Columbus Class Interplanetary Explorer
U.N.S.S. Icarus
Image scanned from Star Trek Spaceflight Chronology by Fred Goldstein
The Columbus class of interplanetary explorers represented one of the last major sublight vessels produced by the Terrans before the advent of warp drive. The UNSS Icarus was built to be one of the first ships to explore Alpha Centauri. Launched in 2040, the Icarus began its grueling, 11 and a half year round trip to Terra's nearest extrasolar neighbor. Although no advanced civilizations were found on Alpha Centauri, much valuable scientific data was discovered concerning the evolution of other planetary systems. The crew of the Icarus made it back to Earth just in time to witness the beginning of World War III.
The Columbus class was built around speed and effeciency, as it was designed for long distant flights. It had the most advanced fusion rockets of the time. Also, this class of ship is notable as the first class of Terran ship to be equippied with weapons in the form of lasers and fusion torpedoes. The fusion reactors were also designed to be spiked with small amounts of antimatter to give them an extra kick. Most of these ships were used to explore the outer planets and the Oort cloud at the boundary of the solar system.
Specifications:
Length: 120 meters
Diameter: 37.2 meters
Mass: 8.6 million kg
- Compliment:
- Officers: 4 (Captain, First Mate, Engineer, Navigator)
- Crew: 36
Propulsion: Geodyne Fusion Pack
Fuel: antimatter spiked deuterium (50:1 matter:antimatter)
Maximum velcotiy: 0.85c
- Weaponry:
- 4 forward lasers
- 25 fusion rockets
Shuttlecraft: 1
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