Here's a retrospective on the Nebula Class starship from Star Trek The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Generations& First Contact. I mean, if the pod is so great, why can't they glue one on to the Galaxy class? It can support a very large crew or a gigantic number of troops if pressed into a troop transport role. However, switching out the pod leaves it less capable in other roles, I assume. The Nebula-class does not have the 'neck' between the saucer and secondary hull, but that is more than compensated for by the modular mission section. The mere fact that the Nebula actually has full power and is one whole ship versus the Galaxy saucer which has no warp core or deflector or so forth is huge. Cost. Just something I realized. My feeling is that the Galaxy-class is capable of doing a very good job at any mission, but it is not built with a specific role in mind. Yet the Galaxy class endures. This leads me to a silly schoolyard question of who could beat up who? Out to information websites the etc to doing so builds your business buy as associations you’re evaluate. Ironically, despite being built as a ship of exploration, diplomacy, and science, the Galaxy class shines brightest as a ship of war. The Galaxy is designed to be a flagship. As far as I'm aware, we never got to see main engineering on a Nebula class ship, it's engineering section is big enough that housing a core of the same size should not be a problem. No, its almost certainly the other way around. The Nebula-class is well-known for being a testbed of modular components, with the vessel's upper outboard structures varying from vessel to vessel. Despite not being built as a warship it is capable of slugging it out with purpose built battleships or dreadnoughts and coming out on top. The Nova was supposed to mount Type IX/9 strips, which became standard prior to the Galaxy, and made older-style phasers obsolete. Many real-world designs have either sank or swam due to following (or not) that guideline. And what's the point of the Galaxy-class? Life of several stars is connected to life of a galaxy while life of only one star is associated with a nebula. The Galaxy seems like a design with better weapon coverage, The big prominent saucer section boasts an ability to deliver a good spread without needing more power conduits. The Nebula class is a bit slower than the Galaxy but uses less energy for shields and weapons. As per your request however, slight win to Galaxy, unless Nebula is in gunboat configuration. It can be inferred the Intrepid has a greater power output per unit of volume due to its higher speed, and mounts some pretty heavy armaments. Nebula (noun) a clouded spot on the cornea causing defective vision. nebulae, nebulæ or nebulas ) is an interstellar cloud of dust, hydrogen, helium and other ionized gases. While the Nebula Capsule is obviously built to use Android apps, many will want to stream content from their computer or another device. The more time you spend working on a single ship in a shipyard the fewer total ships you have. The Galaxy Class Starship Development Project began in the 2350s at Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards. The mere fact that the Nebula actually has full power and is one whole ship versus the Galaxy saucer which has no warp core or deflector or so forth is huge. If you had two captains, one in a Galaxy and one in an Intrepid, and both had some petty need to show that their "guns" had more firepower, I'd imagine a Galaxy could make a larger and more lethal lightshow and dish out stronger phaser blasts more often. Pre-dating the Galaxies by a few years they were not designed to be do everything super ships, instead they make use of several mission-specific modules mounted at the upper rear. The Galaxy Class was a failure for Starfleet, as they paid the price for a heavy cruiser/battleship, but got an oversized explorer instead. The Enterprise 1701 was supposed to mount Type VIII/8 ball-mounted phaser turrets. Yeah but unlike the Miranda, the Nebula class still has a secondary hull. Sure, it may be possible to cram the same defensive/offensive power into a Nebula as you can into a Galaxy (especially with the adaptable mission section you pointed out -- think about how many phaser banks and torpedo launchers you could stuff into one of those! We saw this with the Defiant, where the tiny ship has a massively oversized warp core with 4 separate reaction chambers on a comparatively tiny ship, and it was taken to the next level in the Sovereign class where the core had SEVEN chambers. Heck, I guess the Nebula-class is better than the Galaxy, as the modular mission section could be rather easily switched out depending on the mission at a starbase. No, its almost certainly the other way around. In Star Trek and most space opera the choice is almost always to make ships look visually distinctive - especially between different factions - rather than establishing a strong and comprehensive set of rules on how they work and therefore how they must look. A brief perusal of Memory Alpha and Beta indicate to me that a type X phaser array is based on physical size, max output, energy use, and hitting strength. Yamato was lost to an Iconian computer virus. Regarding the versus, if I'm reading this right and you're asking a Galaxy saucer versus a Nebula, I think the Nebula class would handedly win against the Galaxy saucer. I'd guess the Galaxy-class would be at an advantage. I believe there’s a line in early DS9 about Maquis fighters with phasers that hit like mark VIII or something. Logically as a larger ship it would have slightly greater reactor output. cloud formed after a star explodes). For other uses, see Odyssey. This allowed the ship a greater stealth factor as needed on its missions. Even with a structure that was a significant departure from the Imperial-class, especially the lack of a command tower, the Nebula was often mistaken for an Imperial design due to its angular lines. (TNG: \"The Pegasus\")The warp core was designed at Outpost Seran T-1 on stardate 40052 by some of the most brillian… It is one of the largest starships created by Starfleet, surpassing even the Galaxy-class in size. It's more compact size is economical. What test can you perform using the commonly available tools in your visual toolbox? The high costs mean you have fewer ships, and no matter how capable your ship is it can only ever be in one place at one time. Nebula. I'd imagine size would be the largest factor for raw hitting power, but newer tech would