These duties range from relatively mundane domestic and civil missions, to cultural contact and diplomacy, to defence, to our primary mission of exploration and research. Many of these responsibilities are best carried out with relatively small, specialized ships. Yet there continues to be an ongoing need for a small number of larger multimission vehicles that are capable of implementing the complete range of Starfleet's objectives. This need has in fact grown as the volume of relatively unexplored space within Federation influence continues to expand.

The Galaxy Class Starship represents Starfleet's most sophisticated achievement in multimission ship systems design.

Pursuant to Starfleet Exploration Directive 902.3, the following objectives have been established for the Galaxy Class Starship Development Project:

• Provide a mobile platform for a wide range of ongoing scientific and cultural research projects.

• Replace aging Ambassador and Oberth class starships as primary insturments of Starfleet's Exploration projects.

• Provide atonomous capability for full execution of Federation policy options in outlying areas.

• Incorporate recent advancements in warp powerplant technology and improved science insturmentation.

To provide for these objectives, the Starfleet Spacecraft Design Advisory Commission recommended to the Advanced Starship Design Bureau that the Galaxy class starship meet or exceed the design goals in the following specification catagories:

PROPULSION:

-Sustainable cruise velocity of Warp Factor 9.2. Ability to maintain speeds of up to Warp 9.6 for periods of up to 12 hours.

-Fifth-phase dilithium controlled matter/antimatter reactor primary power. Sustainable field output to exceed 1,650 cochranes, peak transitional surge reserve to exceed 4,225% of nominal output (170 ns phase).

-Warp driver coils efficiency to meet or exceed 88% at speeds up to Warp 7.0. Minimum efficiency of 52% to be maintained through Warp 9.1. Life Cycle of all primary coil elements to meet or exceed 1,200,000 cochrane-hours between neutron purge refurbishment.Secondary coil elements to meet or exceed 2,000,000 cochrane-hours between neutron purge refurbishment.

-Warp field geometry to incorperate modified 55 degree Z-axis compression characteristics on forward warp lobe for increased peak transitional efficiency. Warp nacelle center-lines to conform to 2.56:1 ratio of seperation to maximum field strength.

-Secondary (impulse) propulsion system to provide sublight velocities up to and including 0.92 lightspeed (c). Engine systems of choice to include but not limited to at least two YPS 8063 fusion drive motors. All units to be equipped with subspace drive accelerators, field output not less then 180 millicochranes at 1.02 X 10^7 K. Reactor modules to be field-replaceable. Independant impulse propulsion system of choice for primary hull to include but not be limited to YPS 8055 fusion drive motors.

MISSION:

-Ability to operate independant of starbase refurbishment for extended periods. Independant exploration mode capability of seven standard years of nominal Warp 6 velocity for docked configuration. Ability to execute deep space explorations including charting and mapping, first cultural contact senarios, and full biologic and ecologic studies.

-Space allocation for mission-specific facilities; habitable area to include 800,000 square meters for mission-adaptable facilities including living quarters for mission-specific attached personnel.

-Ability to support a wide range of mission-related ongoing research and other projects (including sufficient habitable volume and power generation for facilities and operations) without impact on primary mission operations.

-Full specturm of EM, optical, subspace flux, gravimetric, particle, and quark population analysis sensor capability. Multimode neutrino, interferometry insturmentation. Wide-band life sciences analysis capability pursuant to Starfleet life contact policy directive. Two-meter gamma ray telescope. Upgradeable experiment and sensor array design. Ability to support both on-board and probe-mounted science insturmentation.

-Support facilities for auxiliary spacecraft and insturmented probes needed for short-range operations to include at least two independant launch, resupply, and repair bays

ENVIORNMENT/CREW:

-Enviornmental systems to conform to Starfleet Regulatory Agency (SFRA)-standard 102.19 for Class M compatatible oxygen-breathing personnel. All life critical systems to be triply redundant. Life support modules to be replaceable at major starbase layover to permit veichlewide adaptation to Class H, K or L enviornmental conditions.

-Ability to support up to 5,000 non-crew personnel for mission related objectives.

-Facilities to support Class M enviornmental range in all individual living quarters, provisions for 10% of quarters to support Class H, K and L enviornmental conditions. Addtional 2% of living quarters to be equipped for Class N and N(2) enviornmental adeptation.

