot, and these models were used throughout the first two seasons. For the third season, model-maker Greg Jein built a four-foot miniature, which had an added layer of surface plating detail, that first appeared in "The Defector" and was used throughout the rest of the series. The six-foot model was used whenever a saucer separation sequence needed to be filmed, and was then updated by ILM for use in Star Trek: Generations. ILM's John Knoll also built a CGI Electric Image model of the Enterprise-D for Generations. That model was transferred to LightWave and used to create various ''Galaxy'' class starships in episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and in the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Timeless". Eden FX's Gabriel Köerner built a new CGI LightWave model for the Enterprise-D's appearance in Star Trek: Enterprises series finale, "These Are the Voyages...". Trivia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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