Spaceships of Science Fiction

Science FictionSPACESHIPS OF

The Past The Present The Future

P U B L I S H I N G

VOLUME ONE

7.95

SCI-FI FOCUS VOLUME ONE 7.95

Over 100 years of TV & Film Cl

assics

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3Spaceships of Science Fiction

Editor - Piers Beckley

Production Editor/Design - Ian Blaza

Publisher - David Lane

Advertising - Shilling Media

Publishing Director - Paul Appleton

Chairman - David Allan

Published by - Ian Allan Publishing Ltd., Riverdene Business Park, Moseley Road, Hersham, Surrey, KT12 4RG

Printed by Ian Allan Print Ltd, Hersham, Surrey

Ian Allan Publishing Ltd 2012All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the copyright owner.

ISBN 978 0 7110 3693 2

Published February 2012

The oldest known story, the Epic of Gilgamesh, was written on clay tablets more than 3,000 years ago.

In it the king of Uruk, Gilgamesh, travels to the ocean at the end of the known world on a quest for knowledge and immortality. The merest touch of the water there will bring instant death, and the stone charms which could have protected the ship have been destroyed.

But Gilgamesh cannot rest until he has crossed to the far side of the deadly sea. He boards the ship despite the fact that he may not make the crossing alive.

As our world was discovered and mapped, heroes no longer needed to travel in small and fragile craft across deadly and inhospitable oceans. The development of sailing ships, first of wood and then of iron and steel, means that the oceans of today hold little peril, and there are no new lands to conquer on the Earth.

The world is smaller now, and to find new challenges the heroes of todays fantastical stories are forced to leave this planet behind to find the unexplained and the weird, the beautiful and the monstrous. But still they must travel through hostile, deadly waters.

This book is about the ships that take those heroes to other worlds and sights, taking them beyond the ordinary world and into the world of the fantastic and magical.

The Spaceships of Science Fiction.

Welcome

Thanks to E. James Small, Grant and Naylor Productions, Martin Bower, Flint Weiss, Debbie Walker, Ruth Jamieson, Suzie Blaza.

Dad, for The Skylark of Space.

A special thanks to Kurt Kuhn of www.modelermagic.com, and to all the talented makers of spaceships both real and unreal. Your enthusiasm and imagination help us all to explore new worlds.

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4CONTENTSSpaceships of Science Fiction

06 1900s-1950s22 Gerry Anderson24 2001: A Space Odyssey26 Star Trek41 Gene Roddenberry42 UFO44 Space 1999

46 Aliens52 Red Dwarf54 The Space Shuttle56 Industrial Light and Magic58 Star Wars74 Blakes 7

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575 Teleportation76 Buck Rogers in the 25th Century78 Sunshine80 Motherships82 The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy83 Ron Thornton84 Babylon 5

86 Galaxy Quest88 Independence Day90 Space Travel94 Event Horizon95 Outland96 Space: Above and Beyond98 Battlestar Galactica

104 Weapons107 Firefly108 Models110 Fact and Fiction113 Not just a spaceship...114 Index

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6Spaceships of Science Fiction

Directed, written, and produced by Georges Mlis, Le Voyage dans la Lune (usually known in English as A Trip to the Moon) was released in 1902, and is the first known science fiction film.

In this short film, six astronomers travel to and explore the Moon, but when they encounter Selenites (the native race there) are forced to retreat back to the Earth.

Gun CrazyThe astronomers begin their journey by climbing inside a shell, which is then fired from

a giant gun towards the moon. They return by pulling their vessel off the edge of the moon, at which point it falls back to Earth and drops into the sea. As the shell is airtight, it floats back to the surface from where it is retrieved and towed back to port.

The idea of launching a space capsule to the Moon from the barrel of a gun was first proposed in Jules Vernes novel De la Terre la Lune (From the Earth to the Moon, published in 1865).

Space travel via gun lost much of its appeal shortly after Le Voyage dans la Lune made

its way into early cinemas, when Konstantin Tsiolkovsky wrote his seminal 1903 paper on spaceflight, usually translated as Exploration of the Universe with Reaction Machines.

In this paper, Tsiolkovsky calculated that in order for a projectile to escape the Earths gravity field when fired by a gun, it would have to accelerate at 1,000 times the force of gravity more than enough to kill everyone inside.

Fortunately in that same paper Tsiolkovsky not only proposed rocket engines as a means of travelling to space, but also that they could be used in multiple stages, each stage being disposed of as its fuel was used up. Variants of the multi-stage rockets proposed by Tsiolkovsky are still used today to launch cargoes into orbit, with current examples including Europes Ariane 5 and the United States Delta IV launch vehicles.

