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Columbia (NX-02) an NX class starship in the Star Trek fictional universe which is featured on the television series Star Trek: Enterprise. The vessel, which carries the registry number NX-02, is the sister vessel of Enterprise NX-01 in Earth's Starfleet.
Construction of the vessel began after the launch of Enterprise in 2151 and it was shown on screen for the first time in the second season episode "The Expanse." At that time the vessel had no name, and there was speculation as to what the ship would be given. In the third season episode, "E2", it was revealed that the vessel had been named Columbia, in honor of the Space Shuttle Columbia.
Columbia was still being built as of the start of the fourth season (said to take place in the year 2154), and the episode "Home" established that its first commanding officer will be Captain Erika Hernandez.
Some Trek fans have suggested that the naming of a female captain contradicts a line of dialogue in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode, "Turnabout Intruder" that suggested that at the time of Captain Kirk, women were not allowed to command starships. Defenders of Enterprise counter that the line of dialogue could be interpreted to mean that starship captains can't afford to become romantically attached to the opposite sex; alternately, it could also mean that, for whatever reason, women were not allowed to be captains at the time of the Original Series. Gene Roddenberry, creator of Star Trek, was on record as regretting that this line of dialogue made it into his show, so in that respect, the appointing of a female captain in the prequel series, Enterprise, is more in keeping with Roddenberry's original vision for the future.
It remains to be seen what impact Columbia and Capt. Hernandez will have on the missions of Enterprise in the future, however it is known that the vessel will be featured in a two-part storyline involving the Klingons scheduled for broadcast in early 2005.
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