The starship Enterprise (NX-01)
The Enterprise (NX-01) is a starship in the Star Trek fictional universe commanded by Captain Jonathan Archer. It is the primary setting of the television series Star Trek: Enterprise.
Commissioned in 2151, the NX-01 was the first of the NX class, Starfleet's first true interstellar vessels, with top speeds of warp 5, considerably faster than any other human vessels of the era. (In the fourth season episode, "Babel One", Enterprise exceeded Warp 5 for the first time, achieving a maximum speed of Warp 5.06 thanks to newly-installed injectors.)
Enterprise established a human presence in previously uncharted regions of space, bringing together the Andorians and Vulcans—two species who had been on the verge of war for years.
Captain Archer was responsible for making first contact with the Suliban, Tholians, Klingons and, Romulans, among others, although few of these encounters went very well.
The NX-01 was originally armed with plasma cannon and torpedo launchers loaded with Triton-class high explosive rounds, and defended by sturdy armour plating. Later upgrades saw the Enterprise being turned into a military vessel, with the plasma cannon being replaced by Phase Cannons and the Triton warheads with photonic antimatter torpedoes. These new weapons systems were still in the experimental stage.
The starship Enterprise was pivotal in defending Earth from a dangerous alien species known as the Xindi in 2154. The ship suffered severe damage during the mission and the crew suffered heavy casualties, but managed to return to Earth after an unexpected detour to an alternate version of 1944 in which Nazi Germany had conquered the eastern United States; although the vessel did not land during that mission, it was brought within tens of metres from the ground in order to help restore the timeline.
A second warp 5 starship, Columbia, was nearing completion as of the start of the fourth season.
In an alternate timeline, the NX-01 failed to prevent the Xindi from building a superweapon capable of destroying entire worlds. Earth and all its colonies were destroyed while Starfleet waged a desperate, hopeless war to protect them. The ragtag wagon train of human survivors made their final stand on the world Ceti Alpha V, shepherded by three remaining Starfleet ships: Enteprise, Intrepid, and a third starship, which was not named. Enterprise was lost with all hands during the final stand, however this timeline was negated (as chronicled in the episode "Twilight").
In another alternate timeline, Enterprise encountered an anomaly that threw it back in time more than a century. Unable to return to Earth, the vessel became a generational ship, eventually falling under the command of Lorian, the son of T'Pol and Trip Tucker, who eventually intercepted Archer and prevented the NX-01 from being sent back in time. It is assumed that the so-called E2 was wiped from existence but there are hints it might have survived.
External link
|