Author's Note: Vigilance has gone through a number of iterations and revisions as I've fleshed out the Contact Lost™ universe. Originally it was going to be a polar orbiting military space station that would be wiped out by alien invaders. As my universe evolved, the space station became a spacecraft designed to test out Black Box Technology (BB Tech). As always, this is a work of fiction.

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Vigilance (DSEV-1)

The discovery of footprints and subsequent discovery of a hidden Ancient Astronaut observatory on the far side of the Moon led to an international moon mission in 2006 to explore the structure. Explorers learned that somehow, humanity had reached the Moon thousands of years ago, and in 2007, archeologists successfully translated writings on the observatory's walls. Those translations revealed a new technology base, presented plans for a "warp drive" (technically a space-time skip drive), and sparked a race to become the first nation in modern history to develop a warp ship. The Vigilance was America's entry into the Warp Race. Construction began in 2009, even before the USA had a working warp drive.

After four intense years of construction, Vigilance, the first Deep Space Exploration Vessel (DSEV-1) was ready. For her shakedown crew, Vigilance, had a joint military/civilian command crew of six- two Air Force, two Navy, a Marine, and a NAXA liaison/science lead.

The positions were: Commander, Pilot, Payload Commander, Flight Engineer, Mission Specialist, and Payload Specialist. For the initial shakedown crew:
Commander: Colonel Chris "Ox" Jones, USAF
Pilot: Captain Diana "Hammer" Strong, USN - also the Galileo Mars Excursion Vehicle (MEV) pilot
Payload Commander: Jacob Greer, NAXA - also the Cecil Reusable Airless Body Ballistic Intermodal Transport (RABBIT) pilot
Flight Engineer: Major Janet Smith, USAF
Mission Specialist: Captain William "Howie" Hauser, USN - also the Copernicus MEV pilot
Payload Specialist: Gunnery Sergeant Cheveyo Hudson, USMC - BB Tech specialist

Vigilance took on six NAXA-trained astronauts and launched 12 crewmembers towards Mars in 2014, spending eight months getting there. Upon arrival, four of her crew replenished Vigilance's supplies from unmanned cargo carriers awaiting in orbit while the other eight prepped themselves and their landers for a touchdown on Mars. On September 20, 2014, the first human beings in modern history set foot on martian soil. The world cheered as Captain Strong declared the Percival Lowell Research Outpost operational.

Vigilance spent a year and a half orbiting Mars as her crew explored the Ancient Astronaut mines at Tithonium Chasma and worked on the final components of her warp drive. By the spring of 2016, she had a working warp drive, but by then, both the ASA and RSA had already achieved warp.

For the remainder of 2016, Vigilance toured the asteroid belt as well as Jupiter and Saturn. They kept finding more evidence that the Ancient Astronauts ventured ever further into the solar system, mined the asteroids, and then leapt for the stars. Where they went and what happened to those they left behind remains a mystery.

By 2017, Vigilance's joint civilian/military mission concluded when it became clear that there were no aliens lurking in the Solar System. With NAXA's Nautilus (DSEV-2)^[1] finally completed, Vigilance returned to Earth for a refit.

2018 Refit: USAV Vigilance

With her original purpose fulfilled, DSEV - 1 was turned over to the Air Force. But Vigilance was never intended to be a warship. She was a technology demonstrator designed to test BB Tech such as her fusion engines and warp drive. But the political realities of the late 2010s required America to arm Vigilance in order to protect the nation's deep space assets. As a result, the ship gained a pair of prototype FS-1B Broncos as well as the support modules needed to rearm and repair the fighters. As an added benefit, the ship could launch the SIM-1B Python missiles it used to resupply the fighters and use them to attack targets. Even better, the missile carriers themselves could be detached and independently operated as guided missile boats.

In addition to the fighters and missiles, she was armed with a "longhorn" dual-purpose gun turret, a half-dozen Phalanx CWIS, and an improved SDI laser. The additions required replacement of the ship's logistics modules, an additional docking node, and required moving the Docking Airlock Module to the underside of Docking Node 1. Its new home meant that Vigilance no longer carried the Galileo MEV. Node 1's cupolas were also removed.

Vigilance gained an additional pair of water tanks to improve the ship's delta-v. With all the extra mass, the Air Force required a replacement Thermodynamic Fusion Engine Module with additional Timber Wolf motors to improve acceleration. They ended up refitting the existing engine module with a number of impressive spacewalks.

All of her armaments have a "tacked on" feel to them and they don't provide continuous coverage. Nonetheless, the USAV Vigilance became America's first deep space combat spacecraft after her refit concluded in 2018.

As a warship, the Vigilance suffered from a lack of storage for spare parts and ammo even with the additional Docking Node. As a result, she frequently had to return to Gateway Station for resupply, and eventually Vanguard Air Force Station when NAXA and ESA exerted political pressure to kick the Air Force off of the civilian space station. Despite its deficiencies, USAV Vigilance was an important link in creating the Constellation-class battle fortress.

[1] NAXA, who desperately wants to be Starfleet, lobbied unsuccessfully to name DSEV-2 the Enterprise. A write-in campaign also failed.