The Sim

Class Overview
The Nova class starship is one of the most common class of vessels in Starfleet, with several hundred having been built since the class was introduced in the 2370s. Aggressively designed, efficient, well-equipped, and known for its durability, the Nova Class has swiftly loss its status as a "capable little ship" and is slowly gaining recognition for their usefulness as a cornerstone class in the Federation's Starfleet. With recent advances in technology, Starfleet Command has decided to begin upgrading a number of Nova class ships in an effort to give them a wider range of multi-mission capabilities. This was first done in 2393 and 2394 with a limited number variant model run, after which it was quickly decided to upgrade the standard model of the class with the upgrades following a review in early 2395. The USS Eclipse is among the first of the new standard generation of Nova class starships, and boldly sets out to explore the unknown.

Exploration and Science
The Nova class is one of the most capable scientific platforms in Starfleet for a wide range of scientific and exploratory missions. The Nova class has scientific facilities specifically geared towards exploring deep space including mission configurable science labs, an extensive set of sensor arrays, and a large complement of probes.

Diplomacy
While this class does have a full set of VIP quarters and several briefing rooms that could be used for negotiations, it is not idealy suited for full scale long term diplomatic duties. While certainly able to perform diplomatic duties in a limited capacity, the Nova class ships are not the best choice to serve as a primary front line diplomatic platforms for an extended period of time.

Engineering
Based on one of the rejected designs for the Defiant class, the Nova class has a compact, angular hull that is in a clear design lineage with her larger sister class, the Intrepid class. Spanning just eight decks, the Nova class has a roughly triangular primary hull with a cut out in the bow for an over sized secondary deflector, which is also part of the ship’s long range sensor systems. A single impulse engine at the aft end of the saucer provides sublight power and propulsion. The engineering hull is small and roughly cylindrical, and the small warp nacelles are mounted on re enforced angled pylons. The modest powerplant that was originally installed on the Nova class has been replaced with a smaller, more compact version of the Class 9 warp drive found on the Intrepid class. This new, compact Class 9 warp core and the advanced designed warp drive gives the Nova class star-ships a higher power output as well as a very high top speed for its size, but with fewer power management problems than before, making the ship very adept for a wider range of deep space operations and missions. Computer systems aboard the Nova class ships are state of the art to handle the vast amounts of data coming from her oversized sensor arrays. While not initially designed with bioneural circuitry, it was later installed on all ships of the class once the technology had been proven aboard Intrepid class starships. The Nova class is capable of landing on planetary surfaces with a set of four landing legs. There is a ramp in the stern that extends to allow the crew direct access to a planet’s surface. It is also being considered on having holographic projectors installed throughout the entire ship, but that is being decided on a ship by ship basis.

Tactical
Thanks to having been based on a warship design, the Nova class is much more capable of defending itself with torpedo launchers and numerous Type X phaser arrays providing 360 degree coverage around the ship. In addition, the bridge is more shielded than other starship designs, thanks to being located in the center of a larger than usual deck one. As one of the newer class primary mandates is to patrol the Federation’s borders and to escort other ships on deep space exploration missions as well as carry out a multitude of missions on their own, the newer Nova class ships have been fitted with impressive armaments for their size. Fitted with the same number of phaser arrays and torpedo launchers as Nova class ships built before the upgrade, they have been upgraded to Type XII phaser arrays and newer torpedo launchers respectively, giving the newer Nova class starships very impressive firepower for a ship of their size.

Auxiliary Craft Facilities
Located on the stern, the main shuttle bay is capable of carrying two to three small shuttlecraft, typically Type 8 or Type 9. It is not suited for runabouts, except in an emergency capacity. The Nova class is, however, equipped with a docking cradle for a Waverider class shuttle. There are two variants of this craft built on a similar chassis, one with sublight only capabilities (WRI) and another with warp drive (WRW). Roughly similar to a Type 11 shuttle, this craft is capable of extended operations away from the mothership.