1900s-1950s

Le Voyage dans la Lune - 1902

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8Spaceships of Science FictionSpaceships of Science Fiction

Flash Gordon battled Emperor Ming the Merciless of the planet Mongo in three film serials from Republic in 1936, 1938, and 1940 respectively.

Doctor Zarkoffs RocketshipIn the first serial, Doctor Zarkoff builds a rocketship to travel from Earth to the planet Mongo in an attempt to stop the two planets from crashing together an event which will shatter the Earth into atoms.

According to Doctor Zarkoff the ship requires two people to operate, which necessitates taking Flash Gordon along for the ride. All Flash actually does, though, is look through the telescope, suggesting that Zarkoff may just have wanted the company.

The rocketship carries its own oxygen in the form of tanks, the valves of which must be opened manually after takeoff, and uses

a countermagnet for deceleration and landing.

Film SerialsIn the 1930s, a cinema ticket didnt just get you entry to one film. In addition to the main feature, you would also get a backup feature (the so-called B-movie, now a generic term for a low-budget film), cartoons, and the latest episode of the film serial.

Film serials generally ran for between 12 to 15 chapters, each of which usually ended in a cliffhanger how would our hero escape impending death this time?

The serials covered a large range of genres, from jungle adventure to superhero to western, and were groundbreaking in their day. The 1943 Batman series, for example, was not only the first filmed appearance of the Caped Crusader, but introduced the Batcave to the mythos before that, the Dark Knight had to settle for a

1900s-1950s

Flash Gordon 1936-1940Flash Gordon battled Emperor Ming the Merciless of the planet Mongo in three film serials from Republic in 1936, 1938, and 1940 respectively.

Doctor Zarkoffs RocketshipIn the first serial, Doctor Zarkoff builds a rocketship to travel from Earth to the planet Mongo in an attempt to stop the two planets from crashing together an event which will shatter the Earth into atoms.

two people to operate, which necessitates taking Flash Gordon along for the ride. All

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9tunnel and some secret underground hangars. But perhaps the high point of the serial came

with Republics Flash Gordon in 1936. Coming in at approximately $360,000 for 13 episodes, it cost what would have been a small fortune at the time, and retains the title of the most expensive film serial ever made.

Other CraftRocket ships arent the only craft to be seen in the Flash Gordon serials. Here are a few of the other forms of transport that Gordons used...

Mings Ships- Smaller than Zarkoffs rocket ship, these fast-moving attack vessels are armed with rays capable of destroying giant lizard-creatures with but one shot.

Gyro ships - The gyro ships of the Lion Men spin like tops as they move through the skies. In an attack on Mings palace, however, they are outclassed and defeated by Mings ships.

Hydrocycle - A submarine used by the Shark Men of Mongo to travel to and from their undersea city.

Stratosled - Used to get around on Mars during the events of Flash Gordons Trip to Mars, the stratosleds are long-range atmospheric flyers. Armed and dangerous,

they are capable of landing almost anywhere on Mars, and of taking on other craft in a dogfight.

Light Bridge - A ray of light connecting two turrets in the palace of Queen Azura of Mars, the light bridge, once activated, forms a surface solid enough to walk on.

As well as re-appearing as hard light bridges in video game Portal 2, the original light bridge inspired the design of the Millennium Bridge in London, the first new bridge to be built across the River Thames in more than a century.

From Flash Gordon to Star WarsIn 1972 a young film maker called George Lucas was putting the finishing touches to his coming-of-age film American Graffiti when he and his friend Gary Kurtz started discussing the old Flash Gordon serials of the 1930s.

An attempt to buy the rights to the character from King Features Syndicate in order to make a film were not successful, so Lucas turned his mind to making a similar action-adventure space epic, the story that was eventually to become the Star Wars film series.

The opening crawl that begins each Star Wars film is based directly on the crawl of words telling the story so far as they float away into the distance in the third and final serial, Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe.

ABOVE: DOCTOR ZARKOFF ADJUSTS THE CONTROLS WHILE DALE ARDEN AND FLASH GORDON LOOK ON IN ADMIRATIONBELOW: FLASH TRIES THE SAME MANEUVER, BUT DALE IS LESS THAN IMPRESSED WITH HIS WORK.

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Spaceships of Science Fiction

After a rocket engine which has been funded by the US government explodes on takeoff, a group of industrialists pool their resources in order to ensure that the United States will be the first country to land a rocket on the moon by building the worlds first atomic rocket, Luna.