-All habitial volumes to be protected to SFRA-standard 347.3(a) levels for EM and nuclear radiation. Subspace flux differential to be maintained within 0.02 millocochranes.

TACTICAL:

-Defensive shielding systems to exceed 7.3 X 10^5 kW primary energy dissipation rate. All tactical shielding to have full redundancy, with auxiliary system to provide 65% of primary rating.

-Tactical systems to include full array of type X phaser bank elements on both primary and stardrive (battle) sections capable of 5.1MW maximum emitter output. Two photon torpedo launchers required for battle section, one auxiliary launcher in primary hull.

-Ability to seperate into two atonomous spacecraft comprising of a battle section, capable of warp flight and optimized for combat, and a primary section capable of impulse flight and defensive operations.

-Full independant sublight operational capability for command section in seperated flight mode.

DESIGN LIFE:

-Spaceframe design life of approx 100 years, assuming approx 5 major shipwide system swapouts and upgrades at average intervals of 20 years. Such upgrades insure the continuing usefulness of the ship even though significant advance in technology are anticipated during that time. Minor refurbishments and upgrade to occur at approx 1-5 year intervals, depending on specific mission requirements and hardware availibility.

The USS Enterprise is catagorized as an Explorer, the largest starship in a classification system that includes cruiser, cargo carrier, tanker, surveyor, and scout. While most starships may be adapted for a variety of mission types, the vessel type designations discribe their primary purpose. Smaller vehicles with impulse or limited warp capability, such as shuttles, are referred to as craft, to distinguish them from the larger starships.

Seen from a comfortable distance of two or three kilometers, the starship takes on the graceful lines of a nonpresentational organic sculpture. Nature has determined the flow of the design, adhearing to mathmatical formulae at work in the universe surrounding the builders. Even in the desire to expand beyond the apparent limits of the natural world, familiar forces create familiar shapes. As the rapid aquatic and avian creatures of dozens of worlds independantly developed the unmistakable attributes of streamlining, so too did their interstellar cousin.

The combonation of forces produced within the warp engine core and the flow of space and subspace around the vessel created the particular engineering solution to the problem of faster-the-light travel. The initial Starfleet requirement that a single spacecraft be able to preform as three distinct vehicles presented some rather complex - though some engineers not normally afraid of numbers preferred the word "daunting" - computational challenges.

The docked configuration presented the most efficient use of warp flight forces, but the battle section was also required to preform to specifications at warp velocities on it's own, and the Saucer Module would have to have the capability of high sublight speed and possibly survive a seperation at high warp. Scientists and engineers throughout the Federation, with all the deportment of composers and conductors, arranged sweeping curves, described vast volumes, and summoned up fantastic energies to bring their creation into existance.

PHYSICAL ARRANGEMENT

The hulls, remarkably birdlike in their strong, hollow, construction, are reinforced against flight stresses by active energy fields that tighten and flex where required to compensate for natural and artifical internal and external forces. Structures integrated into the hulls allow for a variety of necessary functions.

The bridge consolidates command positions for the rest of the starship, windows give crewmembers needed vistas while in space, phaser arrays and photon torpedo launchers provide defence against hostile forces, and subspace radio arrays communicate with other worlds and other ships.

Lifeboats allow for escape in dire emergencies, transporter emitters affort reliable movement of crew and gear nearly instantanously, navigational sensors and deflectors give the starship distant vision and a method for clearing obstacles, and powerful warp engines propel the ship at speeds only dreamt of when most spacefaring races began their climb to the stars.

The forty-two decks are internally divided among major load-bearing structures. A great many systems, especially the pressurized habitation sections, are suspended within the open spaces, essentially "floating" on flexable ligaments to minimize mechanical, thermal, and conductive radiation shocks. As the Enterprise left the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards, approx 35% of the internal volume was not filled with room modules and remained as empty spaceframe for future expansion and mission-specific applications.

The interior spaces validate the concept of the interstellar organism, with the level of complexity rising dramaticlly once inside the hull. The starship posseses structures akin to the central nervous system and circulatory appartus, food storage areas, a heart, locomotor mechanisms, waste removal paths, and numerous other systems. Many of these are self-maintaining, with crew intervention required only occasionally to monitor their operation. Other hardware requires high levels of crew service and control.

