Excelsior class starship

In the Star Trek fictional universe, the Excelsior class is a very common type of starship used by Starfleet. The Excelsior and its class was designed by Bill George at ILM for the movie '. It appeared in future movies and many episodes of '. ' introduced a new variant of the model, for the Enterprise B, which was designed by John Eaves.

Related Topics:
Star Trek - Fictional universe - Starship - Starfleet - Excelsior - Bill George - ILM - Enterprise B - John Eaves

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The basic configuration of an Excelsior class vessel is similar to that of the earlier Constitution class: at the forefront, a circular primary hull with a bridge at the center of the dorsal side, a sensor dome at the bottom of the ventral, and impulse engines at the aft end. The lifeboats, officers' quarters and sensor platforms are contained in the saucer. The saucer is attached to a backward-angled neck extending downward from the aft of the ventral side to a secondary hull, roughly tubular with a flat platform on the dorsal side; the hull has a navigational deflector at the forefront and a shuttlebay at the aft. Two warp nacelles are above the secondary hull, slightly above the altitude of the primary hull, supported by pylons that attach to a bulge on the top of the secondary hull, run to the sides, and go upward from an angle (slightly less than 90°) to the nacelles. A semi-circular cargo bay lies at the bottom of the secondary hull, designed for shuttlecraft and other cargo vessels.

Related Topics:
Constitution class - Circular - Sensor - Dome - Navigational deflector - Nacelle - Altitude

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A different version of the class has been seen in the Enterprise-B and Lakota, usually considered a refit, though apparently not intended to be applied to all Excelsior class vessels as standard versions are still seen eighty years after the refit's first appearance. The most notable external differences are two extensions running aftward out of the saucer, one port and one starboard of the impulse system, likely either shuttlebays or additional impulse engines, and two raised areas on the front of the engineering hull on either side of the deflector dish.

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In addition to the Excelsior class ships listed below, there exist several Excelsior class variants. The first is the USS Centaur (NCC-42043), named for the centaur, a hybrid creature. The Centaur variant is composed of an Excelsior saucer and an enlarged Miranda class torpedo pod attached to the bottom with its support pylons supporting two nacelles. It is unknown if further ships of this type exist. The second is similar, with the only notable difference in design being a third nacelle over the top of the saucer, supported by two backward-angled pylons, each running upward from one side of the saucer. Another variety seen is composed of a saucer over an Excelsior engineering hull with the shuttlebay moved to the forefront of the top of the hull where the neck standardly attaches, and the two hulls connected by a thin, forward-angled neck; two nacelles run alongside, connected to the ship by two sets of pylons, one set large and attaching to the underside of the saucer and the other thin and ribbed widthwise attaching to the engineering section. The only known ships of this type (which some fanon materials have labelled as a troop transport for Starfleet marines and given the designation "Shelley class", a reference to Frankenstein author Mary Shelley) are the USS Curry (NCC-45617) and the Raging Queen (NCC-42284), with no "USS". However, the Raging Queen is likely not intended to be considered canon, its name being a reference to a Saturday Night Live skit. Whether any of these variants are new classes or merely anomalous inventions slapped together to face the Dominion threat is unknown.

Related Topics:
Centaur - Miranda class - Torpedo - Fanon - Starfleet marines - Frankenstein - Mary Shelley - Saturday Night Live - Dominion

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