Background
In the Macross version, the SDF-1 was a spacecraft formerly created by the alien Supervision army. By some mishap, in the year 1999 it crashed onto an unsuspecting Earth and killed the crew. In the course of a decade, the spacecraft was rebuilt on the island where it crashed (South Ataria Island in Macross, Macross Island in Robotech). Originally dubbed the ASS-1 (for Alien Space Ship) on its arrival, it was now called the Super Dimension Fortress 1: Macross (which stands for Macro Space Ship).
In 2009, the ship was prepared for its maiden voyage. The captain of the ship was Bruno J. Global (Henry Gloval in Robotech) with an all female bridge crew. First officer: Misa Hayase. Chief Communications Officer: Claudia LaSalle. The final three members of the bridge crew (known as the "bridge bunnies") were Kim Kaviroff, Shammie, and Vanessa.
History
On the day of the maiden voyage, the Zentraedi try to capture the former Supervision craft. The SDF-1 takes off using its rocket thrusters and attempts to escape using its space-fold capability to escape from the moon. However, due to the SDF-1's proximity to the Earth's gravitation field, the space-fold calculations were off and the SDF-1 ended up near Pluto. At the same time, the SDF-1 was close enough to the city on South Ataria Island that the entire city was caught in the space-fold bubble and transported to Pluto also. After the space-fold, the SDF-1's fold drives mysteriously vanished.
The civilians from the city (who survived in sealed shelters), were transplanted onto the SDF-1, and the entire city was rebuilt on the ship. The ship made its way from Pluto back to Earth, persued by the Zentraedi the whole way. During this time, the pinpoint barrier system is created from an energy remaining from the fold drive. Also during this time, Captain Global ordered the SDF-1's modular transformation and Misa Hayase developed the Daedalus maneuver. Eventually, it splashed back down to Earth. Its stay on the Earth is brief, and the civilians forced to remain on board, because the Earth government wants to use it to lure the Zentraedi from Earth. The new barrier system overload, which destroys a significant part of Ontario Quadrant on Earth, cements the SDF-1's fate. It is sent back into space.
It is during this time that Zentraedi deserters begin taking asylum on the SDF-1 and the first Zentraedi-human wedding takes place on board. After the bombardment of the Earth, the SDF-1 plays its role in winning Space War I by burrowing into the Zentraedi flagship and generating a barrier overload. After that, the SDF-1 lands on Earth once more, too battered to rise again.
However, during Kamujin's final attack on the SDF-1, the space craft manages to get the energy to lift off again to defend Macross City. It destroys the attacking ship, but is itself destroyed in the process.
Features
The SDF-1 has numerous notable features including: