"I'm suprised Daniels didn't show up, given the time travel nature of this episode. He wasn't even metioned." Dave

I agree. With as often as he's been popping up lately I would think that at least somebody would've mentioned him or the toys he gave Enterprise.

"The future Enterprise clearly fired normal orange phase beams from the right location, but also those blue beams from other locations." Thande

When was this? I don't recall the NX-01A firing red beams. Plus, there have been several eps where Enterprise has fired from areas that have no arrays.

"Archer stole an alien species and made it fit so nicely so I would think that in 100 years they could build one from scratch." Torque

Archer stole a warp coil from [Damar], Lorian was stealing their injectors.

"My point is that no-one in this era knows how time works in the Trekverse." Thande

I'd like to think that we have a decent handle on time travel now, and it's been theorized for some time. I would point the finger at poor writing than ignorant characters.

"When Lorian first introduces himself to Archer at the airlock in the closing scene of Act 1, he refers to himself as the "Commander" of the Enterprise. Shouldn’t he refer to himself as the Captain of the Enterprise?" LN

The official title of one who captains a vessil is actually called Commanding Officer, or CO.

"Stop a world war that destroyed the planet? I'm not sure even Archer could do that. And that's assuming it's within the last 117(?) years." JoshM

In 'The Xindi' we learn that the planet was destroyed 120 years ago; so you're right, Archer couldn't do that.

When was it established that NX is actually a class? I thought that was more like the model of a car, while class is like the make, if that makes sense. When Lorian introduced his first officer he simply calls her an alien without giving her name and species.

>>>When was it established that NX is actually a class? I thought that was more like the model of a car, while class is like the make, if that makes sense.<<<

Starfleet ships have always been identified by their class, in keeping with modern warships. We know that Starfleet has at least two other types of starship in service - we've seen both of the other types in twilight and I believe in The Expanse. Enterprise was identified as an NX class ship in...errm...E2 by T'Pol. (When she picks up the Alt-Enterprise she calls it an Earth ship, NX class. This is what prompts the crew to initially think it is the NX 02 Columbia)

The analogy of class being the same as the make of a car btw is wrong. Starfleet ships are all built by...Starfleet. Not Ford intergalactic inc.

Nit; When the two T'Pol's meet the younger T'Pol isn't looking at her older self. Instead she seems to be looking at least a foot over the elder T'Pol's head. Her stance and look doesn't seem to be that of someone who is trying to avoid looking at someone, rather she seems to be looking at an older T'Pol who is higher up.
(Educated guess - The parts with the younger T'Pol were filmed first, so Jolene Blalock had trouble figuring out where she should be looking).

Getting matchups with actors and special effects is really hard to do.

Agreed, although they normally manage to do a better job.

Cyber: Starfleet ships have always been identified by their class, in keeping with modern warships.
Very true but we don't refer to the 1701-A as an NCC class, it's a Constitution-class; and US destroyers aren't DDG class, they're Ticonderoga, or whatever the case may be. When the Excelsior or DS9's Defiant was put into service it had a designation of NX prior to it's hull number meaning it wasn't officially commissioned yet, or still in a trial phase, and that is what I was getting at by my post. Yes, my analogy wasn't accurate in regards to make but later in Trek history NX is not a class but part of a hull number, which of course is why they're using it in ENT because there aren't many ships yet.

The catch to this is that NX-01 is a human/Earth build and registered ship. Where as all subsequent ships (in terms of timeline) that use the NX prefix are Federation registered ships.

Given that the NX class was, in effect, a grand experiment to see if humans could build explorer ships, and that their actions lead to the formation of the Federation. It would not be surprising if the 'new' Starfleet/Federation honoured the memory of the NX class by using that prefix for experimental ships. Certainly it is unusual to have the name of a class of ship re-used, since this can lead to confusion. By using the NX prefix the memory of the NX-01 Enterprise will be maintained as long as the Federation is building experimental ships.

inblackestnight - we don't refer to the 1701-A as an NCC class, it's a Constitution-class
Actually, we refer to the 1701 (no bloody A, B, C, or D) as a Constitution class.

