Showing posts with label U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701. Show all posts
Showing posts with label U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701. Show all posts

Monday, April 29, 2013

Star Trek's USS Yorktown





Six Starfleet spaceships have borne the name Enterprise. Each has been more advanced than the last but what happened to the first iconic starship? Did you know that the USS Enterprise NCC 1701 was originally known by another name? The USS Yorktown was that name given to Star Trek's first spaceship before the ship was re-christened, USS Enterprise 1701. Thank Galactic Space! In 1964, Star Treks first ever, test pilot was presented to NBC TV Network bosses who wanted an exciting action packed "space western."

Its fun watching Star Trek's classic episode of "the Cage" today with the camera sweeping across the "Enterprise" bridge officers on duty. Unfortunately their commander, Captain Christopher Pike looks a little lost with the robotic reactions of the bridge crew so not helping. The crew fall short on action and excitement led by their self doubting commander who's a rather humble soul for the big wheel on the Federation's Flagship USS Enterprise. Tellingly, the vulcan Spock smiles on Talos IV however NBC executives were not "Fascinated" at all.


Question: Who was the first captain of the starship USS Enterprise NCC 1701 and the USS Yorktown?

In the original "script" before filming began, Gene Roddenberry named the USS Yorktown after a World War II aircraft carrier. The commander in charge was starship Captain Robert April who never made it onto TV. Next up for the big chair was Christopher Pike before Roddenberry makes James T. Kirk Star Treks big gun.

I reckon Pike made space history in 2261 in what becomes known as the "Talos Incident." The seductive charms of Vina as the bewitching green orion girl, fail to brainwash Captain Pike who had bigger fish to fry. He resists Talosians mind control and bungles his chances to mate with Vina played by Susan Oliver. Oh well, the burdens of command.

Live Long and Prosper, Trekkies and Trekkers!





Sunday, October 09, 2011

Darpa Trek Codename


Did you know that the US Navy, the US Airforce and NASA have all studied the USS Enterprise NCC 1701's bridge as a futuristic model for a hightech command centre? In 1994 DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Project Administration contacted Star Trek designer Herman Zimmerman and asked him to help them create an experimental control center based on the USS Enterprise NCC 1701 bridge. This project was deemed of such importance it was given a really cool codename.

Image Owner/Creator: Paramount Pictures and/or CBS Studios


Which Trek Codename did they use for the Enterprise Darpa project?


1) Was it called Trekbreaker?
2) Starbreaker?
3) Defensebreaker?
4) Warbreaker?
5) Shieldbreaker?
6) or Minebreaker?

Heres TOS Enterprise bridge on full display at Star Treks: The Exhibition at Detroits Science Center. Isn't it a thing of beauty?

Live long and prosper trekkers and trekkies!

Sunday, August 30, 2009

U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701

The U.S.S. Enterprise(NCC-1701), like her twelve sister ships* in Starfleet Command is primarily a scientific and research vessel of deep space exploration of the 23rd century. What is the USS Enterprise 1701's primary mission objective?

 Why seeking out new life forms on new civilisations, boldly contacting aliens who have discovered the basics governing warp technology key to achieving interstellar warp travel and what will the United Federation of Planets do? They'll send out Kirk's flagship to wellcome the fledglings into the club.


Owner/Creator Paramount Pictures and/or CBS Studios

In over forty years of meeting new lifeforms, the USS Enterprise NCC-1701 has upgraded with at least two refits during her much watched five year missions(2265-2270). Kirk's ship has engaged in scores of first contacts, military conflicts and time-travel. She has defended earth from the Klingons, Romulans, a Planet Killer, and the Alien Space Probe. Under command of Captain James Tiberius Kirk, the Enterprise NCC-1701 was destroyed in 2285 in a bid to outwit Commander Kruge and his klingon bird of prey.



Science Officer Spock is always on the lookout for subspace anomolies, spatial disturbances, hostile energy lifeform readings and with sensors scanning at maximum to locate accurate planetary positions, Spock's analysis is strategic to pinpointing starship dangers in a matter of seconds on the ship's approach to a new star system. The USS Enterprise's Science Station provides Captain Kirk with enough military intelligence to blast potential enemy starships to smithereens but lets not forget Chief Engineer Scotty.




