Challenger (NX-03)

Challenger (NX-03) was an starship in the service of the United Earth Starfleet in the mid-22nd century.

Naming Origins
The Challenger was named after the NASA Orbiter of the same name which tragically was destroy in 1986 on lift off. The seven stars on the NX-Challenger assignment patch are a memorial to the final crew of NASA's orbiter; one star for each crew member of STS-51-L. The starship Challenger was also named for the HMS Challenger, Earth's first dedicated survey ship.

Launch
As of Thursday, May 22, 2155, Challenger was still under construction in the skies above San Francisco. On that date, while on an assignment to patrol Earth Cargo Service trade routes, Captain Jonathan Archer of Enterprise pondered whether he might be able persuade Starfleet to launch Challenger into service. She was launched on August 15th 2155 (alongside the Discovery) under the command of newly promoted Captain Roy Dunsel (former XO of the Yorktown). The Challenger (NX-03) was launched with greatly improved sensors and research capacities over both Enterprise and Columbia.

Romulan War
On the outbreak of war with the Romulan Star Empire, the ship took on more military duties. Its first action of the war was to act as a the Flagship for the a task force from 3rd fleet consisting of the Archon, Probert, Kon-Tiki and Yorktown to assist in the Imperial Guard in the defence of Andoria. However, the Romulans attacked Andoria before the task force was assembled. Only Challenger and the Yorktown were able to respond. Challenger was heavily damaged in the battle by the Romulan Warbird Dhivael. She lost her port nacelle and 30% of her hull. Fatalities in this incident included 27 crewman and 15 MACOs; Captain Dunsel among them. Challenger was towed to the Alpha Centauri ship yard to be repaired.

Refit
While in drydock Challenger refitted to the new NX-A sub-class, also known as the. As part of this refit, half of her science labs were replaced with additional barracks for MACOs and its two standby shuttle pods were replaced with new attack shuttles. Her hull plating was improved by 12% and her phaser output was increased by 18%. She was also outfitted with new emergency internal defence barriers which would be automatically deployed when the ship was at tactical alert, creating strong points around key areas. Challenger was the first Earth ship to be fitted with shields. These shields were given to Starfleet by the Imperial Guard in thanks for the assistance in the defence of Andoria.