Star Trek: Picard established that Starfleet stores its most legendary starships at the Athan Prime Fleet Museum, but it’s unclear if the museum is still in operation in Star Trek: Discovery‘s 32nd century. The Starfleet Museum was first seen in Star Trek: Enterprise‘s series finale, “These Are The Voyages…” when the refitted Enterprise NX-01 was added to the collection. The museum and its collection have presumably had several upgrades since then, allowing it to exist long into Star Trek‘s future.
When the USS Discovery arrived in the 32nd century, they found Starfleet and the Federation in a weakened state following the devastating events of The Burn – a subspace shockwave that destroyed countless Federation starships. The shockwave destabilized the dilithium used to regulate anti-matter containment during warp travel, causing all active warp reactors to detonate. This left Starfleet’s armada severely depleted, but it’s unclear if The Burn affected the Starfleet Museum and its impressive collection of antique starships.
Does Picard’s Fleet Museum Still Exist In Star Trek: Discovery’s 32nd Century?
As The Burn only affected active warp drives, it’s unlikely that it would have affected the Starfleet Museum, as there would be no need for the space dock or the decommissioned starships to possess warp travel. While Star Trek: Picard revealed that the museum’s refurbished USS Enterprise-D had a working warp drive, it was only used when the entire fleet were assimilated by the Borg. Given the shortage of dilithium in the lead-up to The Burn, it’s highly likely that Starfleet stripped any remaining minerals from the old starships on display at the museum. This means that the most iconic starships of the past millennia would be immune to the effects of The Burn, protecting the collection from destruction.
Star Trek: Discovery has established that there’s a 32nd century Starfleet Academy so it stands to reason that there would still be a Starfleet Museum. It would have been substantially upgraded across the centuries, meaning that the old space dock has been replaced by something more akin to 32nd century design. In Discovery, Federation Headquarters is housed aboard the USS Federation, which was protected by a distortion field to hide it from threats. It would make sense for something similar to be done to the Starfleet Museum, to protect the relics from being plundered by the Orion pirate network, the Emerald Chain.
Why The USS Discovery Was Upgraded Instead Of Sent To The Fleet Museum
A 23rd century icon, the USS Discovery was substantially refitted for active service in the 32nd century, rather than retired to the Fleet Museum. This was because the Discovery’s revolutionary spore drive provided an alternative to Star Trek‘s warp drive. In an era of dilithium scarcity, the Discovery’s spore drive was an invaluable resource that allowed Captain Saru (Doug Jones) and his crew to investigate the true cause of The Burn, and begin rebuilding the United Federation of Planets. While the relics of the Fleet Museum would remind those in the 32nd Century of better times for the Federation, the USS Discovery, an active starship from those better times became a symbol of hope, that was actively building a more positive future.
Much like the USS Enterprise-D in Star Trek: Picard season 3, the USS Discovery was immune from the devastation that had affected modern Starfleet. The Discovery has gone on to become a symbol for hope that the Federation can be re-established as the defining force for unity and acceptance in Star Trek‘s far future. To that end, it’s likely that the USS Discovery will have earned its place among the legendary starships at the 32nd Century Starfleet Museum when Star Trek: Discovery ends with season 5 next year.
