20^th Century

  The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) created and developed a reusable spacecraft known as the Space Shuttle Orbiter. The first orbiter was originally named Constitution, but an extensive written campaign to the White House urged the name to be changed to Enterprise, in honor of the spaceship from the science fiction show Star Trek. Designated Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 101, Enterprise was "rolled out of Rockwell's Air Force Plant 42, Site 1 Palmdale, California assembly facility on Sept. 17, 1976. The orbiter's main (and only) purpose was to test the Space Shuttle's approach and landing response. Along with this main purpose, a secondary purpose was to test the abilities of the Boeing 747 aircraft with the orbiter attached along with it being attached to the External Tank and Solid Rocket Boosters on a launch pad at Cape Canaveral. Between the day the orbiter was rolled out and October 30, 1979, the Enterprise was the test bed for orbiters that were in production and any future orbiters constructed. On November 18, 1985, Enterprise was ferried from the Kennedy Space Center to Dulles Airport, Washington, D.C., and became the property of the Smithsonian Institution.

(For more information on the orbiters, visit the orbiters web page through the Shuttle Shuttle Flight Archives section of the Kennedy Space Center web site, or simply click here)

    Eighty-eight years after humans achieved warp speed flight,  Earth launched its first starship capable of reaching Warp 5.  Earth's Starfleet commissioned this vessel as Enterprise with a registry number of NX-01.  Enterprise was launched in April 2151 with Captain Jonathan Archer in command.  During it's first year of service, the ship's crew has made first contact with a half dozen species, notably the Andorians.  During that first contact, the ship's crew revealed that the Vulcans were using a sacred shrine as a listening post against the Andorians.  On 9 February 2152, Enterprise achieved Warp 5, while on a mission to deliver a Vulcan ambassador back to Vulcan.  In March(?) of the same year, the crew of Enterprise believed that they caused the death of 3,600 Paraagan colonists. Upon further investigation, the crew determined that the Suliban were involved in the colony's destruction. Enterprise was attacked and captured by the Suliban, but the ship and it's crew escaped by faking a warp core breach.

   Approximately a month later, Enterprise was approaching a planet to enter orbit when it struck a cloaked mine. The ship was heavily damaged by the mine. A second mine had attached itself to the ship, but was later removed from the ship as well as the piece of hull plating that it was attached and detonated. While an attempt to disarm the mine was taking place, an unknown vessel appeared in the minefield in Enterprise's flight path. The ship, along with the mines, were later identified as Romulan.  Enterprise escaped before being fired upon by two Romulan ships. After four days of repairs, Captain Archer decided to send out a general distress call. The call was answered by a Tellarite freighter, which directed them to an automated repair facility. The facility performed three months of repairs in about a day and a half. Unfortunately, the crew had to destroy the station after repairs were completed, after the station captured Enterprise's helmsman, Ensign Travis Mayweather.

In early 2153, Enterprise was retrofitted with enhanced hull plating and photonic torpedoes to search for the spieces that attacked Earth, killing seven million people.