Four people travel to the moon in the rocket and must cope with the problems that present themselves on their trip including the possibility that not all will make it back to Earth.

Co-written by famed Science Fiction author Robert A Heinlein, Destination Moon exhibits a marked degree of realism for the time when it was made. While the proximal reason for the trip to the moon by private enterprise is the sabotage of a government rocket by agents unknown, there are no enemies, aliens, or villains to be seen in the film other than nature and the harsh realities of space travel.

The film also notably includes a short cartoon featuring Woody Woodpecker, in which Woody is introduced to the science behind rocket travel. The cartoon is used to sell space travel to the businessmen and industrialists who work together to build Luna.

Destination Moon -1950


1900s-1950s

LunaLuna is an atomic-powered rocket which uses water as its reaction mass the mass ejected from the engines in order to propel the rocket forward.

Energy from the atomic power plant is used to heat the water into steam, and the steam is then expelled from the engines to propel the ship to the moon and back again.

After escaping the Earths gravity well, Luna drifts towards the moon over the next two days. The ship is equipped with gyroscopes fast-spinning wheels which resist being turned around which it can rotate to set the engine to face the moon. The engine is then fired again to cancel the rockets momentum and land safely on the lunar surface.

After using the last of its reaction mass to lift off from the moon, Luna first glides to a designated landing spot upon its return to Earth, and then deploys parachutes for the final landing. This means that the rocket need not carry so much reaction mass into space in the first place, leading to a large saving on fuel.

ABOVE: DESTINATION MOON WON THE OSCAR FOR BEST VISUAL EFFECTS IN 1950 BELOW: A RESCUE MISSION IS MOUNTED AFTER A SPACEWALK TO REPAIR THE RADAR GOES WRONG OUTSIDE LUNA.

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THE ROCKET SHIP LUNA STANDS ON THE SURFACE OF THE MOON

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12


The surprisingly bleak tale of the first experimental rocketship. Its original destination is the moon, but a problem with the fuel mixture leads the ship to Mars instead, where it encounters the survivors of a destroyed civilisation.

The Space RaceDuring the making of Destination Moon, a huge wave of publicity was set in motion by producer George Pal to promote the film. Sensing an opportunity, Rocketship X-M was pushed quickly in production to cash in on this publicity. Filmed in black and white instead of Destination Moons expensive Technicolor and at only a fraction of the budget, Rocketship X-M made it into cinemas a full three weeks before Pals effort.

The X-MNamed Rocketship X-M (for eXpedition Moon) by its creators, the X-M is a multistage rocket. It travels from the Earth to orbit, jettisoning its first stage after doing so. Unfortunately this is pretty much the films sole claim to scientific verisimilitude.

The rocket runs on a mixture of monatomic

hydrogen, tri-atomic oxygen, and A. The fuel is stored in tanks in the motor room of the rocket assembly, just beneath the pressurised cabin, where it is combined in variable proportions to provide power to the ship.

The mysterious element and/or fuel mixture A comes in several varieties including A12 (used with hydrogen and oxygen for the first

120 seconds of the flight), A14 (used with hydrogen and oxygen up to 340 seconds), and A16 (used with hydrogen and oxygen up to 560 seconds, and on its own thereafter).

The fuel is temperamental, however, and if the mixture is calculated incorrectly, the result can be that the ship is stranded in space unable to move or conversely may be flung off at high speed, adding the Earths orbital velocity to the speed of the ship.

Both of these fates occur to the X-M, and it finds itself in the vicinity of Mars, an outcome so unlikely that it becomes clear to the lead scientist that a power larger than them has guided them there.

The scenes on Mars were tinted red for the original cinema release, giving an eerie quality to the section of the film set there as the crew of the X-M discover what happened to the advanced civilization that once ruled that planet.

Despite the fact that the space travel presented in the film is nonsensical and the treatment of the female lead reflects the attitudes of the times in which it was made, Rocketship X-M redeems itself towards the end with the sequence on Mars and the final touchdown of the ship as it returns to Earth.

Rocketship X-M -19501900s-1950s

THE CREW OF THE ROCKETSHIP X-M SURVEY THE SURFACE OF THE RED PLANET

A SUDDEN METEOR STORM IMPERILS THE SHIP AS IT TRAVELS AWAY FROM THE EARTH

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13

INSIDE THE MAIN CONTROL CHAMBER

A spaceship lands in Washington DC bearing the alien Klaatu and eight-foot-high robot Gort. Klaatu has come to deliver a warning from space and an ultimatum.

