NX-1701-A
The Enterprise That Never Was 
Writer & Illustrator: Michael Alexander
Copyright: 1993
Summary:
A RETROSPECTIVE OF THE NX-1701-A PROGRAM
The USS Enterprise and other similarly configured vessels are based on the Jefferies starship design theorem. This theorem was formulated on Earth during the mid-Twentieth Century. Accumulating a vast list of heroic and scientific achievement over forty years, the Enterprise became a symbol of Starfleet and the Federation. During it's final year of service, the ship was regulated from first-line duty to Academy Training Vessel.
To keep the Enterprise name on the leading edge of Federation technology, Starfleet had devised two plans: First, evaluate the trial runs of the USS Excelsior NX-2000 (The Great Experiment). At the time, this newest ship was equipped with the latest experimental propulsion technology. Once the Excelsior lived up to envisioned capabilities, the next similar vessel built would be the next Enterprise. Second, should results of Excelsior prove unsatisfactory, salvage proven components into a newly designed cruiser hull.
For Starfleet's second plan, the Solaris Corporation was selected over eighteen other prime contract proposals. The yet-to-be-built vessel, was the NX-1701-A (official Enterprise Class designation was pending on the Excelsior). The NX-1701-A and NX-2000 principal similarity was the saucer section. Starfleet Command's Advanced Starship Design Bureau was attracted to Solaris' sophisticated use of variable trititanium dynamic-matrix (VTDXIM) flowing constructs. The transwarp drive on the Excelsior, encountered severe propulsion difficulties, so an advanced form (fifth generation; designed to operate at greater efficiency) of the standard warp drive was slated for the NX-1701-A.
The untimely destruction of the Enterprise began to unravel both of Starfleet's plans. With so many malfunctioning systems aboard the Excelsior, the process of her was slow during trial acceptance runs. The NX-1701-A (still on the drawing screens) had only seven months of mission simulations, and one-third of the theoretical work completed.
Barring any additional unforseen delays, it would have been at least a decade, before either Enterprise replacement plan reached fruition. At that particular crucial era, it was decided, the Federation would not operate without it's strongest icons, no longer than necessary. To honor the ongoing interstellar exploits of Captain James Kirk and his crew: the Federation Council gave Starfleet the "go-ahead" to rechristen the newly built USS Yorktown; the Enterprise, NCC-1701-A. This new Enterprise was virtually identical to it's predecessor with some internal technical and cosmetic exceptions.
The Transwarp Development Project proved unsuccessful, but the Excelsior was eventually commissioned and became a durable frontline class. The NX-1701-A was kept in research and development status for over thirty years. Even the renowned Chief Engineer, Commander Montgomery Scott speculated the time will come when most future starship configurations (become curvilinear and sweeping majestic cohesive units), may eventually adopt some of the Solaris design theorems. This long envisioned era of when aesthetics surpass technical criterions, would take place sometime in the 24th Century.
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