NX program
The NX Project, also known as the NX program or NX test program, was Earth Starfleet's effort to develop a starship using the engine designed by the Warp Five program.
Prior to the NX Project, Human ships were only capable of achieving warp 2.
History
During the 22nd century, the Earth Cargo Service was Earth's only real presence in outer space. The crews of these ships would spend years traveling from one planet to another, and the Humans with the most space experience were called "Boomers." This term was also used for Humans born to those spaceships' personnel, and who had spent their entire life running cargo. Cargo ships were sometimes referred to as "Boomer ships," and were often generational.
The NX Project was an effort to allow humanity's knowledge expand and continue space exploration. The program fielded several test vehicles with prototype versions of the warp five engine. After some initial progress at speeds below warp 2, the project quickly stalled, sometime prior to 2144. The test flight of NX-Alpha ended with an explosion, after the engines were pushed slightly beyond warp 2. On the recommendation of the Vulcans observing the program, the project was indefinitely suspended. However, Lieutenant Tucker and Commander Archer believed the design fundamentally sound. Tucker's analysis showed the inter-mix ratio of the fuel flowing through the antimatter injectors proved to be the root of the problem. Tucker's corrections allowed the NX-Beta — illegally piloted by Archer and Robinson — to enjoy a more successful test flight.
Though their efforts were a contravention of direct orders, the illegal flight had effectively confirmed the utility of the warp five engine. Nevertheless, the Vulcans required about a year of additional ground-based simulations following the NX-Beta flight. A final test flight, using the NX-Delta, would break the warp 3 barrier eight months after the Vulcan program of simulations concluded. Construction began five years thereafter on Enterprise (NX-01), and it was launched in April of 2151. At that time, another three vessels of the NX class were on the drawing board.
The Enterprise was joined by the Columbia (NX-02) in November of 2154.
Ships of the NX program
- NX-Alpha
- NX-Beta
- NX-Delta
- The NX class of starships
- Enterprise (NX-01)
- Columbia (NX-02)
Background
- If the NX Project continued to follow the order of the United States of America space shuttle program, the NX-03 and NX-04 would be named Challenger and Discovery respectively.
- It is somewhat unclear just how long the NX Project remained a unique subdivision of Earth Starfleet. It is possible that the project proper ended after Enterprise was launched. This is perhaps suggested by the disappearance of the NX Project logo after 2151. It is notable the Enterprise crew wore only an Enterprise patch, whereas NX test pilots wore both the project logo and what appeared to be the emblem of their particular vessel on their flight suits. Following that logic, Enterprise crewmembers should have been wearing an NX Project logo, had the project still been regarded as an active subdivision of Starfleet.
