GENERAL OVERVIEW

	Any discussion of the Galaxy class starship that attempted to detail 
all of the possible attributes and applications of the vessel would fill many 
volumes. As with living organisms, a mobile environment as large as the USS 
Enterprise is undergoing constant evolution. Were one to make a close 
examination of the starship at ten-year intervals over the next one hundred 
years, one would see a slightly different vessel each time.

	The USS Enterprise is categorized 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 describe 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.

	The combination 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-than-light travel. The initial 
Starfleet requirement that a single spacecraft be able to perform as three 
distinct vehicles presented some rather complexÑthough some engineers 
not normally afraid of numbers preferred the word ÒdauntingÓÑ
computational challenges.

	The docked configuration presented the most efficient use of warp 
flight forces, but the Battle Section was also required to perform to 
specifications at warp velocities on its own, and the Saucer Module would 
have to have the capability of high sublight speed and possibly survive a 
separation 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 existence.

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 artificial 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 defense against hostile forces, 
and subspace radio arrays communicate with other worlds and other ships.

	Lifeboats allow for escape in dire emergencies, transporter emitters 
afford reliable movement of crew and gear nearly instantaneously, 
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 begin their climb to the 
stars.

	The forty-two decks are internally divided around major load-bearing 
structures. A great many systems, especially the pressurized habitation 
sections, are suspended within the open spaces, essentially ÒfloatingÓ on 
flexible ligaments to minimize mechanical, thermal, and conductive radiation 
shocks. As the Enterprise left the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards, approximately 
35% of the internal volume was not yet 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 dramatically once inside the hull. The 
starship possesses structures akin to a cental nervous system and 
circulatory apparatus, 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 and to deal with adverse conditions at a faster pace.

	The living areas of the starship have been designed for maximum 
comfort and safety while the crew is conducting a mission. Long-term 
studies of humanoid cultures have confirmed that as each race embarked 
upon permanent occupation of space, large personal living spaces 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 relatively large 
size of the vessel, opting for a smaller, more efficient design, it was 
conceded that the large size provided a greater number of mission options, 
given the changing social, political, and economic conditions in the Milky 
Way.  Æ