You know this might be my first positive review of ENT...
Has anyone else noticed how the shuttles are the first reasonable design we've seen since TOS [excluding Runabouts (Am I alone in considering the Delta Flier a Runabout type vessel?)]. I'm serious. All TNG-era shuttles did not have enough space for all the equipment they need or had. I don't need to list them all [From A-"nnular Confinement Beam generator" to W-"arp Drive" (and no, I don't think the Yoyodyne Engine or ZPE devices count so W was my next choice {don't bring up X})]. TOS shuttles had areas in the back that were never seen [Note: "Companion" and "The Galileo Seven"]. The only real issue I have with the TOS shuttles was that the interior appeared to have a scaling issue with the exterior.
But I truly do think that they got the ENT shuttle down pat this time. Not only did they have the foresight to make it aerodynamic enough to "fly" [it's a lifting body design], but the interior seems to fit with the exterior, and the area in back [best glimpsed behind T'Pol in most cases] seems to be perfectly suited to hold all the systems on the shuttle.
Comments?
Posted by NightWing (Member # 4) on :
I agree with that. TNG era shuttles have to much open space and to little space to put the gadgets in.
I like larger shuttles myself, and was glad to see a 'runabout' in Insurrection. And yes, I also count the Delta Flyer as a runabout.
The double deck shuttles in Enterprise are getting cooler by the episode. Which is good because we are bound to see them a lot.
Posted by Timo (Member # 245) on :
The TNG "type 7" shuttle was actually a pretty good try, with a large exterior and a smallish interior and presumably plenty of space for the machinery below cabin floor and aft of the cabin. It also had some lifting-body qualities. The problem was that no full-size mock-up could be built. (That, and the fact that the impulse engine seemed to be mounted on the aft door!)
Once TNG got to the full-scale mock-up stage, things got worse because naturally Paramount didn't want to cough up the dough for a model with 50% or more of the expensive hull dedicated to things that wouldn't even be *seen* in an episode. So the type 6 had even less unexplored interior space than the TOS mock-up had had.
Timo Saloniemi
Posted by CaptainMike (Member # 709) on :
The type-7 door/engine problem was because they made Probert redesign it, he had originally featured a 'front door' between the two windows, with a ramp. Would have looked bitchin cool too...
Posted by NightWing (Member # 4) on :
I have to correct what I said. the shuttles in Enterprise do not have 2 decks. I've now seen part of 'Strange New Worlds' and you can see there that the shuttles are in fact rather small.
Posted by Aban Rune (Member # 226) on :
But, also keep in mind that the shuttles in Enterprise probably don't carry nearly the amount of equipment that the later shuttles do. They appear to have some sort of sensors, but other than that, i think we've only ever seen that they have a flight and propulsion system. No transporter (that we've seen), almost certainly no warp engines. I think it's a highly believable design.
Posted by J (Member # 608) on :
That's just my point... this is probably the most believeable shuttle design in Star Trek history! And on this show? Oy!
Posted by Siegfried (Member # 29) on :
I'd have to say that the original shuttle pods used in The Next Generation were pretty believable designs. I think the TNG Technical Manual called them Type 15 or 16. They were pretty small craft with a cramped interior that only seemed to take up maybe half of the craft. The aft section housed at least the computer equipment (per "Eye of the Beholder") and we never did see whether it had warp capability or warp drive.
On to Enterprise's shuttle pods, yes, they are fairly nice and believable designs. The interior seems to comfortably hold about seven people. It definitely seems to be a complex craft to control since the pilot sits surrounded on almost all sides by controls. The pilot even has controls above his/her head to deal with. Reminds me a good deal of the U.S. space shuttles or Boeing jumbo jets. Enterprise is portraying the shuttle operations pretty realistically here. The craft has major problems negotiating strong winds like a small aircraft would, and it is prone to damage when a vital part makes unexpected contact with a rocky structure.
Posted by Timo (Member # 245) on :
The TNG shuttlepod did seem like a believable craft, for a limited range of uses. For a spacecraft, it was odd that it lacked an airlock (or, assuming that the doorways had forcefields, it still lacked any room for suiting up, or any actual EVA gear). It certainly didn't look as if it could operate within an atmosphere, either, since it would have had no aerodynamic stability. Landing on an airless world seemed like a possibility, yet the landing gear was primitive and would have required level ground.
In short, the only thing the pod was good for, by design, was taxi runs from shuttlebay to shuttlebay... Too bad we saw it used as an orbit-to-surface craft so often (although to be sure, it was piloted by Data in those instances - perhaps only an android could take the tricky little box through atmospheric turbulence?)
Timo Saloniemi
Posted by Siegfried (Member # 29) on :
Even Data had his problems with the shuttle pod. He crashed one on that prison world in the episode where he, O'Brien, and Troi become possessed by glowing lights faking to be the crew of the old USS Essex. Severe turbulence and that puppy crashed hard (Riker broke his arm).
I always saw the craft used for friendly missions. Light exploration purposes (such as the Barzan wormhole episode) or courier purposes where the pod when be going into friendly territories. If Pod 14 was making a quick run from the Cavalier to Starfleet Medical, I'd bet there's an automated landing system in use employing tractor beams to grab the pod once it's in range and gently set it down (just like in the shuttle bay dockings we've seen).
Posted by targetemployee (Member # 217) on :
When I saw the pod in the last episode, I thought immediately of the pod in "Galaxy Quest". Just a quick thought.
Posted by Austin Powers (Member # 250) on :
Funny. I just got Galaxy Quest on DVD and watched it yesterday for the first time. When I saw their shuttlepod I immediately thought of the Enterprise-Trailer where there was a short glimpse of the shuttles. I haven't seen any Ent-eps yet. I hope they will be around early next year in Germany after Voy finishes. Talking of Galaxy Quest: has anyone else seen the film? I'm sometimes reminded of the young tech geek in the film, when I read some of the comments in our forums?
