The fifth Federation starship to bear the legendary name, the U.S.S. Enterprise-D was officially commissioned on stardate 40759.5 with the continuing mission "to boldly go where no one has gone bdore." It is a vessel of deep-space exploration, scientific discovery, diplomacy, and-when required- battle in the interests of defense and keeping the peace throughout the galaxy. More than 1,000 people are on board the Enterprise-D, including Starfleet crew, families and other personnel. Like its illustrious predecessors, the Enterprise-D is at the forefront of the Federation's continual discovery of the universe.

The U.S.S. Enterprise-D contains 42 decks in its stardrive section and has anoverall length of 641 meters. The flagship, commanded by Captain Jean-LucPicard, often plays host to joyful events such as weddings and births, and vitalevents such as trade and diplomatic conferences. But it also has its share ofterrifying encounters as well: The Enterprise was the first starship to encounter theBorg, and was lucky to survive. It was heavily damaged and required extensiverepairs at Earth Station McKinley.

The Enterprise also led an armada of 23 starships in a blockade against theRomulans during the Klingon civil war in 2368. In its fifth year of service, the shipwas repeatedly destroyed in a collision with the U.S.S. Bozeman while trapped for 17days in a time loop. In 2369 the ship was briefly commanded by Captain EdwardJellico when Picard went on a secret mission and was captured by the Cardassians.

In what is perhaps the most bizarre occurrence ever on a starship, the Enterpriseplayed host to an emergent lifeform that used the ship's Systems and theprogramming of its computers to give birth