|Affiliation:||United Federation of Planets| The research
scientists on board, led by Doctor Theodore Haskins, were
employed by the American Continent Institute. As the ship was
launched before the breaking of the time barrier, it was
considerably slower than later Constitution-class ships. The
Columbia used a radio wave transmitter for distress signals. The
signals were keyed to cause interference that registered on
starship sensors as unidentified objects traveling at the speed
of light. In 2236, the Columbia crashed on the planet Talos IV,
with crewmember Vina the only survivor. Eighteen years later,
the starship USS Enterprise detected what appeared to be a
distress signal from the Columbia, coming from Talos IV. Beaming
down, the crew discovered a group of survivors, but it was soon
revealed that they were elaborate illusions created by the
Talosians, for the purpose of kidnapping Captain Pike. (TOS:
"The Cage", "The Menagerie, Part I") |Starships named Columbia|
|Columbia NX-02 • SS Columbia • USS Colum