produce a stronger and more efficient discharge, need less maintenance, not blow up when exposed to Tachyon jelly etc. If this assumption is correct they should be more powerful. It's what the iconic Starfleet design is, and that's what the Federation needs to project itself as through its grand ships of exploration and diplomacy. So why isn't it the main flag-vessel-class of Starfleet? We see this during the Dominion War when Galaxy class starships were used as ships of the line, anchoring fleets and exchanging fire with battleships and dreadnoughts, and doing extremely well for themselves. Memory Alpha states that the Nebula Class had a maximum warp speed of 9.3, while the Galaxy Class had a maximum of 9.8 at launch. The Nebula-class was developed along-side the Galaxy-class in the 2340s and ’50s. It's a similar situation to the refit Constitution and Miranda classes. Galaxies live longer than nebulae. Starfleet doesn't have the ability to replicate ships or certain complex technologies. Odyssey and Enterprise was lost due to non-functional shields, and possibly an unnamed Galaxy class lost at the Second Battle of Chin'toka, though in that case a surprise use of a Breen energy draining weapon wiped out 311 ships out a combined fleet of 312 ships. The Galaxy class is a beastly starship. Seems to me that the Galaxy is a generalist design that is good at a lot of things, while the Nebula is a more specialized design that focuses on being really good at specific things by switching out the multi-mission pod. Perhaps there is some quirk of warp field dynamics that favors a forward mass saucer or spoon shape with a rearward and underslung mass engineering section and warp coil assembly with that neck in the middle. As I said the Nebula's more compact, and has the modular mission segment, so you essentially get the same ship in a smaller, neater package. Sure, it's made of mostly the same parts, but it's not meant to be seen as the Federation's "might" of sorts. Compared to the Galaxy class the Nebula has a more compact shape - the engineering hull is mounted directly to the underside of the saucer section, a … Several configurations—including a tactical pod, sensor pod, cargo pod and probe pod—had been fielded by the 2380s. Galaxies are classified into spiral, elliptical and irregular. A subreddit for in-depth discussion about Star Trek. During the Dominion War, of course, the most common variant was the tactical configuration. This gonna be a long read! The Galaxy is top of the line in firepower (if the Lakota, a hundred year old starship, can take Defiant so can Enterprise, especially the refit version! The Galaxy from the front is less of a target with enough firepower to take advantage of it. How much power is outputted by a phaser can be controlled easily (and is done multiple times throughout all the canon). I just go with a Galaxy-class based bridge. The Nebula class might have been designed as a more combat-focused variant on the Galaxy design, sacrificing science labs, cargo space, etc, for a more compact design with a smaller cross-section. Materials for one ship cannot be used for another. The typical offensive arsenal of the Nebula-classincluded a torpedo launcher located on the secondary hull above the deflector dish, and on some variants, a torpedo launcher located on the superstructure located above the primary hull. The ship is truly phenomenal in every role. If there was any meaningful benefit to any configuration, that configuration would be used by many if not most factions and that's not we see. The problem with the Galaxy class starships is that they're big and expensive. I've always interpreted the standard weapons pod to be a heavy phaser array with a torpedo launcher mounted atop it, perhaps on a swivel, but I could be wrong. Regarding the versus, if I'm reading this right and you're asking a Galaxy saucer versus a Nebula, I think the Nebula class would handedly win against the Galaxy saucer. Starfleet's engineering corp truly outdid themselves on the Galaxy class. Replicate your popcorn now. The downside to all of this spectacular performance? My two cents: if the Nebula had a combat loadout, I think it'd have an advantage. For instance, the Intrepid-class. Originally, the term was used to describe any diffused astronomical object, including galaxies beyond the Milky Way. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast, More posts from the DaystromInstitute community. Compared to the Galaxy class the Nebula has a more compact shape - the engineering hull is mounted directly to the underside of the saucer section, a measure which saves some 200 metres in length. Its just a better deal. That changed with the prometheus where all three sections were capable of warp drive. This is done in a factory. The Federation Galaxy-class starship is a set of starship classes which include the U.S.S. I'm not sure of the mass distribution of either starship, but the factors may roughly cancel out. The Nebula-class was developed along-side the Galaxy-class in the 2340s and 50s. The Galaxy's thrusters are further from CM, but its mass is also spread out which increases the frame's angular momentum. sliferra333 For the glory of the united potato alliance! They're astoundingly powerful, but they're so expensive as to not be economical. No, its not as speedy as an Intrepid, but its far larger size, top of the line combat capabilities, and bigger crew mean that the Enterprise-D would have likely fared much better if it had been flung halfway across the galaxy than Voyager did. Though, you could get the same affect by just having a 'general purpose/mission' module for the Nebula-class, which would in essence give it the same capabilities as a Galaxy, and only switch it out for a sensor/tactical module when it is needed. As to "who would win", in my humble opinion it's irrelevant to go for an answer to that type of question, and instead it's more useful to ask for insight and opinion. (Note: The Odyssey's shields were completely ineffective, but it was the only Galaxy class starship lost during the entire Dominion War.) Materials + energy + workers in, product + tired workers out. Its small size often lead to it being referred to as a \"pocket Star Destroyer\", muc… You may not nominate your own content for PotW. The first test hull, now dubbed the USS Akira by the development team after the project name, was laid in 2356 and basic compartmentalization was completed two years later, when the Consolidated Fusion Inc. 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