In a sense, the crew act as caretaker cells watching over the health of the total vessel to achieve a homeostatic balance. During crisis situations, the total system responds as would an organism, working to produce higher levels of energy to deal with adverse conditions at a faster rate.

The living areas of the starship have been designed for maximum comfort and safety while the crew is conductiong a mission. Long-term studies of humanoid creatures have confirmed that as each race embarked upon permanant occupation of space, large persoanal living quarters had to be established, especially on early sublight expeditions. The Enterprise allows for some 110 square meters of living space per person, in addition to community space and the areas allocated to purely working functions. While some engineers on the Galaxy Class Project questioned the large size of the vessel, opting for a smaller, more efficient design, it was conceded that the large size provided for a greater number of mission options, given the changing social, political, and economic conditions in the Milky Way.

The Galaxy Class "Enterprise" maintains Starfleets tradition of honoring the original starship "Enterprise." Like her predecessors, this ship bears the original Starfleet registry number of that illustrious first Enterprise, NCC-1701. In this case. the suffix "D" means that this is the fifth successor to bear the name and number. Few other ships in Starfleet have been so recognized. So significant were the exploits of the origional Enterprise and its crew, that in 2277 the practise of having a seprate insignia for each starship was abolished, and the Enterprise emblem was adopted as the official symbol for the entire Starfleet.

The first starship Enterprise was a Constitution Class vehicle commissioned in 2245 at Starfleet's San Francisco Yards orbiting Earth. The ship was first commanded by Captain Robert April, then by Captain Christopher Pike, then Captain James T. Kirk, became a historic figure in Starfleet's early exploration of deep space.

The ship was refitted several times, remaining in active service until 2284 when it was assigned to training duty at Starfleet Academy. It was destroyed in 2285 defending the Mutara sector against a Klingon incursion.

The second Enterprise, NCC-1701-A, also a Constitution Class vessel, was commissioned in 2286. Origionally named Yorktown, this ship was renamed Enterprise and assigned to Captain Kirk following an incident in which Kirk and his crew were responsible for saving the planet Earth from the effects of an alien spacecraft. This ship later played a vital role in the success of the Khitomer conference, which had a profound impact on the political climate of this part of the galaxy.

The third Enterprise, NCC-1701-B, was an Excelsior Class ship built at Starfleet's Antares Ship Yards. Although the decision to model this ship after the failed origional expermental Excelsior was at the time contraversial, the economics of using the existing (and otherwise successful) engineering of the basic spaceframe was compelling. The wisdom of this decision has been borne out by the large number of Excelsior Class ships that still serve Starfleet in a variety of different ways. (Indeed the Excelsior herself ultimately proved to be a distinguished part of the Starfleet.) The third Enterprise was a key figure in the exploration of space beyond the Gourami sector. This ship and her crew were responsible for mapping over 142 star systems, including first contact with 17 civilizations.

The fourth Enterprise, NCC-1701-C, was an Ambassador Class vessel built at the Earth Station McKinley facility. Commanded by Captain Rachel Garrett, the ship was lost in 2344 near the Narendra system while attempting to defend a Klingon outpost from Romulan attackers. The heroism of Captain Garrett's crew was a crucial step leading to the current alliance between the Federation and our former enemies the Klingon Empire.

The fifth Enterprise, NCC-1701-D, is a Galaxy Class ship built at the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards above Mars. It was commissioned in 2363, and is currently under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard. The latest starship to bear the name Enterprise is Starfleet's flagship and has already distinguished itself in an impressive number of significant missions of exploration, as well as several crucial incidents defending the security of the Federation.

The construction of any starship is said to begin, as in the days of saling ships, with the laying of the keel in the shipbuilding yard. While the wooden hull of old has been replaced by metal alloys and ultrastrong synthetic compounds, the significance of laying the keel has survived undiminished. The inception and completion of a conveyance, weather tailored for crossing distances on the scale of an ocean or the galaxy, has for millennia filled it's creators with a sense of accomplishment and purpose.

The history of the Galaxy Class Project, and of the USS Enterprise in particular, is a story of tchnological innovation and teamwork spanning more then twenty years. Research and fabrication centers throughtout the Federation, under the direct authority of Starfleet Command's Advanced Starfleet Design Bureau (ASDB), combined their efforts to plan and execute the newest and most complex vessel to join Starfleet's inventory.

