Icarus-Class


 * “Icarus flew too close to the sun, but at least he flew.”


 * - Jeremy Robert Johnson, Skullcrack City - 

The Icarus-Class was a Light Explorer (EXL) starship of Starfleet, created after the Dominion War. Its primary goal was returning to one of Starfleet's major role: Exploration. The first ship of this class, USS Icarus, was launched in 2378, the second one, USS Pegasus, soon after in 2379.

Especially due to the fact that the Dominion War had severed ties between Starfleet and the civilian populace, led to the idea to once more include civilians and families onboard the ship in addition to its Starfleet Crew.

Development
Development of the Icarus-Class began already before the Dominion War, when Starfleet was looking forward to a replacement for the Miranda-Class starships, acting as the smaller cousin of the Sovereign-Class ships, just like the Miranda-Class had for the Constitution-Class in the 23rd Century. Resources being pulled from non-essential activities due to the war neccessities against the Dominion caused Starfleet Command to postpone the production of the Icarus-Class by several years. Only in 2376 work on it was relaunched and 30 months later, the first ship was finally reaching completion. Consequently, however, the Icarus-Class drew on many advances that were developed for the Sovereign and Intrepid-Class ships, making it a highly capapble exploration vessel.

Service
USS Icarus was launched in 2378, her sister ship, USS Pegasus followed 10 months later, in 2379. While the former is currently on a mapping mission within the Beta quadrant, USS Pegasus is supposed to investigate the region called the Labyrinth.

Physical Arrangement
The general design of the Icarus-Class is mirroring Starfleet's classical traits, i.e. it is divided into a saucer section and an engineering section, connected by a neck structure and has two warp nacelles attached to the engineering hull via pylons. Furthermore the Icarus-Class has the ability to enter a planet's atmosphere and land on a planet, although this usually takes a lot of energy and is therefore reserved for emergency situations. Overall Starfleet rates the Icarus-Class a size 6 starship and she contains 16 decks.

Propulsion Systems
As usual the Icarus-Class is equipped with two types of propulsion, impulse engines and warp drive. The former, class FIG-7, is capable to reach .95c and the later being a type LF-50 M1 type engine. This enables the ship to have a standard speed of Warp 9, a sustainable speed of 9.5 and a maximum warp speed of 9.99, making it one of the fastest ships in the fleet. The good reliability of the warp engines is based on the heritage of Sovereign and Intrepid-Class and similar to both these predecessors, the Warp Drive is designed in a way to not damage subspace like previous editions of this technology.

Tactical Systems
In total the Icarus-Class is equipped with 9 Type X phaser arrays capable to defend the ship in a 720° arc, usually at least two of the arrays can fire at any given target. In addition this vessel is equipped with two quantum torpedo launchers, MK95 DF, which tremendously adds to its firepower. Protection is granted by a very reliable FSQ 7 shield emitter. One aft dorsal and one forward ventral tractor beam is at the crew's disposal.

Crew Support
Three small holodecks are installed upon the Icarus-Class to provide opportunities for recreation especially since the intended detached duty of the ships, usually reduced the chances for shore leave.

Misc Systems
The operations and life support systems are both class 5 and due to the scientific purpose of the Icarus-Class, the sensors are enhanced class 5a rated. A total of 1250 m³ of cargo space in two bays are available for the crew's mission, three cargo transporters, one of them spare in the shuttle hangar are used for loading and distributing cargo. Furthermore for personnel transport or emergency situations the ship is equipped with 3 more transporters of each kind.

Main Bridge
As usual for Starfleet ships, the main bridge of the Icarus-Class is located on Deck 1, i.e. on top of the saucer section of the ship. Two turbolift entries provide direct access to the ship's command center and the central area contains the operations, conn, seats for the command staff and engineering and tactical stations. Also prominently featured is a science station. Auxilliary stations at the sides complement this array and can be configured for all necessary purposes. The captain's ready room is also located next to the bridge as is the a small conference room. As science is the main purpose of the ship but it is too small to feature a second command center, the aft section of the bridge is reserved for mission operations, containing a large situation table and display, which can give an detailed overview over a ship's ongoing activities, including away team conditions and positions.

Two ramps at the aft and front section of the bridge allow direct access to the lower decks of the ship, erasing the need for turbolift use.

