 The USS Equinox (NCC-72381), a Nova class starship In the Star Trek fictional universe, the Nova class is a new type of starship design used by Starfleet. Ships of this class are small scientific vessels with fairly strong defenses. The Nova class design follows a conventional approach to traditional Federation starship design with an angular trowel-shaped saucer section, an engineering hull and two cigar-shaped warp nacelles are attached to the hull by pylons running aft. The main bridge is embedded into the saucer to provide for better protection from enemy fire by blocking against attacks from the side. At the bow of the saucer is the auxillary navigational deflector, lifeboats, sensor platforms, phaser strips and two torpedo launchers. The ship's ventral phaser arrays, a waverider shuttle, additional sensors and more lifeboats occupy the ventral saucer. The engineering hull houses the main deflector dish, shield emitters, two shuttlebays and a warp core.
The Nova class project was started shortly after the production of the first Galaxy class starships and was initially intended to serve as a replacement in the far future for the Galaxy class in all of its capacities of science, diplomacy, and warfare. (This led to speculation in the Sternbach-authored Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual that the Enterprise-E would be a Nova-class vessel.) However, the development of the Sovereign class starship as a large, multirole vessel and the growing need for small, more maneuverable craft changed the focus and shortened the timeframe of the project. The class prototype, the USS Nova, likely constructed during the late 2360s, was eventually based on a scrapped plan from the early stages of the Defiant class project; the plan proved sound and, with the removal of some weapons and the addition of more sensor arrays, suitable for the Nova class. The Nova class may now be intended to be the replacement for the aging Oberth class starship and is one of the first starships built with an Emergency Medical Hologram system.
In real life, the Nova class was designed by Star Trek: Voyager illustrator Rick Sternbach.
Specifications
- Production facility: Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards, Mars
- Type: Surveyor/Science vessel
- Accommodation: 80 standard
- Dimensions:
- Length: 165 m
- Height: 31.4 m
- Beam: 81.2 m
- Decks: 8
- Propulsion:
- Performance: Warp 8 maximum cruise, Warp 6 standard cruise.
- Weaponry:
- Defenses: Deflector shields
- Auxiliary vessels:
- Unknown shuttlecraft and/or other vessels in at least two shuttlebays on the engineering hull
- 1 waverider shuttle, embedded in the ventral saucer
Known Nova class starships
- USS Equinox (NCC-72381)
- Named for the equinox, the starship Equinox was built at the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards, Mars and commissioned on stardate 47007.1. The Equinox was commanded by Captain Rudy Ransom when she was transported to the Delta Quadrant by the Caretaker in 2371. While returning to the Alpha Quadrant, the ship suffered heavy damage and casualties. In 2375, the surviving crew encountered nucleogenic antimatter life-forms from a different spatial realm. After meeting the USS Voyager, the Equinox was destroyed by a warp core breach caused by the lifeforms. Only five crewmembers survived.
- USS Nova (NCC-73515)
- The starship Nova is the pathfinder of its class. However, her registry is higher than the Equinox and the Rhode Island.
- USS Rhode Island (NCC-72701)
- Named for the state of Rhode Island, the starship Rhode Island was commanded by Captain Harry Kim in an alternate universe in 2404.
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