USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)

USS Enterprise

The USS Enterprise
First appearance	"The Cage"
Affiliation	United Federation of Planets
Launched	2245
General characteristics
Class	Constitution
Registry	NCC-1701
Auxiliary craft	7 x 7 man shuttlecraft
Armaments	2 x electromagnetic launch Photon Torpedo tube 3 x Dual Phaser banks
Defenses	Deflector Shield Grid
Propulsion	4 x dual Impulse Power Units 2 x Space Warp Propulsion Units
Power	Dilithium-focused matter/anti-matter reaction chamber
Length	288.646 metres (947.00 ft)

USS Enterprise

The re-conceptualized USS Enterprise in the 2009 Star Trek film
First appearance	Star Trek (2009)
Affiliation	United Federation of Planets Starfleet
Launched	2258
General characteristics
Class	Constitution
Registry	NCC-1701
Maximum speed	Warp 8
Auxiliary craft	Shuttlecraft
Armaments	Photon torpedoes Phasers
Defenses	Deflector shields
Propulsion	Impulse engines Warp drive
Power	Matter/antimatter
Length	725m

The USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) is a starship in the fictional Star Trek universe, depicted in four network television series, six feature films, and countless books and fan-created media. The original Star Trek series (1966–1969) features a voice-over by Enterprise captain, James T. Kirk (William Shatner), which describes the mission of Enterprise as "to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before". The ship's design "formed the basis for one of sci-fi's most iconic images," though the ship has gone over many changes over the course of its television and cinematic appearances. A refit version of NCC-1701 appears in the first three Star Trek films. The 2009 Star Trek film, which takes place in an alternate timeline, features a re-conceptualization of the original Enterprise. The original (though refitted) starship was destroyed in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

Star Trek art director Matt Jefferies was the primary designer of the original Enterprise, which was originally named Yorktown in series creator Gene Roddenberry's first outline drafts of the series. Jefferies' experience with aviation led to his Enterprise designs being imbued with what he called "aircraft logic".

The ship's "NCC-1701" registry number stemmed from "NC" being one of the international aircraft registration codes assigned to the United States; the second "C" was added for differentiation. According to The Making of Star Trek, "NCC" is the Starfleet abbreviation for "Naval Construction Contract", comparable to what the U.S. Navy would call a hull number. The "1701" was chosen to avoid any possible ambiguity; according to Jefferies, the numbers 3, 6, 8, and 9 are "too easily confused". Other sources cite it as a reference to the house across the street from where Roddenberry grew up, while another account gives it as the street address of Linwood Dunn. Jefferies' own sketches provide the explanation that it was his 17th cruiser design with the first serial number of that series: 1701.The Making of Star Trek explains that "USS" should mean "United Space Ship" and that "the Enterprise is a member of the Starship Class". However, the decals included with the AMT USS Enterprise model kit permitted the builder to customize the ship as any of the twelve starships in the class. As the lowest hull number is NCC-1700, USS Constitution, it is generally accepted that Constitution is the class leader and thus the USS Enterprise is a Constitution-class cruiser.