When the official start of the project was announced in July 2343, much origional theoreticial work had already been accomplished, particularly in the propulsion field. While the attempt to surpass the primary warp field efficiency barrier with the Transwarp Development Project in the early 2280's proved unsuccessful, the pioneering achievements in warp power generation and field coil design eventually led to the uprated Excelsior and Ambassador class starships. Both starships served Starfleet in exemplary fashion. They continue to do so, even beyond their origional design lifetimes. The Galaxy class is expected to remain true to it's predecessors.

The construction of the USS Enterprise followed a path similar to that taken by the pathfinder vehicle, the prototype USS Galaxy, and the first production starship, the USS Yamato. As with any large space vessel project, improved materials and construction techniques were incorperated into the USS Enterprise assembly process, allowingt the miminal flyable starship to be delivered to Starfleet in two years less time then the previous class. On June 3 2350, the first two spaceframe components, the Deck 10 computer core elliptical compression member and the starboard main longitudinal compression bulkhead, were gamma-welded during a brief ceremony at the Utopia Planitia assembly site 16,625 kilometers above the surface of Mars, in syncronous orbit.

The initial procurement order issued by Starfleet Command was for six Galaxy Class ships. A total production of twelve vessels are held as an option to be activated by Starfleet and the Federation, should conditions warrant. Once the initial spaceframe design was finalized, it was decided to proceed with the completion of six vessels and to take the other six to the end of the framework stage only. These six spaceframes have been broken down into manageable segments and dispersed by cargo carriers to remote locations within the Federation as a security measure.

The following events describe the construction of the USS Enterprise. There exists little difference in the general construction logs of the Enterprise and those of it's dockmates the USS Galaxy, and the USS Yamato. Major installation and testing milestones for the first two ships preceed those of the Enterprise by six months to one year. Certain design and fabrication lessons were applied to the Enterprise in rapid order, once the soundness of the yard changes were verified. Certain problems, such as the warp engine development, were common to all ships, and do not nesessarily indicate a unique stiuation. Where a Enterprise experienced a ship-specific success or failure, it is so noted.

2343

Galaxy Class project offically approved. Design centers begin drawing upon previous starships once general specifications are transmitted. Vehicle frame, engine systems, computer cores, and hull receive high priority.

2344

ASDB begins early definition work on Galaxy class mission simulators programmed with basic vessel characteristics. Detail design work continues.

2345

Mass and volume studies proceed for all internal systems, based on first cut of frame designs. Field narrows from forty to fifteen, computer core and software passes Design Review 0.

2346

Testing of hull materials proceeds; final design must include conduits for structural integrity field (SIF), inertial dampening field (IDF), and deflector shield grid. Warp and impulse systems pass Design Review 0; materials difficulties foreseen in warp coils. Impulse system design frozen; fabtication begins. Redesign of transporter biofilter is requested. Phaser emitter undergoes redesign; photon torpedo upgrade proceeds with standard launcher and casings. Main deflector design frozen.

2347

Warp engine systems design tentatively frozen; anticipating nacelle design frozen later in the year. Impulse design undergoes tweeking. Computer cores pass Reviews 3 and 4. Transporter biofilter design frozen; system fabrication begins. Phaser emitter redesign passes Review 0. Main deflector power supply redesigned to accomodate science insturments.

2348

Vehicle frame design and docking latch system pass Review 0. Final selection of frame alloys ; materials ordered. Warp engine and nacelle designs frozen; nacelle passes Reviews 0 and 1. Warp engine components begin test fabrication. Impulse engine components, main computers, and transporter begin fabrication. Communications system and tractor beam design frozen; fabrication deferred for power simulations. Phaser third redesign passes Review 0; Reviews 1 and 2 skipped as fabrication begins. Main deflector power redesigned; fabrication begins.

2349

Frame and docking system pass Review 1; structural latches begin fabrication. Hull skin design frozen; some areas remain under development. Warp engine materials failure slow fabrication. Nacelles pass Review 2; fabrication begins late in the year. Tractor beam system under construction. Photon torpedo launcher design frozen. Sensor pallets inder construction. All auxilliary spacecraft under development.

2350

First frame members gamma-welded in Utopia Planitia ceremony. Warp nacelle shells under construction; coils remain in test phase. Impulse components test-fit within frame in midyear. Computer core framing underway. Habitat modules test-fit. Phasers and photon assemblies under construction.

