Future War Stories: FWS Ships of the Line: Explorer and Science Ships

In some ways, the Galaxy was the most pure of the explorer ships of Starfleet and UESPA. When the Galaxy class was dreamed up, it was a time of peace and new technologies that allowed for the Starfleet to form a project at the Martian shipyards to develop the most advanced deep space Starship ever constructed. For over a decade, the Galaxy class Starship Development Project met in Drawing Room 5 at Mars Station and laid out the Galaxy class explorer. It was a prefect time for such a project, Starfleet was turning its attention back to exploration and not war, to building the next generation of ships, and with a time of peace, Starfleet had the resources to dream big and dream big they did. Ships of the Galaxy class were then the most advanced vessels of their time in terms of offensive and defensive weapons, computer technology, warp drive, design, holodeck technology, and sensor technology. They were mobile science stations wrapped in a cruise ship vibe. They were the crown jewel for anyone serving in Starfleet and the pride of the fleet. 

This has been called the so-called Golden era of Exploration, and the Galaxy class was the apex of that era. The goal of the Galaxy class project was to built a mobile city in space that could spend years out beyond Federation space with every resource at the crew’s fingertips. It was also one of the first ships to incorporate the new Starfleet policy of including families onboard ships. In some ways, the Galaxy class was a fusion of the older Ambassador class and the Oberth class. This 100 year old starship took a great deal of resources and time to construct as well as manpower to crew the vast vessel, given that Galaxy class serving in a explorer role had more than 1,000 crew members. 

This was a ship of its time, given the relative peace of the time period. The overall style of the Galaxy class folded into other Starfleet ships at the time, like the Nebula class and hallmarks of the style of the Galaxy class are still seen. Throughout the class service life, the members of the Galaxy class (and especially the Enterprise D) were shining examples of Starfleet’s mission for peace and exploration. Much like their older sisters of the Ambassador and Excelsior classes the Galaxy class expanded the knowledge of the galaxy, made contact with new species, mapped new stars, and responded to various crisis. Several of the Galaxy class would be destroyed due to this, none more sadly than the Odyssey. Starfleet and much of the galaxy had labored under a false view that there was nothing out there that would counter their best ships…then the Borg showed up and a few years later, the Dominion came through the Bajoran wormhole.

By the time of the Dominion War, the Federation only had less than 2 dozen of the massive vessels in service. In the larger fleet battles, the Galaxy class was a command-&-control vessel of that battle group and the old battle bridge was altered to be a C3 center. In addition, Galaxy class served as hubs for their battle groups and as fire support during battles. The members of the class that served in the Dominion War were stripped down with the science labs closed and families put off the ship to be well beyond the frontlines. By the time that bloody war ended, ships like the Galaxy class would not be constructed in the same way again. The inheres of the throne of the Galaxy class were better armed, not family ships, and not built to be luxury cruisers of deep space. After the end of the war and the other vessels taken back over the exploration role, no more Galaxy class starships were constructed. To many historians, the Galaxy class represented a special time in Federation history that will never come again. 

Just before the Disney Renaissance, the company was attempting to find their place outside of a sense of nostigela, and one of those methods was the “Disney Sunday Movie” that ran on ABC from 1986-1988. During the last year of the program, Disney would air a two-part TV movie over two nights in mid-January of 1988 called “Earth Star Voyager”. This was pilot for a possible series that was not picked up. Set 100 years after the airing of the TV movie, the Earth is in ecological collapse and probes launched by a doomed exploration mission by the Earth ship Vanguard Explorer has picked up a possible new home for humanity. Now, the mission is to launch the most advanced ship named the EX ESV-1 “Earth Star Voyager” with 115 young members of the Earth Space Science Academy on a 26 year long mission to a star some 18.7 LYs away that may hold a Earth-like world called “Demeter” and the salvation of humanity,

Due to the length of time, the crew was picked from the ranks of the academy save for the captain. The EX-ES1 was a massive multi-generational explorer/survey ship that would cross the nearly 20 lightyears via the new “Bauma Drive” developed by Professor Bauma, allowed for FTL travel. Once at Demeter, a year would be spent exploring the world along with extensive tests and sample agricultural fields to determine for human habitation. Due to the unevenness of the pilot, reused visuals, the weak script, and that the show was not picked up, we know nearly nothing about the ship itself. Additionally, if Disney would even acknowledge that Earth Star Voyager even existed, maybe we could get access to the archives about the show and shots of the model used for the ships…more than what is online. So, what about the pilot movie? Well, it was never released in America and had a limited release on VHS overseas, and it will likely never be released on a modern format. There rips of the film on YouTube, so watch if you are interested. 

