http://stechoes.com

Logo for USS Discovery

A third HMS Discovery, commanded by Captain George Nares, undertook the British Arctic Expedition, a voyage of exploration in Earth's Eastern Arctic in 1875 to 1876.  RRS Discovery was the last wooden three-masted ship to be built in Earth's British Isles, and was launched on March 21st, 1901, designed for Earth's Antarctic research.  Her first mission was to carry Robert Falcon Scott and Earnest Shackelton on their first, remarkably successful journey to the Antarctic, otherwise known as the National Antarctic Expedition.

The first spacegoing vessel to use the Discovery name was Earth's third low earth orbiter commonly known as the space shuttle.  The OV-103 Discovery served with distinction between 1984 and 2012.  Among her most notable missions was the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope and many trips to help build Earth's first large space station.  Discovery was originally scheduled to be decommissioned in 2010, but budget shortfalls and project delays to the new space shuttle replacement, Orion, forced Discovery to serve on into 2012 as the last of Earth's space shuttles.

The name Discovery did not appear on another spacegoing vessel until 2264 when USS Discovery (NCC-1798) was commissioned as part of the last grouping of Consitution Class starships.  Discovery embarked on two separate five year missions under the command of Captain Jeffery Lange.  Among her most notable voyages were first contact with the Denobulans, the Treaty of Delta, and the testing and first deployment of the FP-5 photon torpedo and FH-3 phasers.  Returning to port in 2274, Discovery was refit with the newest engines, shields, and weapons to the extent that the entire hull had to be redesigned along the same lines as the USS Enterprise after her five year mission.  Discovery's refit was so extensive that she was assigned a new registry number: NCC-1823.

USS Discovery began her new voyages under the command of Captain Taran Vaughn and over the course of 12 years she made contact with the Ingavi, Skorr, Triexians and 12 other species.  Discovery also served in combat with the Tholians and Tzenkethi and was victorious in each skirmish.  In 2286 Discovery was lent to Starfleet Academy as a training vessel.  In 2290 Discovery was refit once again with the latest Federation technology over four years.  Upgrades included FH-11 Phasers and FP-4 photon torpedoes with aft firing banks along with the most powerful shields and impulse engines available.  Relaunching in 2294, 34 years after her original launch, 20 years after being upgraded to Constitution Refit, one year after the Khitomer Peace Accords, she ventures out now into a drastically changed galaxy where the Federation and Klingon Empire are adjusting to peace.