2351

Frame construction and major hardware installations continue simultaneously. Hull layers begin attachment. Warp engine core 65% complete; nacelles pass Review 3 with assumptions of successful fixes to coil materials problems. Major impulse engine installation complete. Computer cores 50% complete off-site. First layers of habitat modules installed. Transporter installation deferred in labor rescheduling. Tractor beam emmiters modified to accomodate hull skin changes. Phaser bank installation proceeds. All other power and consumables conduits continue installation.

2352

Warp engine core completed; materials difficulties eliminated. Warp field coil manufacture delayed by furnace facility complications; other system assemblies completed. Preperations made for impulse run-up tests. Main computer cores 80% complete; nonflight mock-ups complete fit checks. Habitat and connecting passages 55% installed. Transporter systems minus hull emitters begin installation. Phaser bank installation complete; electro-plasma power supply to phasers deferred until warp engine power levels verified. Photon torpedo magnetic launcher power supplies reworked. Temporary gravity generators installed; network active only where necessory.

2353

Framing and hull skin construction continues. Docking system latches and pass-through fit checks continue. Deuterium ractant tanks and anti-matter pod assemblies arrive from off-site for integration. Warp coil fixes effected; production of matched coil sets continue. Impulse engine system run-up tests preformed; fusion chambers powered singly and in combonations. Reaction control system (RCS) thruster assemblies installed. Two computer cores completed; one each installed in Saucer Module and Battle Section.Third core completion slowed by isolinear chip availability problems. Phaser power regulators and conduits installed; predicted warp core power tap verified as adaquate. Main deflector piggyback insturment power supply work complete.

2354

Some hull skin sections show unacceptable welds; 2% reworked to fix problem. Inbedded defensive shield grid not affected. Warp engine core begins low-power tests; reaches Warp 2 equivalent energy. Nacelles still awaiting coil delivery. Impulse tests continue; RCS thruster software problem fixed. Third computer core delayed for addational two years; affects all downstream starships. Habitat layers 70% complete. Shuttlecraft, work pods and lifeboats arrive for integration tests.Photon torpedo loader thermal expansion anomaly fixed.

2355

Final outer framing members completed; minor design change in forward dorsal requires added longitudinal members. Warp engine core tests continue. Impulse engine system complete. Permanent gravity generator network complete. Transporter and comm system antennae modified; made compatable with deflector shield grid emmissions. Structural integrity field (SIF) runs at low power; works out starships framing "kinks". Main deflector focus test successful after startup failure repaired. Starboard pylon phaser bank swapped with one from USS Yamato; better operational fit for each. Photon torpedo loader thermal problem returns; new fix is final. Sensor pallets 50% installed; minimum for flight.

2356

Starship skin 95% complete. Warp engine power up tests to Warp 8 equivalent. Warp coils delivered and installed. Impulse fusion generators perform full power nonpropulsive tests. Third computer core delivered and installed; additional programming and tests continue. First habitat module swapout by transporter successful. Transporter tests complete. Final SIF and inertial dampining field hookups complete. Comm system 90% complete. Impulse power to phasers certified. 30% of lifeboats delivered and docked. USS Galaxy is launched from orbital dock on manuvering thrusters.

2357

Hull integrity complete; all SIF and IDF systems operational. Warp nacelles buttoned up and certified for flight. Final impulse system adjustments underway. Computer core subspace field shielding problem arises on Enterprise only; threatened on third of power systems on starship, traced to conflicting powerup procedures, then fixed. Comm system complete after minor rerouting to avoid computer problem. Photon torpedo system remote firing successful. Defensive shields final hookup complete. Sensor pallets certified. USS Galaxy is commissioned; declared deep-spaceworthy and warp-capable; moves to outer solar system.

2358

Tests continue on total warp and impulse propulsion systems. All other internal spacecraft systems powered up; cross systems tests continue. New flight software installed in all three computer cores. Ejectable bridge module docked. Minimum flight test crew completes preliminary training aboard ship. Captain's yacht test article docked, non flight version. USS Enterprise is launched; leaves dock on manuvering thrusters.