We go from one of the smallest science/explorer ships, we now come to one of the biggest: the Universe class. In the 26th century, the Federation has expanded beyond the Alpha and Beta quadrants of the Milky Way galaxy with exploration missions being launched deep into the Gamma and Delta quadrants. This was made possible by the destruction of the two most dangerous enemies of the Federation: the Borg Collective and the Dominion. Both were in ruins and scattered by that point, unable to stop the expansion of the Federation. Helping the expansion was the quantum slipstream drive system that the USS Voyager brought back from their journey in the Delta quadrant in the 24th century. This technology allowed access to other parts of the galaxy without the use of wormholes or the toll of years of travel. 

By the 26th century, the technology was much improved and now the Federation had access to extra-galactic space. Due to this, Starfleet decided it was time to venture out of the Milky Way galaxy and explore the Canis Major dwarf galaxy,  the Sagittarius dwarf elliptical galaxy, and the Andromeda galaxy. In order to conduct such an operation, there needed to be a new breed of starship and the Universe class was the end result. At the time of construction, this is the most advanced explorer ship ever seen and only a few ships ever emerged out of the bio-yards. For the Universe class was not made like most starships, it was grown in bio-yards over the course of years around a skeletal frame. Due to resources, crew needed, and the length of the mission, only six of the Universe class were grown: the Universe, Enterprise J, the Stephen Hawking, the Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi, the Jean Luc Picard, and the Carl Sagan. 

Due to the gap between galaxies, the Universe class starships would be on their own for years and each ship would have to serve many roles and functions, and one of them was the home for the massive crew. It was more than a home, the Universe class had such interior volume (the class is 2 miles in length) that a city was constructed inside and each city within each member of the class was individual names. These cities hosted all manner of activities, with parks, bodies of water, shopping, housing, entertainment, and places familiar to the many species onboard. Given the length of time of the mission to explore nearby galaxies, these ships were multi-generational with schools, military training academies, and universalities. 

Given the long-term mission that could be decades, the Universe class had to be designed to go for that long and be able to be flexible in both hardware, software, and the crew to met unplanned challenges. To help with some of this isolation, the Universe class were tasked with deploying communication relay stations along their path to build a communication network millions of lightyears from home. With the size of the vessel, interior travel to different regions is conducted site-to-site transporters and turbolifts are only in a emergency or in local travel. In addition, the Universe class hosted a number of shuttles and proper science starships in scale with the Oberth class from three hundred years ago. 

In practice, the Universe class would be the hub for smaller craft to disembark, especially if the star system held a world with a civilization…you really cannot help a ship the scale of the Universe class! The Federation did not want the alien civilization to believe that an alien mothership was a path of conquest and enslavement! In terms of armament and defensive system, much is classified about the vessel, but we do possess the codenames of these systems: LEECH, HYDRA, IMPACT, and SPHERE. It assumed by those in the defense industry that the LEECH system uses the rumored Leech Generators that allow the ship to draw power from an enemy vessel(s) to counter the threat in a less-than-lethal manner.

This system is rumored to be able to target specific systems while leaving life-support alone. This allows for the diplomacy mission of the Universe class to be greatly enhanced to deflated tensions. HYDRA is believed to be a form of missile system that allows for a single missile to strike at many points on the target, but we are unsure. IMPACT and SPHERE are believed to be two DE weapon systems. SPHERE is rumored to be embedded into the shield matrix, allowing for a particle beam to be generated anywhere within the shield grid, given the Universe class, 360 degree fire coverage. Now, IMPACT is another directed-energy beam weapon that is believed to be some sort of practice beam weapon that also deals in gravity, given the beam massive impact on shields by generate “ripples” in the matrix and destabilizing the enemy shields. The only known example, at current, of the Universe class in direct combat on-screen was in battle against the Sphere Builders at Battle of Procyon V with the Enterprise J and that event did not happen after the actions of the NX-01 Enterprise in 2154. 