Klaatus spaceship The flying saucer in which Klaatu lands is smooth on both top and bottom, with no sign of engines or exhaust ports of any description. Upon investigation, the material of which it and Gort are made cannot be scratched with either blowtorch or diamond drill.

A ramp extends from the skirt at the bottom of the spaceship, and the dome on top cracks open to allow a person to enter the heart of the ship. When closed, the ramp and door meld seamlessly into the material of the saucer.

The interior of the ship contains one main chamber inside a circular corridor that runs along the edge of the top dome. All functions of the craft are controlled from the main chamber using instrument panels which function via hand gesture. Both Klaatu and Gort are capable of controlling the ship.

Gort can raise his visor to reveal a sparkling eye, capable of firing a disintegration beam at will.

The Day The Earth Stood Still -1951

GORT EMERGES FROM THE DEPTHS OF KLAATUS SPACESHIP TO PROTECT HIS COMPANION

Re-imaginedIn the 2008 remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still, the alien ship on which Klaatu comes to Earth is a glowing sphere rather than the now-clichd flying saucer, and Klaatu does not arrive on the planet in human form.

Gort, too, has moved on from the original. While to begin with he seems very reminiscent of the original robot only much larger later we discover that he is made of many smaller

machines. And his powers of disintegration are much more deadly.

While the theme of humanitys dangerous nature survives from one film to the other, the means in which that destructive force manifest is altered: in the original, humanitys threat is directed outwards into space, while in the later film the threat is to the other species on the planet.

In both cases, however, the solution offered from space is the same.

KEANU REEVES BROUGHT AN ALIEN PRESENCE TO KLAATU IN THE 2008 REMAKE

Rocketship X-M -1950

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14


A new sun and planet are entering the solar system at incredible speeds and the star, Bellus, is on a direct collision course with the Earth. With only eight months remaining before the Earth is destroyed, a rocket ship is constructed capable of travelling to the new planet, Zyra, in an attempt to save at least a few people from the end of the world.

The Space ArkThe vessel used to voyage to the new world can hold only 44 people, together with microfiche versions of books, and animals for breeding stock. With just a few reserved places, the rest of the passengers are selected by lottery from those who worked upon the project.

The ship sits upon a sled equipped with its own rocket motors, which itself is mounted on a long ramp which runs first down into a valley, then up into the sky.

Once the rocket sled has fired and accelerated to the bottom of the first incline, the ramp turns skywards and the ships own rockets ignite to add the final momentum required to raise it out of the Earths gravity well and propel it across the gulf of space between the Earth and Zyra.

After it reaches Zyra, the ship

decelerates by turning and firing its engines again, retarding its speed to the point where it can successfully orbit the new world. It then enters the atmosphere and uses its wings to glide to a landing to a landing in the same manner as NASAs space shuttle.

Rocket Sleds as Space LaunchersThe ship in When Worlds Collide gains much of its velocity from a rocket sled, which accelerates it along a track to impart a high initial velocity.

In real life, a rocket sled is a good way to launch a space vehicle as the fuel and hardware necessary for the first part of acceleration need never leave the ground, so their weight neednt be lifted against gravity with the ship. Having reached the end of the ramp at high speed, the ship detaches from the rocket sled and accelerates the rest of the way under its own power.

While in operation the Space Shuttle consumed a third of its fuel to reach 1,000 miles per hour (Mach 1.3), while rocket sleds have reached velocities of Mach 8.5. As the rocket sled itself never leaves the surface it can be easily recovered and refuelled, so launches are able to be turned around much more quickly.

When Worlds Collide -1951

1900s-1950s

THE ARK COMES IN TO LAND ON THE NEW HOME OF HUMANITY, ZYRA

USING A ROCKET SLED TO REACH ESCAPE VELOCITY FROM THE DOOMED PLANET EARTH

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15

When Worlds Collide -1951

War of the Worlds -1953

A Martian invasion force lands upon Earth. Their War Machines are able to take any punishment that humanity can throw at them, swiftly carving their way through the armies sent against them and, it seems, unstoppable by the hand of man...

From Book to ScreenHG Wells The War of the Worlds was first published in 1898. Tales of invasion were in vogue at the time, but this was one of the first in which the invaders were not from other countries, but from another world entirely.

Landing in gigantic metal cylinders, the Martians soon leave their ships behind and advance across the countryside, destroying everything in their path. Building three-legged fighting machines to transport themselves from their landing site, the Martians swiftly over-run the south of England, which is helpless against the alien heat-rays and the black smoke, a deadly poison launched by the Martians.