2359

Flight test crew continues developmental shakedown trials in Mars space. USS Enterprise computers receive continuous preformance updates from USS Galaxy orbiting Pluto. Tasks include extensive sensor operations, simulated emergency conditions, simulated combat exercises and power system stress analysis. Warp field coils receive first power, non-propulsive Warp 1 equivalent. Preformance analysis continues on all vehicle components. Main computers developing "systems awareness," learning and recording how ship behaves as a total entity. USS Enterprise declared deep-spaceworthy and warp capable. Yellow warp-stress visibility hull coatings applied.

2360-2363

USS Enterprise achives warp flight in outer solar system. Initial vibration difficulties transitioning to higher warp factors smoothed out by computer adjustments to warp geometry control software. Skin reinforcements and frame stiffening preformed during dock layovers. Final hull coating and markings applied. Live-fire phaser and photon torpedo exercises test crew and systems. Low level defensive shield power deficiencies appear; enhanced shield generators designs put into work. All lifeboats and aux. spacecraft docked, including flight qualified captain's yacht. Operational bridge module docked.

4 OCTOBER 2363

The USS Enterprise is officially commissioned at a ceremony at the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards. The USS Galaxy and USS Yamato send congratulatory messages via subspace radio.

Primary operational control of the Galaxy class starship is provided by the Main Bridge, located at the top of the saucer module on Deck 1. The Main Bridge directly supervises all primary mission operations and corrdinates all departmental activites.

The center area of the Main Bridge provides seating and information displays for the commander and two other officers. Directly fore of the command area are the Operations Manager and the Flight Control Officer, both of whom face the main viewer.

Directly aft of the command area is an elevated platform on which is located the tactical control station. Also located on the platform are five workstations, normally configured as: Science 1, Science 2, Mission Operations (Ops), Enviornment, and Engineering.

At the very fromt of the bridge chamber is located a large (4.8 x 2.5 meter) visual display panel. The main viewer is generally used to display the output of one of the forward optical scanners, but can be easilly reset for anyother visual, informational, or communications use. When in communications mode, the main viewer shares the use of a dedicated subprocessor which permits near-instantaneous conversation and display of nearly any visual communications format. The main viewer display matrix includes omni-holographic display elementes and is thus capable of displaying three dimensional information.

Behind the aft workstation is a 3.2 meter equipment, normally sealed to crew personnel. This bay houses three of the seven dedicated bridge computer optical subprocessors and six of the twelve shared subprocessors. Also located in this bay are several power, enviornemntal, and optical data trunk connects. The remaining computer subprocessorers are located in smaller equipment bays integral to the aft stations, in the side bays port and starboard of the command area, and in the deck structure between Con, Ops, and the main viewer.

Other facilities located on Deck 1 include the captain's ready room and head, the aft observation lounge and the crew head adjoining the bridge itself. Both the bridge and the captain's ready room are equipped with food replication terminals.

Major connects to the bridge include two standard turbolift shafts, one emergency turbolift, and four electro-plasma power distribution waveguide conduits. Additional connects include four enviornmental support plenum groups, nine primary and two backup optical data network trunks, two replicator waveguide conduits and three service crawlways.

Because of the importance of bridge systyems, especially in emergency situations, the Main Bridge is designed as an emergency enviornmental support shelter,receiving priority life support from two special utilities support trunks. THese feeds permit Class M conditions to be maintained for up to 72 hours even in the event of failure of both primary and reserve enviornmental systems. Also provided within the bridge shell are two emergency atmospheric and power supply modules, each providing up to 24 hours of atmosphere and lighting in the event of total enviornmental systems failure.

The Main Bridge module is connected to the spaceframe structure with a series of 3207.2cm duranium fastening rods. These fasteners can be disengaged at major starbase layover, permitting disconnect and replacement of the entire bridge module. Torsion relief and vibration dampening are provided by a series of 17mm microfoamed AGP semiflexable ceramic gaskets which form the mechanical interface between the structures. The Main Bridge shell is constructed from an interlaced microfoam duranium fillament shell gamma-welded to a tritanium truss structural framework. The inner enviornmental envelope is fabricated from low-density expanded ceramic-ploymer composite segments, providing both atmospheric and thermal insulation.

During the initial spaceworthiness tests of the origional USS Galaxy prototype vessel, the standard Galaxy class bridge module was not yet fully operational. Instead a custom-built module was used that was equipped with independant life-support and sublight propulsion cababilities. This unit was used as a self-contained crew compartment during the initial shakedown and could have been ejected, carrying the crew to safely in the event of a catastrophic failure of the spaceframe or propulsion system.