Some nitpickers have argued that the refurbishment the original Enterprise received could be enough for a change of Class (I've heard the terms Constitution II Class & Enterprise Class). The movies & later series apparently don't identify the movie version Enterprise by Class so it's all conjecture if it is still Constitution Class or something else.

Cybermortis - T'Pol. (When she picks up the Alt-Enterprise she calls it an Earth ship, NX class.
Ah, but did say the initials NX or a name like Ennex. Maybe the original ship of that model was the Ennex registry NX-0?

The movies & later series apparently don't identify the movie version Enterprise by Class so it's all conjecture if it is still Constitution Class or something else.

Wrong. In Undiscovered Country Scotty is looking over plans of the Enterprise before he finds the uniforms they were looking for. The plans clearly identify NCC 1701-A as a Constitution Class Starship.

Maybe the original ship of that model was the Ennex registry NX-0?

Enterprise was clearly identified as the first ship of this type in the pilot. So if the NX series ships were going to be named after a ship they would have been the Enterprise-class.

Cyber: The catch to this is that NX-01 is a human/Earth build and registered ship.
Yes, and so are the 'modern warships' you mention, and I can't think of a single one where the class is part of the hull number. Considering there isn't much to go by yet for SF as far as starships I don't know what I would call them (Cochrane-class?), but I think the writing was at fault here.

Cyber: The plans clearly identify NCC 1701-A as a Constitution Class Starship.
Plus I'm pretty sure there are several other sources where this is stated.

I belive KAM was joking with the whole NX-0 thing, note the smiley.

Cyber: The catch to this is that NX-01 is a human/Earth build and registered ship.
Yes, and so are the 'modern warships' you mention, and I can't think of a single one where the class is part of the hull number. Considering there isn't much to go by yet for SF as far as starships I don't know what I would call them (Cochrane-class?), but I think the writing was at fault here.

Ships have both a prefix (such as HMS, USS, SS) and a Hull classification number today in most countries. (In the US Navy 'X' is a submersible craft and IX is for miscellaneous craft).
Enterprise clearly does not have a prefix - she's called the Enterprise not 'USS' or 'ES' Enterprise. This means that the 'NX' must be her hull classification number (or equivalent).

The hull classification number is different to a ships specific class, in that it indicates what type of design the ship is - for example LCS means Littoral Combat Ship (operates close to the shore), and includes both the Freedom-class and the Independence-class ships of the US Navy.

Since Enterprise is the first ship of her type - there being no other ships of her type in starfleet during the run of the show - it would be correct to identify the ships class as 'NX' and no need for a specific class name for further identification.

However, Enterprise is often called a 'Warp Five' ship, and in the last episode they do mention that Enterprise is being mothballed because of the new 'warp seven(?)' ships. From this I would conjecture that at this period in Federation history a ships 'class' is based on its warp-drive ability.

Cyber: Since Enterprise is the first ship of her type - there being no other ships of her type in starfleet during the run of the show...
The Colombia was around for the forth season but was mentioned in this ep, and probably before. Before the NX-02 was built Enterprise was just fine; during construction TPTB should've came up with a more traditional class name, IMO. That's all I was getting at, for the writers to make up a better name; the same for species 8472. Warp Five-class doesn't right though

Cyber: In the US Navy 'X' is a submersible craft and IX is for miscellaneous craft
Where did you get this? I was in the US Navy for eight years. I served on the USS Providence (SSN 719), which is a submarine, for four and I have no idea what you're talking about.

Cyber - In Undiscovered Country Scotty is looking over plans of the Enterprise before he finds the uniforms they were looking for. The plans clearly identify NCC 1701-A as a Constitution Class Starship.
Wish I'd known that when I was having a discussion with the guy who was arguing it was an Enterprise Class. (The guy who was the Classic Trek mod before Butch.)

inblackestnight - Warp Five-class doesn't right though
No it doesn't. More of an engine classification then a ship.

Cyber: In the US Navy 'X' is a submersible craft and IX is for miscellaneous craft
Where did you get this? I was in the US Navy for eight years. I served on the USS Providence (SSN 719), which is a submarine, for four and I have no idea what you're talking about.

It applies to service craft rather than military ships as such. My bad for being more than a little misleading. In this case 'X' would most likely mean an underwater recovery craft.

Cyber - In Undiscovered Country Scotty is looking over plans of the Enterprise before he finds the uniforms they were looking for. The plans clearly identify NCC 1701-A as a Constitution Class Starship.
Wish I'd known that when I was having a discussion with the guy who was arguing it was an Enterprise Class. (The guy who was the Classic Trek mod before Butch.)

In fairness the movie Enterprise was listed as being 'Enterprise-class' in several books and technical guides, Specifically the old Star Trek RPG by FASA, prior to TNG airing.
By the time TNG aired it seems to have been decided by TPTB that the movie Enterprises remained a Constitution-class.
This is clearly the case since the USS Victory that made an appearance in the first season of TNG was called a Constitution class ship in the script. However this line of Geordi's was dubbed over because the producers realised that this would mean the same class of ship was the old Enterprise. A decision was made not to use/re-use the Enterprise-A model on TNG. This is both a Nit Phil noted in the guides, and one that has since been admitted to as well as the reason for the change. Clearly by the mid to late 1980's both TOS and movie Enterprise's had been officially listed as 'Constitution class', even if we only found this out in STVI).

I always thought of the movie Enterprise as an Improved Constitution Class. I got the idea from Gato Class, WWII submarines where some of the later models had slightly different specs from the early ones but not enough to be a new class of ship.

That was my take on it too. Military ships and equipment are constantly updated to take advantage of new equipment and technologies without becoming new classes. (In fact modern warships are specifically designed to allow for this). A Specific example would be the Iowa-Class Battleships, which certainly were not designed and built with cruise-missiles, surface to air missiles, Phalanx air-defence systems or computers in place.

The decision as to if any major work should constitute a 'new' class is sometimes arbitrary. From what I can tell (both in the real world and on Trek) even major alterations to a class don't result in a new class name (although they may be given something to indicate the design has been updated). A ships class seems to be based on the class given to that ships design when they are first built or enter service, even if later ships make alterations to that design.

Ah memories! Now I recall why I didn't continue on this thread all those years ago.

Cyber: Enterprise clearly does not have a prefix [...] This means that the 'NX' must be her hull classification number (or equivalent).
That may be the reason for deciding on "NX-class", but that isn't traditionally how naval ships are classified; a tradition that Trek has followed up until this point.

Cyber: It applies to service craft rather than military ships... In this case 'X' would most likely mean an underwater recovery craft.
It applies to unclassified craft that are so rare in the US almost all of the IXs that were actually put into service are no longer used, and the X1 has been in the Naval Academy’s museum since 1973; there hasn't been another X since. I had to look this up, as I’m sure you did as well, but relating ship prefixes and hull classifications is even less accurate than my automobile analogy.

Cyber: Given that the NX class was, in effect, a grand experiment to see if humans could build explorer ships [...] it would not be surprising if the 'new' Starfleet/Federation honoured the memory of the NX class by using that prefix for experimental ships.
I would buy that if this show actually predated the use of the experimental NX hull designation, but it doesn't, which is why I assumed that whomever decided on "NX-class" was unaware of traditional naval classifications and was attempting to connect dots in Trek history that doesn’t exist.

Brian: I always thought of the movie Enterprise as an Improved Constitution Class.
I was under the impression that that was always the plan for the ‘variant’ models in the movies. If that wasn't their original intention it was covered up fairly well, at least from my perspective