In the 1953 film adaptation, the action is relocated to the West Coast of the United States, starting in a small town just outside of Los Angeles, then later shifting to the city itself.

The Martians travel to Earth in giant cylinders thought at first to be meteors, and the first Martian ship lands just outside the town of Linda Rosa.

Too hot to investigate immediately from its passage through the atmosphere and slightly radioactive, the house-sized cylinder is left to cool. As in the book, a hatch slowly unscrews. A flexible metallic tentacle with what appears to be an eye regards its environs then shoots sparks and flame as its deadly heat ray is brought to bear.

As more cylinders land, we find that the spaceships which the Martians are using to travel from the Red Planet to Earth are controlled by jets after they enter the atmosphere, and navigate in threes to their landing sites using gyroscopes. The Martian War Machines that emerge from each cylinder are shaped much like manta rays, with the eye-bearing mechanical tentacle emerging from its dorsal surface. Although they do not have the three legs seen on tripods in the book, each is supported by three rays emerging from the bottom of the machine to hold it aloft.

The War Machines easily repel any armaments

that they are attacked with by using their electromagnetic covering an impenetrable blister of force which surrounds the War Machine, protecting it from any display of force up to and including a nuclear blast.

Their offenses are no less powerful. In addition to the heat ray from their eye, the machines are armed with skeleton beams, green rays firing from the edge of each wing which disintegrate their targets, allowing if the target is human the skeleton to show through for a moment before it is utterly destroyed.

Three appears to be a significant number to the Martians, perhaps because of their own physiology heir War Machines travel three to a cylinder, the Martian eye and cameras have three sections to them, and the Martian hand has three long fingers.

THE MARTIAN WAR MACHINES USE THEIR DEADLY HEAT RAY TO DESTROY EVERYTHING IN THEIR PATH

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Conquest of Space -1955

As the film begins, construction is almost complete on a spaceship which will take humanity out of the orbit of Earth and into the wider solar system.

Conquest of Space was created to be as realistic a portrayal of space exploration as possible. The film took its title as well as the designs for the ship and space station from a factual book called The Conquest of Space by artist Chesley Bonestell (who also provided the astronomical art for the film) and writer Willy Ley which portrayed humanitys exploration of the solar system.

Spaceship OneThe ship, designed to transport a five-person crew to Mars, holds its fuel in eight spherical booster tanks. After arriving at Mars, the booster tanks are jettisoned to burn up in the atmosphere, and the ship then glides in to a landing.

After landing, the main fuselage is rotated skywards until its engines face the ground. Detached from the wings, the fuselage becomes an independent rocket ship for the journey back to Earth.

To save mass on the journey to Mars, the crew of Spaceship One eat food in the form of

concentrated pills containing all the nutrients that they need to live a common trope of early science fiction. However, a pill containing enough calories for the body

to continue to function over a long time would be the size of a meal anyway, so it seems that food pills will have to remain the future of the past.

The WheelSpaceship One is constructed next to a space station orbiting the Earth, and the two of them make a complete revolution of the planet in just

two hours. The space station itself is in the form of a

wheel which spins to provide artificial gravity to those on board. Supply rockets regularly travel from Earth to resupply the Wheel and to bring materials with which to construct the ship.

To travel between the Wheel and the ship or vice versa, you need to call for a taxi. The taxi is a small frame open to space in which a suited pilot sits, while small rocket exhausts no larger than a waste paper bin at front and rear provide the motive power. Cargo is either tied directly to the frame, or to a line attached to the back of it, which stretches out and is pulled behind the taxi as it travels.

SPACESHIP ONE IN ITS LANDING CONFIGURATION


1900s-1950s

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17

Conquest of Space -1955This Island Earth -1955Aliens from the planet Metaluna seek help from Earth scientists in synthesizing uranium to aid their war against the Zagons. The atomic fuel will be used to power the ionized layer protecting Metaluna from the meteors that the Zagons are raining down upon it. Two Earth scientists are carried on a ship to Metaluna to observe and help either with or against their will.

The Metalunan ShipLike the Challenge 142 from It! The Terror from Beyond Space, the Metalunan spacecraft generates its own gravitational field, keeping everyone from, as one character memorably states, floating away like balloons. The ship is also able to withstand the high temperatures of the thermal barrier surrounding the Earth.