Main Engineering
The central engineering section of the Icarus-Class is located on Deck 10 in the engineering section. Besides the warp core and the respective engineering systems, it also houses a small workshop, the chief engineer's office and a meeting room for the engineering staff. Main engineering has a main floor and a walkway above it, allowing access to all major system components of the ship. Areas which are more secluded can be accessed via mantainance ducts.

The warp core is located in the aft section of engineering and can be ejected through a tube leading to the ventral area of the ship. Emergency generators and batteries are standing by to provide power in such a case.

To protect against fire, radiation or any other contingency, a large and armored emergency bulkhead can seal off the warp core from the rest of main engineering.

Medical Facilities
Besides several smaller first aid stations, there is one main sickbay, located on Deck 4 in the saucer section. The office of the chief medical officer oversees the whole room, a smaller office is reserved for the nurses, in view of the main patient area, which contains three beds for sick or wounded. Opposite of these is the emergency admission, equipped to deal all possible emergency situations, including small surgeries. more patient rooms, labs and surgery can be reached via side exits of the main room.

Crew Quarters
Crew Quarters on an Icarus-Class ship are rather small in comparison to heir larger cousins like the Sovereign-Class, but are still luxurious enough for long-term missions. Crewmen share four person bunk rooms and share their head with a second dormitory. Senior enlisted crewmembers have two person rooms instead, just like ensigns. Officer above that rank have single quarters. For the Captain a larger version of the same layout is reserved. Officer quarters consists of three major parts. First the sleeping room, which is located on one side of the quarters and directly attached to them the bath, including sanitary installations and a shower. Only the Captain shares a bath tub - other crew member have to use the small swimming pool onboard, which also has a variety of bath tubs. Crewmembers which need a bathing opportunity for health reasons (e.g. aquatic species) can received adapted quarters.

The quarters' center is occupied by a small working area with a desk and adjacent to it is the living area, usually equipped with a couch and a small table and replicator. Civilians have similar quarters. Some larger quarters exist for the case that officers or crewmembers bring family along. Usually they have a second bedroom attached to the living room.

Transporter Room
The three transporter rooms of the ship are located on Decks 3, 6 and 10, directly adjacent to them are the emergency transporters. As usual they contain a console for controling the transporters, some interface areas and the transporter pad. Lockers hold equipment for away missions. The transporter rooms are identical to the design of the Intrepid-Class.

Shuttle Hangar
The shuttle hangar contains 2 Type 9 shuttlecraft and due to the detached duty of the ship, also two runabouts (designed for Danube-Class). While access to the hangar bay is to be found on Deck 11, a workshop is contained below the actual hangar and can be accessed via walkways but also two lifts for shuttlecraft. A catwalk, reaching up to Deck 10 can also be acces via a door from outside the hangar bay. Mainly storage and supplies are also located on the main part of the hangar bay, while the catwalk is home to the hangar control room and a small office for its personnel. Furthermore the hangar also contains a cargo transport, usually used for transfer of supplies and spare parts.

At all times at least one shuttle is operational for emergency operations, including landing on a planet to retrieve away team personnel. If an away team is present on the ground, a pilot is usually waiting in the shuttle.

Mess Hall
The mess hall is the main common area onboard the ship and the recreational hub. Located in the forward section of Deck 5 with viewports in flight direction, it has room for about one quarter of the crew and is equipped with a small bar where drinks and small meals can be ordered.



Brig
The brig can be found on Deck 7 and is two parted, each part with cells for three prisoners. They are usually only manned in case the cells are occupied.

Cargo Hold
The two cargo holds are located on Deck 7 and each contain a cargo transporter and have a room of 625 cubic meters. If necessary they also serves as emergency shelter and the evironmental conditions can be adapted for special cargo, including life forms.

Main laboratory
The central ship laboratory - next to speciallized labs, which are distributed over the whole ship - can be found on Deck 4. It has an elongated, octagonal shape. The inclined sites hold instruments and working tables, whereas the other sides give access to two specialized chambers, which can have special environmental conditions and can be containted. The two long sides contain the entry door and provide to a path a small workshop and opposite of it a small office.

Ships Commisioned

 * USS Icarus (NCC-78180)
 * USS Pegasus (NCC-78200)