At the time of writing, all of the members of this class are still out there exploring and have yet to return to Federation space. Maybe soon, they will return with stories from those distant points of light. 

In the era between the bloody Earth/Minbari War and War of the Shadows/the Earth Alliance First Civil War, there was a deep examination by EarthForce military planners and the civilian government on how to resurrect and redefine the EarthForce fleet. To say the Earth/Minbari War was bloody was an understatement. Few conflicts in Terran history equalled the death, destruction, and mental trauma that war had on the collective whole of humanity. It changed Earth, her people, and the general course of Milky Way galactic history.After the war, millions were death, nearly every ship the EarthForce fleet had was gone, and every colonial holding the Earth had was crushed. 

Given the extreme failure of the mission to “meet” the Minbari, there were two new projects by EarthForce and EarthGov to increase interstellar diplomacy/First Contract situations: The Babylon Station Project and the Explorer class. While the Babylon Project and massive historical impact the station had on the 3rd Age of Man, the Explorer class starship is less well known outside of the EarthForce fleet. Similar in scope to forging peace and understanding across the galaxy, the Explorer class ships would be taking this mission to the unknown regions (to humanity) of the galaxy towards the rim. 

Along the way, the Explorer class ships would be constructing new Jumpgates and scouting out possible new colonial sites, and/or resources. During this era between the wars, EarthForce would only construct six of the class due to the massive size and expense of the class. Coming in at 3.72 miles in lengths, it closer in size to Babylon 5 station than any other spaceship in all of humanity. Unlike many other EarthForce ships, the Explorer class was not designed with any combat roles in mind and it would not be used in any combat roles during times of war. This was due to the odd construction of the class and it steer length that prevent anytime of evasive maneuvering. From the outside, this massive starship appears “brittle” and this due to the massive spine that runs the length of the three mile craft with only a few sections of the entire ship designed for the smaller crew of less than 400. Speaking of the crew, only a 1/3rd of the total personnel were comprised of EarthForce, with the other members of the crew were civilians contractors for the science expeditions, construction projects, and other specialized roles; like planetary surveys. 

According to much rumor, some of the massive cost of the six Explorer class ships was secretly funded by the IPX corporation and agents of IPX were planted onboard to keep eyes out for possible signs of extraterrestrial archeological sites.  For some, the five-year long missions of the class were attractive to others looking to make a name, make some credits, or get lost among the stars. Only two portions of the ship were designed for habitation: one froward and one in the middle. The front of the ship housed the extensive launch bays for the large amount of probes, shuttles, construction pods, and short-ranged science craft. 

In addition, the forward section had the bridge, stellar cartography labs, shuttle repair, the construction operations center, and science mission operations. Down the spine, the rotating habitat section was accessed via mono-rail like craft (as well as the drive section) and here was all crew quarters, rec decks, chow halls, gyms, gardens, and the med-bay. At the very rear of the big ship was the drive section and was a limited access sections due to housing the engines, powerplant, fuel, and the jump-point systems. The spine itself contained solar panels, heat radiators, and stowed supplies for the crew along with assembly of jumpgates. Given it could be years between resupply, Explorer class ships grew fresh foods, carried massive amount of supplies, and had machine shops onboard to fashion replacements. 

When Explorer class ships did come back into Earth Alliance space, it was when the five year mission was over and it was time for resupply, refit, and crew rotations. Often, replacement crews were transported to the Explorer class as the ships of the class did not come back to Earth unless summoned. Until the Warlock class was developed after the War of the Shadows, the Explorer class was considered the apex of one’s military service and the most prized assignment. After the war, there was an influx of new technologies that triggered changes in Terran naval technology. This made the Explorer class obsolete and the remaining ships of the class were retired after they completed their missions. They were not sent to a breaking years, as given their size and massive shuttle bays, it is believed that the class could be retrofitted as a space station, or a “baby Babylon”. During the writing of this article, there was not been a replacement to the Explorer class…yet. It is odd, given how much the show made of the Explorer class that they were not seen more and much of what is written above is from fan entries and my own imagination. Hell, the B5 EarthForce sourcebook does not have an entry on the Explorer class despite the ship having a miniature made for the B5 RPG game! Wish this class had been better fleshed out. 