The atmospheric pressure on Metaluna is greater than that of the deepest ocean on Earth and because of that great pressure difference, travelling from one to the other unprotected would result in being either crushed to death or disintegrated, depending on which way one was travelling.

The Metalunan spaceship contains conversion tubes to mitigate this effect, allowing humans to exist on Metaluna and vice versa, and a short time in the conversion tubes after take-off allows transition between the planets with equanimity. Once the process has begun, though, the tube cannot be opened prematurely from the inside.

The ship is highly maneuverable, and armed with defensive weapons to destroy Zagon meteors aimed at the ship. It also possesses a tractor beam with the ability to bring a small plane to dock inside the craft, and is able to take control of a jet aircraft and fly it remotely and safely to landing.

A METALUNAN SAUCER PREPARES TO CAPTURE THE LIGHT AIRCRAFT PILOTED BY THE FILMS HERO CAL MEACHAM

A METALUNAN MUTANT

THE SURFACE OF METALUNA IS UNDER CONSTANT BOMBARDMENT FROM THE ZAGONS, FORCING THE INHABITANTS TO MOVE THEIR CIVILIZATION UNDERGROUND

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1900s-1950s

The crew of the C-57D, a United Planets Cruiser from Earth, travel to the planet Altair IV in search of the starship Bellerophon which landed there twenty years before. On their arrival they find just two survivors, Doctor Morbius and his teenage daughter Altaira, but it is not long before the mysterious force which killed everyone else aboard the Bellerophon returns to the planet.

Forbidden Planet mixes a tale of monsters with cerebral ideas and a vision of the future, and still stands up today as one of the greatest science fiction films.

United Planets Cruiser C-57DThe C-57D is built in the classic flying saucer shape seen in many films of the 1950s. Upon landing, the lower section of the saucer extrudes to make a central pylon supporting the bulk of the ship, while three staircases fold down from the body of the saucer to act as support struts.

The interior of the ship is built on a multi-level set, at the centre of which sits a model representing the C-57D in the interior of a clear rotating sphere. This central console and navigation center also contains the pilots station.

The ship uses hyperdrive to travel a little over

16 times faster than the speed of light. To drop safely below lightspeed the crew must step into decelerator tubes which protect them from the sudden loss of velocity. Even so protected, the drop to 0.3896 of lightspeed can be stressful to the body, as seen in the staggered reactions of the crew as they step from the tubes after deceleration.

Forbidden Planet -1956

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Forbidden Planet -1956

Electronic TonalitiesThe unique electronic music for Forbidden Planet was produced by husband-and-wife team Louis and Bebe Barron. Making audio circuits from vacuum tubes, they built up a tape library of electronic sounds which were slowed down, sped up, and cut together to produce the first ever film soundtrack created completely electronically. During the course of the film it is often impossible to tell what part of the soundscape is music, and what is a sound effect.

The Barrons were unable to receive the original proposed credit for the film of Electronic Music as they were not members of the American Federation of Musicians. In the end, their credit was rendered as Electronic Tonalities by Louis and Bebe Barron. As they were not members of the union the music was also ineligible for the best soundtrack Oscar.

ABOVE: AFTER EMERGING FROM HYPERSPACE, THE C-57D COMES IN FOR A LANDING ON THE BARREN PLANET OF ALTAIR IVBELOW LEFT: THE SHIP WAS REALISED ON FILM AS A COMBINATION OF A MODEL, A SET, AND MATTE PAINTINGSBELOW RIGHT: LESLIE NIELSEN (SEATED, AS CAPTAIN ADAMS) HAD A LONG CAREER AS A DRAMATIC ACTOR BEFORE TURNING TO COMEDY

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1900s-1950sSpaceships of Science Fiction

IN THE FUTURE OF 1953, A FEMALE ASTRONAUTS JOB STILL INCLUDED COOKING AND CLEARING AWAY AFTERWARDS

Six months ago, in January 1973, the first spaceship to travel to the planet Mars cracked up on landing. When the rescue ship arrives, only one person from the original crew remains alive. The rescuers dismiss his story of a creature which attacked and killed everyone else during a sandstorm on the planet, and prepare to take him back to Earth to face a court martial, swiftly followed by a firing squad. But the monster is real, and has found its way onto the spaceship...

With its story of a monster trapped aboard an in-flight spaceship gradually picking off the crew one by one the film is often cited as being one of the major influences upon Alien, and writer Jerome Bixby went on to work on some of the most acclaimed episodes of the original Star Trek.