When the USS Enterprise 1701 took a mighty, helluva walloping from Romulan enemy fire, Scottys first on the Captain's case about the structural integrity of the ship and his precious warp engines. "The ship is packing quite a walloping, she can't take much more of this. She'll blow up in four hours." In the eyes of Commander Kruge's Lieutenant Commander, the USS Enterprise 1701 was a formidable "battlecruiser" capable of defeating her enemies but its really Scotty's engineering "Miracle Worker" touch keeping her together. In Star Trek's universe, Kirk's constitution-class starship doubles as the flagship of the United Federation of Planets peace-keeping force and as a military heavy cruiser.



While under way, every Federation starship is completely manned at all times. Aboard the USS Enterprise it's no different. Each watch consists of eight hours of normal duty. When yellow alert sounds, a second watch is activated and during red alert, all watches are called to battle stations even if your'e snoozing soundly in your bunkbed.



Each of the USS Enterprise NCC 1701's 23 decks is equipped to handle its own gravity. When the ship jumps to warp, Anti-acceleration/deceleration inertial dampeners prevent the crew from leaving strawberry stains on the walls from rapid acceleration.



The Enterprise is equipped with shuttlecraft for ship to planet away missions. In crises situations with the ship is under attack or when Captain Kirk is cheating the jaws of death (Doomsday Machine) Trekkies can always rely on the transporter pad malfunctioning. Just when its needed most! Fortunately for Chief Engineer Scotty, the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC - 1701 has two well known shuttlecraft.



During special missions, the "Galileo" and "Columbus" are called into service to transport crew members/ambassadors/v.i.p's and equipment towards planets or starships when the ships transporter is out of action. They come in handy for covert operations too and have excellent space navigation ability. The seven seater shuttles are equipped with limited warp and impulse drive engines, shields, life support systems, a food replicator and emergency provisions for longer stays on planets.



Constitution-class ships use matter, anti-matter reaction converters regulated by dilithium crystals housed in Main Engineering's warp drive engines which can propel the USS Enterprise NCC-1701 at faster than light warp speed. In the episode "Elaan of Troyius", Scotty used the Dolman's necklace which was stung together with dilithium crystals in order to repair the Enterprise's sabotaged, fused dilithium crystal converter. The Dolmans neckless powered the ship's warp engines with enough energy to shoot off a couple of photon torpedoes at the engaging Klingon ship, badly damaging it and causing it to retreat.

Owner/Creator
Paramount Pictures and/or CBS Studios.

The flagship USS Enterprise is protected by an impressive grid of deflector shields, structural integrity fields, energy forcefields and emergency blast bulkheads that can repel enemy weapons fire and meteorite showers easily.







Starships like Darth Vader's Star Destroyer haven't got an equal chance against the technological might of the Enterprise's phasers and photon torpedoes because Vader's ship, although impressive, only has laser beam technology, cannons and gun turrets capable of making only a few dents in the USS Enterprise's shields. Whose got the most powerful Starship in the Universe? Trekkies do! Thats who! Woo Hoo! But I dare you to prove me wrong! Phasers are more technologically advanced and likely to be hotter that lasers right?

IMAGE CREATOR/OWNER: THE LIGHT WORKS

Tractor beams are the opposite of deflectors which pull space objects as opposed to pushing physical energy away. They are used to take smaller ships in tow or move space debris out of the Enterprise's flight path. At the stern of the USS Enterprise's are the impulse engines and the nacelle propulsion systems which makes safe interplanetary space flight at sublight and warp speed.



