Columbia (NX-02) an NX class starship in the Star Trek fictional universe which is featured on the television series Star Trek: Enterprise. The vessel, which carries the registry number NX-02, is the sister vessel of Enterprise NX-01 in Earth's Starfleet. The motto of the ship, as shown on the mission patch, is Audentes Fortuna Juvat.
Construction of the vessel began after the launch of Enterprise in 2151 and it was shown on screen for the first time in the second season episode "The Expanse ." At that time the vessel had no name, and there was speculation as to what the ship would be given. In the third season episode, "EČ", it was revealed that the vessel had been named Columbia, in honor of the Space Shuttle Columbia).
Like the Columbia (NX-02) was the second ship after the Enterprise (NX-01) for Starfleet, the space shuttle Columbia was the second space shuttle after the Space Shuttle Enterprise for NASA.
(Though, unlike the Enterprise (NX-01), the space shuttle Enterprise was never put into commission.)
Columbia was still being built as of the start of the fourth season (said to take place in the year 2154), and the episode "Home" established that its first commanding officer was Captain Erika Hernandez. The vessel was finally launched in late 2154, after numerous construction-related delays.
Some Trek fans have suggested that the naming of a female captain contradicts a line of dialogue in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode, "Turnabout Intruder" that suggested that at the time of Captain Kirk, women were not allowed to command starships. Defenders of Enterprise counter that the line of dialogue could be interpreted to mean that starship captains can't afford to become romantically attached to the opposite sex; alternately, it could also mean that, for whatever reason, women were not allowed to be captains at the time of the Original Series. Gene Roddenberry, creator of Star Trek, was on record as regretting that this line of dialogue made it into his show, so in that respect, the appointing of a female captain in the prequel series, Enterprise, is more in keeping with Roddenberry's original vision for the future.
Little is known of Columbia's crew at present, except that Charles Tucker of Enterprise transfers to Columbia to serve as its chief engineer, becoming unpopular with the engineering crew as a result. It has also been noted that Columbia's bridge crew, at least at the time of her launch, was all female.
It remains to be seen what impact Columbia and Capt. Hernandez will have on the missions of Enterprise in the future. However, the vessel lent a great deal of help to Enterprise in a recent two-part episode ("Affliction " and "Divergence "). Due to Klingon sabotage, Enterprise was unable to drop out of warp, and had to travel at dangerous speeds in order to avoid catastrophic engine failure. Commander Charles Trip_Tucker made a risky maneuver in space - he floated along on a tether, from Columbia to Enterprise (while both vessels were travelling at warp!), in order to assist his old ship. Tucker subsequently received temporary reassignment to Enterprise in order to assist in repairing major damage experienced due to the Klingon incident. Columbia is not expected to appear again prior to the end of Star Trek: Enterprise's fourth and final season.
Tucker's posting to Columbia is a brief one; in the episode "Bound", he reveals that he has requested transfer back to Enterprise, a request that was presumably granted.
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