Star Trek: 10 Secrets Of Enterprise NX-01 You Need To Know

After fourteen years exploring the 24th century (with occasional theatrical diversions to the 23rd century), the Star Trek franchise went back two hundred years for 2001's prequel series, titled simply "Enterprise".

Instantly controversial with continuity diehards for its depiction of technology seemingly out of step with what fans knew about the pre-Kirk era, Enterprise presented the "first" starship to bear the name, replete with shiny metallic surfaces and flat-screen computer monitors.

It's been nearly 20 years since the show premiered, but with new content flooding the streaming market, Enterprise may be more watched and beloved now than it was back in the aughts. And its legacy continues, not just with the mini-cameo in Star Trek Into Darkness, or the name drop in Star Trek: Discovery's "Will You Take My Hand?", but in the design and configuration of Star Trek starships currently taking to the screen.

We've scrounged up as much data about the pre-Federation vessel as we could by going straight to the man who breathed life into the ship himself – Doug Drexler – for the secrets of Enterprise NX-01 that you need to know.

During the preproduction phase on Enterprise (remember it was just Enterprise in those days), producers Rick Berman and Brannon Braga requested ship configurations that ran the gamut of rocket ship-like designs to ones that hewed closer to Kirk's Constitution-class vessel. According to illustrator John Eaves in 2001:

"I did lots of sketches and they'd go too far Phoenix [from Star Trek: First Contact] or too far Enterprise [from Star Trek: The Original Series], and it wasn't really what Mr. Berman wanted to see."

Sifting through existing starship designs for inspiration, the producers stumbled upon the Akira-class USS Thunderchild from Star Trek: First Contact and suggested the art department simply reuse that ship for the NX-01. While this suggestion was roundly resisted by Enterprise's art department, it did determine the direction the ship's design would take. Using then brand new computer modeling technology, Doug Drexler conceptualized several different versions of the ship, incorporating modified elements of the Thunderchild.

While John Eaves' work on the NX-01 ultimately went unused in favor of Drexler's digital approach, Eaves' concepts would eventually inform the design for Star Trek: Discovery's take on the USS Enterprise – some 17 years later.