Starship primary and secondary systems also includes life support, transporters, deflector shields, starship sensors, structural and inertial systems, forcefields, phasers and photon torpedo tubes, warp core reactor, EPS Power Relay systems,



The USS Enterprise consists of 55 officers of command rank in gold uniforms, 15 communication specialists in red uniforms, 136 medical and scientific research personnel in blue uniforms, 132 engineering specialists and a 88 member security force in Red uniforms who usually meet their maker. In addition to the crews complement of 428, the Enterprise has stateroom accommodation for visiting ambassadors, admirals and V.I.P's



*Constellation NCC-1017, Constitution NCC-1700, Defiant NCC-1764, Eagle NCC-956, Endeavour NCC-1895, Essex NCC-1697, Excalibur NCC-1664, Exeter NCC-1672, Hood NCC-1703, Intrepid NCC-1831, Lexington NCC-1709, Potemkin NCC-1657, Republic NCC-1371 and Yorktown NCC-1717. (Only twelve of these ships were in existence during Kirk's celebrated first five year mission of interstellar exploration.)



One of the technological advances that makes the Constitution class starship possible is the duotronic computer designed by Dr. Richard Daystrom in 2243. In 2268, the Enterprise field tests what Dr. Daystrom hopes will be an even greater invention, the multitronic or M5. Unfortunately Daystrom designed the machine based on his very own memory enigrams which for a moment seemed like one great leap forward for computer science but alas the M5 proved to be more unstable than its creator, Dr. Daystrom who was at a loss to explain its emotional outbursts.



Star Trek depicts a future of bright promise. I hope it stays that way. The USS Enterprise NCC-1701 is a vehicle of peaceful exploration and research resorting to strategic counter measures as a last resort. Starfleet Command represents the "logical" evolution of today's military into a servant of man's quest for knowledge, as well as a the need for a strong defense.

Live Long and Prosper Trekkies and Trekkers!





Monday, October 09, 2006

Khan Noonien Singh is a Dynamic,Powerthirsty, Ruthless, Notorious Superhuman

Khan Noonien Singh the ex-prince of Earth's millions, how that must have hurt. Genetically engineered and Superhuman, this merciless, charming, cutthroat was on a quest for revenge. People who stood in his path were eliminated with the flick of a phaser or at a given command. He was ruthless, calculating, mentally superior, aggressive and ambitious. The perfect respected, ruthless, leader.

There was a time from 1992 to 1996 when Khan was the ruling prince of millions on Earth. Where there was chaos, the prince offered order. He was a popular tyrant who ruled fairly and was worshipped by one quarter of the planets population. Khan's fellow super humans meanwhile were busy changing the balance of power on earth, fighting and enslaving the population. Except for Khan's corner of the world, hostile warring became part of daily life.

Eventually Khans luck ran out. For four years, the supreme commander, His Excellency, dictated order to his Kingdom of People on Earth. In 1996 Earthlings opposed the super humans. Khan was stripped of power, defeated and humiliated, along with his remaining sworn to die subjects. They evaded capture by fleeing the planet aboard the S.S.Botany Bay.

The starship displayed here is USS Enterprise NCC-1701 constitution class. After her historic five year voyage, she returned intact to Earth. Kirks gallant crew of explorers rose to the status of living legends, with a following of fans in their millions, well known across the galaxy today.

Spaceflight gained popular momentum on Earth with these powerful Federation vessels in service. Starfleet Command had to swallow their secret plans to decommission this twenty-five year old Federation Flagship due to the fact that the Enterprise had become legendary. The Admiralty approved a refit for political reasons giving the USS Enterprise NCC 1701 the full green light! Soon word spread throughout subspace. Starfleet's Core of Engineers were being dispatched to the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC 1701! The Enterprise refit was official now and no longer a joke at Starfleet Academy. Scotty's beloved engines were being pryed apart by engineering outsiders. The Core Engineers carefully decommission vital mechanisms of the warp engines in which matter and antimatter are combined safely eliminating any danger of a warp core breach. Another Engineering team moves in and installs the new FWG-1 warp engine components under the watchful eyes of Scotty who scrutinizes their every move. Captain Kirk's Enterprise was in dry dock, and was living proof of an outstanding success story in the eyes of the enchanted people of planet Earth. It was important no-one goof this up because at the time the Enterprise was a remarkable symbol of hope for all humanity.



Image Copyright Belongs to
Paramount Pictures and/or CBS Studios.

