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Celestra is a civilian electronics ship within the Fleet, primarily responsible for work in the field of electronics, including Viper equipment development and testing.
Celestra has an extensive docking bay, capable of docking numerous Vipers and shuttle craft. The ship has very little in the way of creature comforts, such as recreational facilities; the bridge is accessible only from its aft quarter.
Like all ships in the Fleet, Celestra has a homing beacon to stay with the Fleet.
Celestra was most recently led by Commander Kronus, who captained the vessel from the time of the holocaust until his death (at the helm of Celestra, during an attempted mutiny) (Take the Celestra). The ship's former executive officer was Charka, the orchestrator of the failed mutiny, now presumably imprisoned. The Celestra's current commander structure is unknown.
Crew
A majority of Celestra crewmembers are electronics specialists, while a few are security guards, shuttle pilots and ship operators. To oppose executive officer Charka's abusive practices, such as double-shifting entire families, many crewmembers undertook a mutiny, attempting to steal a shuttle and escape to a remote planet. Their mutiny failed amidst a laser battle in the docking bay. They were captured and being transported to a hearing when they suddenly found themselves stranded in deep space in the Celestra's shuttle. The crewmembers used their electronics expertise to modify the shuttle's scanners to track ions, which pinpointed the Celestra's location, thereby rescuing themselves.
Damon, electronics specialist, leader of first mutiny
Hermes, helm officer on bridge, participant in second mutiny
It is possible that Celestra was originally designed to be a work ship, with only its captain and a few others to remain permanently aboard; most of its crew would ferry on and off the ship in ten-centar (hour) shifts, for example. However, with the fleet constantly on the run post-holocaust, Celestra may have been forced to accommodate many more full-time crewmembers than its original design intended, hence the uprising.
Notes
The arm patch worn by Celestra crew is the shoulder sleeve patch of the United States Army's 78th Infantry Division.
Celestra is an extended-duration research ship, in service with the Colonials by the tenth year of the First Cylon War. Prior to William Adama and Coker Fasjovik receiving their orders for a "milk run," a crewman on the Celestra can be heard contacting the Galactica's CIC. The ship was then operating under Virgon registry (TRS: "Blood and Chrome").
Celestra survives the fleet's four-year voyage from the the Twelve Colonies to the unknown planet where the last surviving humans and rebel Cylons eventually settle. After the population of the fleet votes to abandon its advanced technology, Celestra is remotely piloted into the planet's sun along with the remaining ships (TRS: "Daybreak, Part II").
Notes
Celestra is first seen near the end of Part II of the Miniseries, emerging from the Ragnar Anchorage vortex under covering fire from Galactica during the Cylon assault, as well as in the first-season episode "Water." Part of it is visible to the left of Colonial One in the shot before Roslin speaks to Lee Adama.
The special effects company for the Re-imagined Series created the SFX rendering of Celestra in this article.
The ship was mentioned on the official Battlestar Galactica web site hosted by the Sci Fi Channel.
Striker appears to be of the same configuration as Celestra.
This article has a separate continuity. This article is in the Richard Hatch continuation separate continuity, which is related to the Original Series. Be sure that your contributions to this article reflect the characters and events specific to this continuity only.
A shot of the "rag-tag fugitive fleet".
After the destruction of the Twelve Colonies of Man in a devastating genocidal attack on the Colonial worlds in 7342, Commander Adama orders all survivors to find what operational ships the remain on their shattered worlds and fly them towards battlestarGalactica, the sole surviving battlestar after her sister warships are also destroyed in the Cylons' two-prong attack. With nowhere else to call home, Adama decrees that the remnants of humanity will search for the Thirteenth Tribe on a planet called Earth.
Under the guardianship of Galactica, the Fleet initially comprises of 220 civilian ships. With the exception of Galactica, the ships are not capable of lightspeed flight. The Fleet's overall speed is limited to that of the slowest ship within the group. As all ships in the Fleet were filled to (or over) capacity, removing the slower ships from the caravan is not an option.
Traffic within the Fleet is possible via pre-plotted courses issued by navigational computers, as the Fleet's drag-field allows for intra-fleet travel via smaller ships, shuttles, Vipers, and the like[1].
In 7352, the Fleet discovers a rich planetoid that allows them to shore up their rag-tag, fugitive caravan. During this time, new Agro Ships are built, as other crafts repurposed for military use[3]. By 7354, the Cylons had seemingly gone absent leaving the Fleet to its own devices[4].
By 7360, the Fleet's size held steady at 179 ships[5], excluding support crafts. However, control of the Fleet is contested between various factions in the wake of Adama's death, from the Gemon Matriarchs who back Athena to Ambassador Puck "himself," resulting in acts of various degrees of civil disobedience and, in some extreme cases, sedition.
Ultimately, the Fleet's leadership is assumed by Commander Apollo, with Colonel Athena assuming the commander's responsibilities when Apollo becomes unavailable[6] (RH: Armageddon).
Known Ships
Note: This list of ships only features those specifically mentioned within Richard Hatch's novels.
Formerly commanded by Commander Kronus in 7352. This is the "command ship" for a small group of ships Adama assigns him to command. In 7360, protests advocating for Puck's ascendancy to leadership of the Fleet occur, as well as work stoppages[7].
Ship in the Fleet circa 7360[9], converted from hauling freight to a marketplace. It was known to carry a variety of goods and wares from more than thirty merchants[8]. Protests and unrest transpire aboard following Adama's death[9].
The Fleet is also comprised of shuttles and Colonial Vipers, which are likely not indicated in the "220 ship" figure given in "Saga of a Star World". It is indicated that there are non-military shuttles that ferry people and, possibly, supplies throughout the Fleet. One such craft is the shuttle Canaris(TOS: "The Man with Nine Lives"), in addition to the shuttle piloted by Aurora of Celestra(TOS: "Take the Celestra").
Fleet identification chart. Note that a Cylon mine and an Eastern Alliance warship can be seen in the far distance in a number of late TOS episodes, e.g. "Take the Celestra"...
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