United Earth Star Fleet Headquarters, which included the grounds of the Space Academy.
#OnThisDay, 2135:
The United Earth Star Fleet Space Academy opened its doors to cadets for the first time, under the leadership of founder and Superintendent Stavros Niarchos VII. It shared its grounds with the UESF HQ on the Marin Peninsula, and would later become UFPSFA's Main Campus in 2161.
Shuttle Safety is required training for cadets, and has been since the Academy's inception in 2135. One of many things carried over from both the UENA and UESPA-run/affiliate academies.
Regardless, people forget things sometimes.
#FB2B #StarfleetAcademy #SafetyMatters
“Guess I’ll have to pick up the slack, huh?” Zefram Cochrane, 13 April 2063
Book One – "2063-2135: Laying The Foundation" — now being written.
Stay tuned.
Ch'dar, the longest-serving Superintendent in Starfleet Academy's history, racked up an impressive twenty years of service running the storied institution.
During his tenure, he kept SFA afloat through several crises, notably the 2288 Vanguard Incident, and greatly expanded its offworld presence.
A sketched portrait of Vice-Admiral Tvarishan Ch'dar, an Andorian who served two decades, from 2280 to 2300, as the longest-running superintendent of Starfleet Academy. He is seen wearing the maroon uniform of Starfleet of that particular era.
"If we want the best and the brightest of all the Federation to represent us in the Fleet, we cannot simply sit on our hands and expect every member world to send their best and brightest to Earth."
— Vice-Admiral Tvarishan Ch'dar, Superintendent of SFA, on the need for satellite campuses (c.2284)
Now-Captain Jean-Luc Picard (left) talking to Boothby (center-right), the El-Aurian groundskeeper of Starfleet Academy's San Francisco Campus.
Over the years, the Elm has become a popular spot on the grounds. It is a place to gather, to study, to reflect on the past -- or in the case of a young cadet named Jean-Luc Picard, it was the perfect canvas on which to carve the initials "A.F.", much to the ire of SFA's Head Groundskeeper, Boothby.
an elm tree
The Susquehanna Elm, airlifted from Safe Harbor, PA, is a living memorial to the Hammer Incident of 2135 located north of the Central Gardens of the San Francisco Campus. Sitting in a circular green ringed with benches, the pavers on the path are etched with the names of the victims of the disaster.
At 23:57:09 Pacific Time on December 31st, a recording of Russell Watson's "Where My Heart Will Take Me" is played on the speaker system at Starfleet Academy.
The song reaches its crescendo at midnight, paired with a formation flyby and fireworks display.
#StarTrek
www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0az...
Portrait of Stavros Niarchos VII (2095-2187), c. 2135
The seventh in a lineage descended from the Greek petroleum tycoon of the 20th century, Stavros VII was the first Commandant of the Star Fleet Space Academy, the modern SFA's immediate predecessor. While his father ran one of the last bastions—
—it was he who, mere months later, wrote in his report a proposal to centralize and standardize the training of all current and future Star Fleet officers at a single academy, going as far as to tap the UE Naval Academy's campus, south of Sausalito, as the combined school's ideal grounds.
—of purely privatized space exploration, Stavros VII bucked the trend his old man and grandfather had started; choosing to become an auditor within the UE World Government in Lagos.
Upon the failure of Operation Handshake, it was he who formed and helmed a commission to investigate the causes, and—
Portrait of Stavros Niarchos VII (2095-2187), c. 2135
The seventh in a lineage descended from the Greek petroleum tycoon of the 20th century, Stavros VII was the first Commandant of the Star Fleet Space Academy, the modern SFA's immediate predecessor. While his father ran one of the last bastions—
Susquehanna-class destroyer, built for the UESN in 2101. 130 meters long, Warp 1.2-capable. Boasted an arsenal of 24+ spatial torpedos.
Happy to answer more questions!
bsky.app/profile/fb2b...
"Artist's Impression" of the explosive destruction of the UNSS Hammer, an old Earth starship, through a catastrophic warp core breach.
While the move was roundly criticized internally, Operation Handshake moved forward regardless. The politicians, blinded by their own ambition, were confident in their plan, and human opinion swayed in their direction.
The destruction of the U.N.S.S. Hammer changed all that.
Sitting at 130 meters in length and capable of sustained Warp 1.2 for 12 hours, Susquehannas were one of the last Earth ships built with spatial torpedo silos — over two dozen were spread dorsally along their heavily-armored prows.
All were retired by the 2150s as the UESF modernized their fleet.
U.N.S.S. Hammer was a Susquehanna-class destroyer built for the United Earth Stellar Navy in 2101.
Built in response to an increase in pirate raids against ECS freighters, Susquehannas like Hammer saw frequent action during the Earth-Kzinti Conflicts (2112-2134).
(Concept sketches included below)
Yeh lets bring back #FollowFriday! Some great #StarTrek Fan Projects!
@tranquilitypress.bsky.social
@odysseysend.bsky.social
@fallofromulus.bsky.social
@fb2b.bsky.social
@intheraptorsclaws.bsky.social
@pathfinder-project.bsky.social
@ohniaka3project.bsky.social
Sometimes, the greatest developments are spurred by the worst tragedies.
In 2135, the United Earth Star Fleet was formally established through a merger of much of the operational hierarchy of the scientifically-minded UESPA and the defense-oriented United Earth Stellar Navy.
In the immediate aftermath of the incident, the Niarchos Commission was launched to develop a solution to the problems raised by Handshake's failure.
By the end of the year, Stavros Niarchos VII, head of the commission, would be appointed the first Commandant of the Star Fleet's new Space Academy.
A picture from "First Flight", Episode 24 of Star Trek: Enterprise Season 2, depicting two Vulcan advisors expressing their displeasure with the results of a human warp-speed test flight.
To top it off, the failure of Handshake engendered a notion within the Vulcans that humans could not be trusted with their own safety and had to be held back.
In the words of V'lon, diplomatic attaché to Ambassador Soval: "If they cannot temper their own recklessness, we must temper it ourselves."
The incident brought an end to Operation Handshake almost as quickly as it had begun. With the Hammer destroyed and over a dozen other ships damaged, families and friends were left grieving.
Many UESF officials, worried that lack of cross-training would doom the whole operation, were vindicated.
"Artist's Impression" of the explosive destruction of the UNSS Hammer, an old Earth starship, through a catastrophic warp core breach.
While the move was roundly criticized internally, Operation Handshake moved forward regardless. The politicians, blinded by their own ambition, were confident in their plan, and human opinion swayed in their direction.
The destruction of the U.N.S.S. Hammer changed all that.
Eager to put themselves on their mettle, and vying for independence from Vulcan receivership, the UE government ordered the Star Fleet to immediately launch "Operation Handshake": a series of joint fleet exercises, with crews from both predecessor organizations operating aboard each other's vessels.
Sometimes, the greatest developments are spurred by the worst tragedies.
In 2135, the United Earth Star Fleet was formally established through a merger of much of the operational hierarchy of the scientifically-minded UESPA and the defense-oriented United Earth Stellar Navy.
Happy to have you aboard!
Seems Bsky had a bit of a slow moment. Seems we're good now.
I hope.
Testing.
Authors: using a GIF, describe how your current WIP is going.
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Ever since the return of the USS Voyager from the Delta Quadrant, some horticulturalist students at the Starfleet Academy College of Science have been attempting to make leola root as palatable to human tastes as possible.
As of 2413, the experiment has gone multigenerational, with little progress.