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Enterprise NX-01 ENTERPRISE NX-01
Technical Speculation

SCHEMATICS

Ship Dimensions || Propulsion || Weapons || Science
Transportation || Crew Support

Information on this page is mostly speculative: it is basically here to guess at what technology the NX-01 could have based on facts that have been previously established by interviews and other Trek series and movies. It will be updated, along with the technical specifications, as new information becomes available through episodes or publications like Star Trek: The Magazine.

Ship Dimensions
Officially, the ship is 230 meters long. This is consistent with my guess that it would be about three-quarters of the size of the 289 meter Enterprise from the original television series. This also makes this version of the Enterprise the smallest of the seven vessels of Star Trek fame. New information from the writer's bible, however, give the ship's dimensions at 190 meters. 230 seems to be the more plausible number, but the size could have been revised at some point. The crew complement is also given as 87, jibing with Rick Berman's original estimates. Production designer Herman Zimmerman stated "The Enterprise that we're watching now is going to be much more hands-on for the crew. Basically we're getting a lot of information about what's outside our [region of the] galaxy from the Vulcans." The ship's designer, John Eaves, and later scenic artist Doug Drexler, were confident that the technology will not outdate the TOS era of 100 years later; he expressed the belief that the producers will make it an introductory ground for Kirk's Enterprise and fit well into the established Trek timeline.
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Propulsion
Warp drive is still relatively new in this timeframe. As Marvin Rush stated, "Warp drive has been around for a while, but not very long." According to Rick Berman, the secrets behind it are mostly hidden from Earth by the Vulcans, who feel humanity is not yet ready for space travel. This Enterprise is the first Earth-constructed vessel capable of reaching Warp 5. If this warp factor is calculated using the scale from the original Star Trek series, this would be a high speed for this time period. The maximum cruising speed of Kirk's Enterprise from 100 years later was still Warp 6, with Warp 8 as the maximum safe speed. The engineering set shows what is believed to be a large, lozenge-shaped warp core with two power transfer conduits running upward. This is different from the typical vertical tube that was first seen in TMP, as this version doesn't appear to have any sort of definable dilithium crystal chamber or tunnels running from the matter and antimatter stores. This would suggest both fuel sources are close to the core, and the fact the core seems to be all in one may mean the matter/antimatter reaction is much more violent than the later ships. The core may not even be a matter/antimatter reactor, although this is extremely unlikely. Many have said that the pod at the back of the ship may contain the engineering section (making the entire module ejectable in emergency) but the engineering set might not fit within that space. Dialogue in "Broken Bow" explicitly states that the NX-01 uses impulse engines for its primary sublight propulsion. There are two modules on the aft of each side of the saucer that do look like impulse engines. It is safe to assume that this ship will have RCS thrusters; the RCS system is used by the present day shuttle orbiter and is a feature on all subsequent Starfleet vessels up to and including the modern Galaxy and Sovereign classes. The navigational deflector is also clearly seen on the dorsal view: it is right at the forward edge of the saucer section.
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Weapons
Phasers will definitely not be seen as they were not present during the early part of Kirk's five year mission. The primary weapons of this time will most likely be some sort of laser, as was used during most of the Constitution class Enterprise's lifetime. The personal weapons are described as phase pistols, obviously not phasers. The pilot, "Broken Bow" seems to suggest that the weapons used by the ship are still laser based. A high-tech missile system will also be installed; whether this warhead is nuclear, fusion, or any other type of reactant is still unknown. They are launched via at least two forward launchers, seen in use during "Broken Bow." According to some sources, photon torpedoes are not developed until the outbreak of the Romulan War, which would be about five years after the premiere of Enterprise. However, there are some reports that contrast this, stating Enterprise will carry a primitive version of photon torpedoes. Several ports on the model could possibly be launch facilities. One interesting side note: the writer's bible is rumored to state that Armory Officer Malcolm Reed may have a hand in developing technology such as phasers and photon torpedoes. If this is true, Reed would need to live at least a further 100 years, as phasers did not appear on the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701 until its 2265 upgrade. According to Dr. Beverly Crusher in the TNG episode "A Matter of Time," surgical forcefields were not in use during the 22nd century; this may also mean most forcefield systems were not invented yet or are in a very primitive stage. This explains why the ship lacks large-scale shield systems for protection (as confirmed in the August 24 TV Guide and "Broken Bow") and why the transporter, which employs forcefields, is still an unreliable piece of technology.
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Science
Scott Bakula confirmed the mission of the Enterprise is exploratory rather than military in nature. Therefore, it most likely has advanced sensor and science systems, which would be expected for an exploratory vessel. The interiors of the ship that have been seen so far (the bridge, ready room, and main engineering) seem to have a mix of touch panels and actual physical buttons. Okudagram-like displays are seen throughout those sets, and according to Rick Berman the bridge has 80 computer monitors displaying animated graphics. The ship must run on computer systems other than the duotronic of the Enterprise 1701; the inventor of that technology has not even been born yet. Communications over long distances can only be accomplished while the ship is at warp: apparently the carrier wave can only maintain integrity at superluminal velocities.
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Transportation
The NX-01 Enterprise will feature transporters, albeit in a primitive stage. Director of photography Marvin Rush is quoted as saying this ship will be a testbed for several new technologies, including the transporter. "Transporter technology is also fairly new, and while it's proven, not everybody in the world trusts it." Illustrator John Eaves said that the Enterprise will not have a transporter and instead the crew will take a shuttle everywhere. Eaves was most likely referring to the fact that there isn't a personnel transporter aboard, but only a cargo version. Archer still safely uses the transporter during "Broken Bow" so, like the transporters of the TNG era, they can be reset for quantum rather than molecular resolution. As far as shuttles are concerned, the podlike craft with deployable wings are "dropped" from the ship's belly. The other "bays" located on the ship's dorsal in the port and starboard locations as well as in the aft area are apparently cargo hatches or some type of airlock. The actual shuttlecraft itself is small. As with the shuttle orbiter and the later starships, this Enterprise will no doubt need to tow or move large objects. Tractor beams don't seem to be in evidence, so the grappling hooks mentioned are probably an advanced version of the shuttle's robotic arm.
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Crew Support
Replicators and holodecks are definitely out for Enterprise (at least on the ship itself): they didn't appear until the 24th century. This Enterprise does seem to have a very simple version of a replicator called a protein resequencer: it reconstitutes proteins into simple foodstuffs. More complex meals are prepared from scratch and served in areas such as the crew mess and captain's ready room. Large crew quarters such as those on the Enterprise-D and Voyager are also a thing of the 24th century. Spartan crew quarters in bunk style seems to be the norm; much as with DS9's Defiant. Dr. Phlox's sickbay will be much less advanced than McCoy's and Crusher's; Dr. Crusher stated in the TNG episode "A Matter of Time" that medical technology was extremely primitive. This is consistent with the descriptions of sickbay in the casting sheet and later Berman's summary in TV Guide. There seems to be a turboshaft terminus to the port of the bridge module, which would mean that there is at least a simple turboelevator system in place.
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Insignia
Insignia
Captains
Archer
Jonathan Archer
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