USS Discovery The USS " Discovery " ( NCC - 1031 ) was a 23rd century Federation starship operated by Starfleet , under the command of Captain and , later , acting captain Saru . ( ) Operations . " Discovery " was launched into service from the San Francisco Fleet Yards , Earth . Its motto was " All things can be understood once they are discovered ; the point is to discover them . " ( ) By November of 2256 , it was still considered impressively new , fresh out of the shipyards , and equipped with some of Starfleet ' s most advanced technologies ( in contrast with the relatively old ) . ( ) As a " Crossfield " - class starship , " Discovery " was officially designated a science vessel . The ship ' s facilities were able to accomodate three hundred discrete scientific missions , a Starfleet record at the time . ( ) Both " Discovery " and its sister ship , the , were equipped with an experimental spore drive for field testing . Much research and refinement remained to be done as of late 2256 , but if perfected it had the potential to instantly traverse vast galactic distances in the blink of an eye . " Discovery " only used it in short bursts while attempting to perfect it into a reliable drive system . In contrast , the crew of " Glenn " took bolder risks to develop it more quickly , resulting in an accident which killed the entire crew and crippled the ship . ( ) " Discovery " was built from the ground up to be a test bed for the experimental spore drive , based on the research of Paul Stamets and his colleagues . Stamets had intended his research to pursue purely theoretical knowledge and peaceful applications but , with the outbreak of war , " Discovery " was rapidly constructed to perfect the military applications of his research . ( ) Due to the top secret ( and in some cases dangerous ) research projects being conducted on " Discovery " , its internal security was much more rigid and compartmentalized than was regular protocol on Starfleet vessels ; breath print identification locks were used to restrict access to different sub - sectors . It also possessed a disproportionately prominent and well - armed security detail , standing guard at various restricted access points throughout the ship . These guards were outfitted with tactical gear bearing a " black star " uniform insignia , unlike the normal silver Starfleet delta insignia . ( ) Several experiments conducted aboard " Discovery " had the potential to physically endanger the ship itself and its crew , hazardous situations caused by the black ops experiments being activated were addressed by declaring a " black alert " ( which was not a standard protocol on Starfleet vessels ) . ( ) Service during the Federation - Klingon War . Following the outbreak of the Federation - Klingon War , " Discovery " was placed under the command of Captain Gabriel Lorca and given a clandestine mission to conduct black ops scientific research , developing top - secret weapons and technologies that would help the Federation win the war . ( ) Six months into the war , " Discovery " rescued the prison shuttle SPT 21 from an infestation of Species GS54 during an interstellar storm . Among the prisoners being transported , former Commander Michael Burnham came aboard and was enlisted by Captain Lorca to serve as a Specialist aboard " Discovery " . ( ) In November 2256 , " Discovery " received a distress call from Corvan II , under attack by Klingon s . The only ship in range , " Discovery " attempted a spore jump to the Federation mining colony , ending up dangerously close to a star . Utilizing the tardigrade as a conduit through which to the navigate the ship , the crew ultimately jumped " Discovery " to Corvan II in time to destroy the attacking Birds - of - Prey and save the colony from destruction . ( ) The following month , " Discovery " ( under the command of first officer Saru ) was tasked by Vice Admiral Katrina Cornwell with the rescue of Captain Lorca following his abduction by the Klingons . Once again using the tardigrade as a living navigational computer , " Discovery " jumped into Klingon territory , but the creature was disabled in the process . Unwilling to subject the tardigrade to further injury , Lieutenant Stamets injected himself with the creature ' s DNA , allowing " Discovery " to recover Lorca and his fellow POW , , and jump back to Federation space . ( ) One week later , Admiral Cornwell ' s cruiser rendezvoused with " Discovery " before departing for peace talks on Cancri IV . ( ) On stardate 2136 . 8 , " Discovery " encountered a injured space - dwelling lifeform known as a gormagander and conducted aid per the Endangered Species Act . This resulted in Harcourt Fenton Mudd boarding " Discovery " and activating a time crystal , creating a time loop in which Mudd repeatedly destroyed the ship in an effort to learn the secret of the spore drive and sell the ship to the Klingons . The loop was eventually discovered by Paul Stamets , the permanent destruction of " Discovery " . ( ) Stardate 1308 . 9 : " Discovery " engaged a Klingon destroyer in defense of the . With the advantage of their invisibility screen s , the Klingons succeeded in destroying the " Gagarin " forcing " Discovery " to withdraw . " Discovery " then proceeded to the planet Pahvo where it retrieved a landing party as the native Pahvan s broadcasted a signal directed at both the Federation and Klingons . ( ) Encountering the " Ship of the Dead " in orbit of Pahvo , " Discovery " engaged in ship - to - ship combat with the Klingons . " Discovery " then conducted 133 micro - jumps around the cloaked Klingon vessel , allowing the crew target and destroy the enemy ' s capital ship . ( ) After an apparent accident with the spore drive propelled " Discovery " into the mirror universe , it emerged that Captain Lorca was in fact an inhabitant of that universe who had replaced his counterpart and deliberately brought " Discovery " to his home universe . Following Lorca ' s revelation , first officer Saru assumed full command of " Discovery " . ( ) In order to return to their universe , " Discovery " then launched an attack on the Terran flagship , , on stardate 1834 . 2 . Flying through the Terran ship ' s superstructure , " Discovery " destroyed the super - mycelial reactor powering the " Charon " , and used the resulting mycelial shockwave to power the spore drive and cross back into normal space . ( ) " Discovery " returned nine months after its departure , having overshot its intended destination . In that time , the Klingons had captured a significant proportion of Federation territory . Boarded by a number of Starfleet officials including Vulcan Ambassador Sarek , " Discovery " was placed under the temporary command of Admiral Cornwell and brought to Starbase 1 , 100 AU from Earth . Finding the station overrun by Klingons , " Discovery " warp ed away . ( ) With Klingon forces encroaching on Earth , Starfleet elected to use " Discovery " to prepare a strike against the Klingon homeworld , Qo ' noS , and solicited the abilities of the Terran emperor , . In order to make the jump to the Qo ' noS , " Discovery " traveled to the Veda system where the crew terraform ed the moon Delta 2 and replenished their supply of mycelium spore s . ( ) Under the command of Emperor Georgiou ( standing in as the deceased Captain Philippa Georgiou ) , " Discovery " became the first Starfleet vessel to visit the Klingon Homeworld since Captain Jonathan Archer and the visited the planet in 2151 . In order to avoid detection and conflict with Klingon planetary defenses , " Discovery " jumped into an inactive volcanic cavern large enough to accommodate a Crossfield - class starship beneath the surface of Qo ' noS . A landing party to the surface ultimately concluded the mission and brought a peaceful resolution to the conflict . ( ) With the war over , " Discovery " returned to Earth , where its senior staff was honored . ( ) The starship was then ordered to to retrieve its new commanding officer . En route , a priority 1 distress call led " Discovery " to drop out of warp and respond to the call from Captain Pike and the . ( ) See also : USS " Discovery " personnel Appendices . Background information . Bryan Fuller chose the " Discovery " s registry number , 1031 , because he loves Halloween . The set used for the " Discovery " s interior was a reused set which , with just a few changes , had previously served as the interiors of the and the . ( ) In , Saru while commanding the ship , says he has 134 souls to protect , strongly hinting at the size of the ship ' s crew . The statement is made while captain Lorca and the shuttle pilot are off - ship , one episode after Ellen Landry is killed , and before joins the crew , suggesting the compliment is 136 at that time .