The Challenge 142The ship is equipped with artificial gravity and arranged vertically over several levels. Inside,

It! The Terror from Beyond Space -1958

metal struts with holes punched out of them hold the ship together. As the monster closes in upon them and they find their weapons useless against it, the space travellers are forced to retreat upwards towards the control center at the top of the rocketship.

Several airlocks are accessible from its different levels, which allows a spacewalk down the side of the craft in an attempt to get beneath the creature and attack it unawares.

In many ways, the Challenge 142 is the classic 1950s spaceship a Single-Stage-To-Orbit rocket, landing and taking off from its tail with a chrome exterior, three landing fins, and no less than three atomic power plants to provide energy to the ship.

THE CREATURE, PLAYED BY RAY CORRIGAN, SEARCHES FOR A WAY INTO THE AIRLOCK

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ProfileScience Fiction Pioneers

Born Gyula Gyrgy Mrczincsk in Hungary in 1908 to actor parents, George Pal trained as an architect in Budapest and moved to Berlin in 1931, where he worked at UFA film studios. During his time in Germany, he found that his colleagues had difficulty pronouncing his name so, taking his parents stage name and using the German version of his, he became first Georg Pl then, later, George Pal.

In 1932 Pal set up his own advertising company and developed a new stop motion technique in which the models were not moved slightly from moment to moment, but in which one entire carved model was wholly replaced with another slightly different one.

Pal named this series of stop motion

films Puppetoons a portmanteau created from the words puppet and cartoon.

As the Nazis rose to power, Pal and his family moved away from Germany. They travelled first to Prague, then Paris and Holland, and then finally in 1939 to the United States where he was quickly signed to a contract with Paramount Studios.

At Paramount Pal continued to make Puppetoons, but this time as original short films rather than as advertisements. They were a success, and several people who would later go on to fame as special effects creators in their own right worked for Pal on those early shorts with

luminaries including Ray Harryhausen and Willis OBrien among their number.

Successful though those early films were, the cost of production was high compared to their return, and Pal moved into the production of live-action films in the late 1940s. But the film that put him on the map as a producer of science fiction was Destination Moon in 1950, co-written by Robert Heinlein.

As well as receiving much press coverage even before its release, Destination Moon was a success at the box office, enabling Pal to

George Pal

GEORGE PAL (LEFT) ON THE SET OF THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF THE BROTHERS GRIMM

and Holland, and then finally in 1939 to the United States where he was quickly signed to a contract with Paramount

At Paramount Pal continued to make Puppetoons, but this time as original short films rather than as advertisements. They were a success, and several people who would later go on to fame as special effects creators in their own right worked for Pal on those early shorts with

luminaries including Ray Harryhausen and Willis OBrien among their number.

early films were, the cost of production was high compared to their return, and Pal moved into the production of live-action films in the late 1940s. But the film that put him on the map as a producer of science fiction was Destination Moonwritten by Robert Heinlein.

As well as receiving much press coverage even before its release, Destination Moonat the box office, enabling Pal to

make many more classic science fiction films over the course of the 1950s including The War of the Worlds and The Time Machine based on the novels of HG Wells.

Pals films often showcased groundbreaking special effects and were immensely popular. Over the course of his life he was nominated for eight Academy Awards, winning one for the special effects on Destination Moon, as well as receiving a special award in 1943 entitled To George Pal for the development of novel methods and techniques in the production of short subjects known as Puppetoons.

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B orn in 1929, Gerry Anderson is known across the world for his puppet series including Thunderbirds and Fireball XL-5.Starting in the film industry as an uncredited

Assistant Editor on the 1945 film The Wicked Lady, Anderson worked as an assistant editor and sound editor on another dozen films before his first encounter with the type of show that would later make him famous.

In 1957 Andersons then production company, AP Films, was hired by Associated Rediffusion and writer Roberta Leigh to make The Adventures of Twizzle, a puppet series for children. Although Anderson wanted to make live-action films, the company needed the work, and so they dug in with a will. The Adventures of Twizzle was so successful that Anderson was asked to work on another series of the show immediately. From that sprang several more puppet series for Lew Grade at ATV, and his career took off.

Despite several attempts to move into live action over the years, including

underperforming cross-solar film Journey to the Far Side of the Sun, body-snatching alien invasion series UFO and moon-leaving-Earth insanity Space: 1999, Anderson has always been best known for his Supermarionation puppet series from the 1960s, in particular Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons.

When Anderson started working with puppets, the state of the art wasnt particularly advanced. The actors themselves were simple creations, usually filmed in static shots against painted backdrops. Andersons determination to make the best show that he could resulted in the use of long shots, mediums, and close-ups, shot in a three-dimensional set instead of against a flat background, and edited together in a filmic style.