Instead of dismantling the ship, Starfleet finally approved Enterprise's refit which was long overdue. Since 2190 when she was launched into the mysterious depts of space and the great unknown, the USS Enterprise 1701 couldn't spare the time for a full refit. Instead she returned to starbases to have her systems periodically repaired and updated. Four overhauls were carried out but now the ship technologies were obsolete. Chief Engineer Scott and the Starfleet Core of engineers oversaw refit of Enterprise. Leeding Engines Ltd were chosen and given the contract to install the new FWG-1 warp nacelles which replaced the old Shuvinaaljis Warp Technologies Model FWF-1 nacelles which had faithfully served the Enterprise for the last 25 years.

Federation Starships, Federation Planets, Federation Star bases, Federation Spy posts, Federation Involvement, Federation do-gooders and overhead fluttering in the breeze the flag of the UNITED FEDERATION of PLANETS. All of this pomp and ceremony, Khan couldn't have cared less. His days of leadership brought him back to a daydream when it seemed he had the power to control millions. Khans Kingdom predated even the mighty Federation. However, Khan's current location on Ceti Alpha V bugged him the most. The planets twin Ceti Alpha VI blew up and affected the orbit of Ceti Alpha V turning it into a barren sand heap. The living conditions were horrible for Khan and his dear wife who died a slow death traced to one of the planets indigenous lifeforms. The Ceti Eel. The Ex-Prince of Earth and ruler of Ceti's sand dunes couldn't fathom why Captain Kirk did not check on their progress. Khan vowed to escape Ceti's dunes before he and his Botany Bay followers perished on Ceti Alpha V for good.

When The USS Enterprise NCC 1701 first encounter Khan and eighty of his crew on a sleeper ship, the SS Botany Bay, Captain Kirk's landing party awakens them from their cryogenic deep sleep into the 23rd century. That was Kirk's first mistake. Khan attempts to take control of the USS Enterprise and when he fails in his bid to murder James Tiberius Kirk, Khan is exiled to Ceti Alpha V. Kirks Enterprise deposits Khan, a now stripped, powerless leader of nothing along with his loyal band of subjects, who accompany him to the new fruitful, bountiful planet. Marla McGivers goes with Khan to be his wife with ambitions of creating a new civilisation and starting a family which all turned to dust six months later. The ex-ruler had a dream of creating a new world order, which was destroyed forever more when Ceti Alpha VI blew to to bits.

Kirk is furious and demands:

What is the meaning of this attack?

Where is the crew of the Reliant?

Khan attempts to influence Chekov after Terrell vaporises himself, but like a true human weakling, Pavel Chekov collapses in a heap. I suppose I shouldn't be too hard on him. The Ceti Eel crawls its way out of his ear, smearing its body along the ground making its mark. Pavel had the Ceti Eel wrapped around his Cerebral Cortex which meant he was easily affected by Khan's power of suggestion. Starfleet's finest were struggling to control their emotions of disgust at the mere sight of the Ceti Eel with eventual gasps of revulsion deciding the the creatures fate. Kirk points his phaser and vaporises Chekov's slimey tormentor. Grabbing the wristband device, Kirk yells,
"Khan , you bloodsucker, you'll have to do you're own dirty work now! do you hear me? do you?"

Earths thoughtful Tyrant of world order is swamped with feeling towards Kirk. Circling high above the planet in the Reliant, Khan has good reason for pause and is in deep reflection. His eyes roll in his head in sheer awe and wonder at Kirks continuous lucky escapes. Khan decides to keep Admiral James T Kirk talking until he gets the co-ordinates of the Federation's Genesis "Doomsday"Device and beams it aboard the Reliant.

"KIRK! Kirk you're still alive - my old friend...." affection can be heard in the Princes voice.

"Still OLD FRIEND! You've managed to kill just about everyone else, but like a poor marksman, you keep missing the target!" responds Kirk , clearly enraged by Khans wrathful ways.

"Perhaps I no longer need to try! I shall leave you as you left me marooned in the centre of a dead planet....buried alive!" declares an avenged Khan who says no more.

"Khan...Khaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannn!!"

Live Long and Prosper, Trekkies, Niners and Trekkers!

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