One of the most unusual entries on this list came from an unusual place: the Battletech universe. While not known for starships, the Battletech universe does have some beautiful and creative starship designs, and one of my favorite from the 3057 Read-Out was the ComStar Explorer Corps Magellan class. ComStar was headquartered in Terra and ran the interstellar communication network after the fall of the United Star League and during the Succession Wars. During these times, ComStar’s Explorer Corps was charted with surveying unknown space and locating the Exodus Fleet. Being built in 2960, the Magellan class would become the primary ship of the Explorer Corps. One of these Magellan vessels, the Outbound Light would make contact with the Clans in 3048 and by accident, trigger the Invasion of the Inner Sphere by the Clans the next year. 

The Oberth class Short Range Science ship from Star Trek

a different POV on the Oberth class. I clearly remember ST: III: TSOS and I was blown away by the amount of new ships in the film. The Grissom was unlike any Starfleet ship seen before and it still is rather unique in design. However, it was one of the few Starfleet starships is just be outright destroyed on-screen and that followed this ship class forever…the treatment of the class in TNG didn’t help matters either. 

The Phaeton from FOX 2009 TV Pilot “Virtuality” 

One of the great crimes of TV shows that ended too early or were never picked up to me was 2009 Virtuality that aired as a TV movie in June of 2009…which I caught on TV. This is one of my favorites of all time and I rewatch the DVD it about once a year. Set in the near future (year never established), the Phaeton is a anti-matter bomb-pulse propulsion explorer starship tasked with explore the nearby star system of Epsilon Eridani (10.5 LYs). This mission will take 10 years to complete and the crew is 12. To escape their ship and familiar people, each crew member has VR modules to escape into their own private simulations. 

During the journey through the Sol system, the ecological situation on Earth grows worse and the mission of the Phaeton is changed from exploration to planetary survey to see if a world orbiting Epsilon Eridani is able to be fit for human habituality. Due to show not being picked up, we never got much in the way of seeing Phaeton conduct its science or exploration mission, but it shows maybe what be like to have a near-future deep space exploration ship and how the crew would deal with being locked inside their metal tube for 10 years. In actuality, the crew of Phaeton would be in cryo-sleep after the acceleration to light-speed due to how much resources would be needed to supply a crew of a dozen for 10 years. That maybe what the show was about and the central mystery of the show. It is possible that the crew was in cryo-sleep the entire time and this was a simulation…much like what American take on British TV show Life on Mars. Another take on this 2009 pilot is that the writers, Michael Taylor & Ronald D. Moore based part of Virtuality on elements of Earth Star Voyager.   

The Odyssey class Explorer from Star Trek

Born out of the Dominion War, the Odyssey class was the true successor to the Galaxy class and was the new breed of Federation explorer vessels after the Dominion War. In addition to exploration, the Odyssey class was a powerful combat starship that also carried the Aquarius class light escort vessel within its massive shuttle bay to help with tactical situations far from support. This class would lead to the even more advanced Vesta class that would extend the range of exploration by the Federation into the Gamma and Delta Quadrants via the use of Slipstream drive technology brought back by the USS Voyager. 

Only 12 Odyssey class explorers were constructed, with one being the Enterprise F under the command of the first Andorian to take the big chair on a Enterprise christened starship in 300 years of Starfleet history: Cpt. Va’Kel Shon. The Odyssey class Enterprise-F was designed for a 2011 contest for the Star Trek Online video game by absolute legend Adam Ihle with members of the game studio finetuning the design. It is so awesome that the Enterprise F was designed by a such a fan with such love and amazing talent that it is one of the best designs for a starship in the post-Dominion War era. 

It is sad that when we Trekkies  finally got to see the Enterprise F and the Odyssey class on-screen (and entered into “official canon”) it was in the 3rd Season of terrible Picard show. To make matters worse, the ship was disrespected and tossed away by terrible writing and simple bad ideas on a terrible TV show. This was an insult to the entire name of the Enterprise and the the show should be ashamed of themselves for how the Enterprise F was treated and the to name that other ship the Enterprise G is another level of disrespect. Honestly, Picard is so bad that its storylines on all three seasons simply cannot be canon Trek, and to me, the Beta Canon on this ship and class is far superior to what was shown on the 3rd Season.