The Excelsior NX-2000 was originally equipped with an experimetal transwarp drive. A large number of Excelsior-class starships was built over a period of more than 60 years. Excelsior-class ships incorporate two shuttlebays in the engineering hull stern and keel. The Excelsior design is still in use by the year 2376.
There are only two known refit Excelsior-class ships, the Enterprise-B and the Lakota.
There is yet another class variant. The original Excelsior was modified from its first appearance as NX-2000 "Star Trek VI". The NCC-2000 has a smaller bridge module, two small impulse deflection crystals instead of one large, and a new, angular section with three decks sticking out forward from the aft shuttlebay, instead of a round hull part with probably two decks.
There is no screen evidence that the transwarp experiment really failed but the TNGTM says so.
The registry of the USS Melbourne was NCC-62043 at first, since at the time TNG "Best of Both Worlds" was produced it was supposed to be a Nebula-class ship. In the battle scene of DS9: "The Emissary", this number can briefly be seen on the saucer hull before it is blown up, although it seems to be far too high for the aged Excelsior-class design. |