It is anticipated that the current bridge configuration of the Galaxy class starship will remain relatively unchanged for a number of years. Current planning calls for annual design reviews of the bridge and control systems, with major system replacementsprojected at 20 year intervals.

A second major facility for starship operational control is the Battle Bridge. This facility, located on Deck 8 at the top of the battle section, serves as command and control center for tactical operations during Seperated Flight Mode. The Battle Bridge incorperates the standard Conn and Ops panels for starflight operations, but includes enhanced tactical analysis and weapons control stations, as well as communications and engineering. As well as other control facilities, software-definable workstations permit consoles to be reconfigured as necessary to handle specific situations.

In addition to it's tactical role, the Battle Bridge is capable of serving as an aux. control center as a backup to the Main Bridge. The Battle Bridge computer subprocessors are able to control all major ship's systems, even in the event of total Main Bridge incapacity and partial main computer core failure.

The Battle Bridge is directly accessable from the Main Bridge via a dedicated emergency turboelevator shaft. Access is also possible by means of the regular torbolift system through a corridor on Deck 8.

The Main Engineering control center on Deck 36 serves as a master control for the ships warp propulsion system, as well as impulse propulsion system and other engineering systems.

Main Engineering also servers as a backup control center in the event of the failure of both the Main Bridge and Battle Bridge. Workstations at this location can be reconfigured to emulate Conn, Ops, Tactical and other command operations. This is a desirable site for such functions because of its protected location within the Engineering section and its proximity to key warp propulsion system components. Optical Data Network hardlines provide protected backup communications to other major systems.

Principal control consoles available to the engineering staff in Main Engineering include:

Since before the first satellite launches within the Sol system, fiction writers and engineers alike assumed that long-duration space flights would require certain measures to keep the travelers happy and psychologically fit for continued duty. During the first Earth orbital and lunar landing missions, crew members listened to casette tapes of their favorite music, and flight controllers periodically passed up capsule versions of daily newspapers. Documentation and video recordings were routinely transmitted to orbital stations and planetary outposts into the early part of the twenty-first century.

The desire to experience images, sound, and tactile stimuli not normally encountered on a space vessel has followed explorers accross the galaxy for the last four hundred years. Computer-driven projection imagery has filled starships crews' needs for provocative spaces and with the addition of certain sport and recreational gear, provided an enjoyable model of reality. Various holographic optical and acoustic techniques were applid through the years, finally giving way to a series of breakthroughs in small forcefield and imaging devices that not only did seriously impact starship mass and volume constraints, but in accuality nurtured hyper-realistic flight-critical simulations. In the last thirty years, the starship Holodeck has come into its own.

The Holodeck utilizes two main subsystems, the holographic imagery sybsystem, and the matter conversion sybsystem. The holographic imagery subsystem creates the realistic background enviornments. The matter conversion sybsystem creats the physical "props" from the starships central raw matter supplies. Under normal conditions, a participant in a Holodeck simulation should not be able to detect differences between a real object and a simulated one.

The Holodeck also generates remarkably lifelike recreations of humanoids or other lifeforms. Such animated characters are composed of solid matter arranged by transporter-based replicators and manipulated by highly articulated computer-driven tractor beams. The results are exceptionally realistic "puppets," which exibit behaviors almost exactly like those of living beings, depending on software limits. Transporter-based matter replication is, of course, incapable of creating a living being.

Other stimuli, such as sound, smell and taste, are either simulated by more traditional methods, such as speakers or atomizers, or built into the created images using transporter techniques.

Within the Enterprise, crewmembers can visit four main Holodecks on Deck 11. In addition, a set of twenty smaller personal holographic simulator rooms are situated on Decks 12 and 33.

Even before the development of true interstellar spacecraft by various cultures, it was clear that directed-energy devices would be necessory to assist in clearing gas, dust, and mircometeroid material from vechicle flight paths. Emerging space-faring races are continuing to employ this method as an excellent maximizer of shipboard energy budgets, because a relatively small energy expenditure produces a large result. Material in space can be vaporized, ionized, and eliminated as a hazard to spaceflight. It didn't take an enormous leap of imagination, of course, to realize that directed-energy could also prove to be an effective weapon system.

These directed-energy tools/weapons usually come in three types onboard a starship: