Ship Registry

[M Fnord]

GCU Yuri Gagarin
Created by Sean Breen
Registry Number: NX-1961
Base Hull: Soviet Air Force custom design
Drive Type: Acceleration (fusion torch)
Drive Rating: 30G
Owner of Record: Soviet Air Force
Flag of Record: People's Republic of Freedonia
Home Port: Kandor City, Luna
Purpose: Multirole research/transport vessel
Launched: 30 July 2013
Crew: 5 operations, 30-40 science
Supplementary Crew: Yuri (AI, Navigation Officer) Kei (AI, Engine Control Officer) Mughi (AI, Systems Control Officer)
Faction: Soviet Air Force; design licensed to United Federation of Planets
Status: Active
===== History =====
The //Gagarin// design was first put to paper after an all-nighter bull session of the Soviet Air Force's Central Committee in 2009. The VVS had just purchased their Kandor City facility after six months of living exclusively in //Ptichka//, and with the new digs came the opportunity for expansion. The long spell of enforced close quarters had impressed several things upon the Central Committee; formost that while //Ptichka// was a lovely, capable vessel, she wasn't really built for the kind of long-term, long-distance exploration the VVS was already becoming known for.
This design was more or less forgotten until shortly after the run-up to Operation GREAT JUSTICE. During this period, the VVS found itself in a boom period, with new shipbuilding and maintenance facilities (and the resources to use them). The //Gagarin// design was pulled out of dead storage and considered for construction to augment the VVS' exploration franchise. However, between the needs of the Boskone conflict (and the VVS role in it) and the general lack of time available to supervise as complicated a task as building the //Gagarin//, the design was again shelved for future reference.
In late 2012, the VVS was approached by Utopia Planitia Shipyard. It turned out that the Trekkies had heard of the //Gagarin// design and, flush with the successful construction of the //[[Miranda]//, were interested in buying the blueprints for their own use. Instead of making a simple sale, the Central Committee offered to license the design in exchange for the prototype ship and a significantly reduced price tag on any future purchases. A licensing agreement was hammered out between the two partners in Feburary 2013 (similar to the agreement between the VVS and Artemis Corp. for the production of 201 Shuttles), and construction began on the first production run in March.
The prototype, GCU //Yuri Gagarin// (NX-1961), was officially launched on 30 July. After a brief shakedown period, the //Gagarin// made its first interstellar flight on the 2013 Delta Pavonis expedition, serving as the expedition's orbital home base.
==== Design ====
The hull of the //Gagarin// was built off of the design of the //Discovery One// from the classic science-fiction movie "2001: A Space Odyssey," but with additions and improvements based on the capabilities of handwavium. The famous "carousel" interior of the canonical //Discovery// was retained, though with handwavium gravity control the interior didn't need to rotate to maintain a steady .5G. The most radical hull modifications were to the base of the ship's "head" and the spine, adding docking collars and attachment points so a variety of modules could be linked together, allowing for more crew space, instrument space and even room to dock other vehicles.
Obviously, the //Gagarin// was built as an orbital-only vehicle. It doesn't have any capability for landing on a planetary surface, and would be damaged irreparably in the attempt. For ship-to-ship or ship-to-station transfers the //Gagarin// relies on docking tubes or the "iPods," three cheap light sport kitplanes handwaved and stowed in the forward pod bays. The iPods are good mostly for orbital or low-G, no-atmosphere operations. When mission circumstances mean the iPods aren't useful (such as ferrying crew to and from a planet with atmosphere) the //Gagarin// can be equipped with a "garage" module along its keel, capable of carrying three standard handwaved sedans.
==== Gagarin-class ====
The licensing agreement between the Soviet Air Force and the Federation allows the Federation near-unlimited rights to produce spacecraft based on the //Gagarin// design. This production run is known internally by Starfleet as the //Gagarin//-class light cruiser.
Starfleet //Gagarins// are built to the same hull spec as the Soviet Air Force model, with several modifications. The most notable change in the design is the addition of modular weapons hardpoints to the spinal mounts. These hardpoints allow Starfleet ships to carry light weapons and perform standard or extended patrol duties within the solar system. One of these ships (USS //Shepard// NCC-1962) has been seconded to the Space Patrol for its 2015-2017 tour of duty as part of the Federation's commitment to the Patrol.
^ //Gagarin//-class ships serving with Starfleet ^^^
^ Name ^ Registry Number ^ Notes ^
| USS Shepard | NCC-1962 | |
| USS Yang Liwei | NCC-1963 | |
| USS Glenn | NCC-1964 | planned |
| USS Leonov | NCC-1965 | planned |
| USS Ride | NCC-1966 | planned |
| USS Tereshkova | NCC-1967 | planned |
| USS Melvill | NCC-1968 | planned |
| USS Armstrong | NCC-1969 | planned |
| USS Komarov | NCC-1970 | planned |
| USS Ansari | NCC-1971 | planned |

===== Known Vehicle Quirks =====
* **//A House Divided://** When the //Gagarin// was constructed, the expected AI ship avatar (a highly exuberant Russian man named Yuri) sparked in the navigation mainframe. However, not long after another AI sparked in the aft engineering mainframe. This AI, avataring as the infamous Kei from "Dirty Pair," took an immediate dislike to her companion in the navigation system, and vice versa. Planitia engineers were almost ready to scrap the //Gagarin// and start again when a //third// AI sparked, this time in the interwave router amidships. The router AI called itself Mughi and devoted most of its time to making sure Yuri and Kei kept to their jobs and didn't try to kill each other (and by extension, the crew). The balance of power is uneasy, but stands.
* **//We Are the Trek Collective, You Will Be Assimilated://** Except when dealing with the battling AIs, the //Gagarin//'s computer system uses the exact same Majel Barrett-derived voice as every other Trekkie computer.
* **//Oooh, Slit-Screen (part 1)://** In FTL flight, the view outside the windows, external cameras, etc. is a shifting two-dimensional light show very similar to that seen in the last half-hour of "2001: A Space Odyssey."
* **//Oooh, Slit-Screen (part 2)://** Related to the first, engine performance can be improved by playing Pink Floyd's "Echoes" for the first twenty minutes of any flight. (The original track off "Meddle," not the short version from the "Best Of" album.)
===== Stories =====
The //Yuri Gagarin// is featured in the following stories:
* Into the Great Wide Open
* (tbc)---
Mr. Fnord
http://fnord.sandwich.net/
http://www.jihad.net/
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

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