The loss of the backdrop meant that the standard way of operating puppets at that time, where the operator stood behind it to work the puppet, would no longer be viable. Instead, a bridge was built above the set where the operators would stand and work.

The ground-breaking special effects in Andersons shows were the work of many highly-talented designers and special effects maestros just starting out in the business. Derek Meddings moved on from Thunderbirds to the James Bond films and received an Oscar

for his special effects work on Superman: The Movie, while Brian Johnson went on to create special effects for films including Alien and Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, for both of which he won Oscars.

ProfileScience Fiction Pioneers

Gerry Anderson

22

To increase the realism of the puppets, it was decided to have their lips move in time with the dialogue but how to do this?

The solution was to add an electromagnet into their heads. When a current was supplied to the electromagnet passed down through one of the strings used to move the puppet it would pull a small bar up and down, opening and closing the puppets mouth in time with their words.

As the technology developed and the electromagnets became smaller, the production team were able to move them into the puppet bodies. Which is why, compared to Captain Scarlet, the Tracy brothers have such enormous heads.

Filmed in DATE OF BIRTH: 14 APRIL 1929NOTABLE WORK: SUPERCAR, FIREBALL XL-5, STINGRAY, THUNDERBIRDS, CAPTAIN SCARLET AND THE MYSTERONS, UFO, SPACE: 1999, TERRAHAWKS

DATE OF BIRTH:DATE OF BIRTH:DATE OF BIRTH:DATE OF BIRTH:DATE OF BIRTH:DATE OF BIRTH:DATE OF BIRTH:DATE OF BIRTH:DATE OF BIRTH:DATE OF BIRTH:DATE OF BIRTH:DATE OF BIRTH:DATE OF BIRTH:DATE OF BIRTH:DATE OF BIRTH:DATE OF BIRTH:DATE OF BIRTH:DATE OF BIRTH:DATE OF BIRTH:DATE OF BIRTH:DATE OF BIRTH:DATE OF BIRTH: 14 APRIL 192914 APRIL 192914 APRIL 192914 APRIL 192914 APRIL 192914 APRIL 192914 APRIL 192914 APRIL 192914 APRIL 192914 APRIL 1929

FACT FILE

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23

Whenever a major disaster occurs International Rescue leap into action to save lives. Operating from a secret island base in the Pacific, their futuristic vehicles known as Thunderbirds include a rocketship and an orbital space station.

Thunderbird 3A bright red rocket, Thunderbird 3 is used to resupply space station Thunderbird 5 as well as to perform rescues in space.

A multistage rocket such as the European Space Agencys Ariane 5 throws away its fuel tanks as soon as theyre empty, either dropping them back to Earth for recovery or allowing them to burn up in the atmosphere. The fact that they dont need to carry the extra weight of a now-empty tank

means they need less fuel overall.Thunderbird 3, though, is a Single-Stage-To-Orbit rocket (SSTO), lifting off from the

Earths surface with all the fuel that it needs to escape the planets gravity. And thats not the only way that Thunderbird 3 differs from the rockets we use today.

Its ability to take off and land again in the same configuration, with its nose in the air and its base to the ground, makes Thunderbird 3 whats known as a Vertical-Take-Off-Vertical-Landing (VTVL) rocket. While the VTVL type rocket has long been popular in Science Fiction, with early showings in the films Destination

Moon and Rocketship X-M, in real life a VTVL rocket has never made it to orbit from the surface of the Earth.

The McDonnell Douglas DC-X proved that the concept could work, though, flying a total of eleven times in the 1990s before a fire

caused by a cracked liquid oxygen tank caused so much damage that it could no longer be repaired.

Rocketing to the RescueAlthough Thunderbird 3 appears in several episodes of the series, its only on three occasions that we actually see the ship take part in a rescue. Guess there still arent that many people in space, even in 2067.

Sun ProbeA solar probe with three astronauts aboard has flown too close to the sun, and cant fire its retro-rockets to escape. Thunderbird 3 must get near enough to send a radio signal that can activate the malfunctioning equipment, but without burning up themselves. And with much less heat shielding than the solar probe, Thunderbird 3 is already dangerously close to its limits...

The ImpostorsWhen an astronauts jet pack malfunctions during a spacewalk, Thunderbird 3 must rush to the rescue. But the instant that the rocket launches from Tracy Island, International Rescues secret base will be exposed.

RicochetWhen a damaged rocket explodes in an area of space believed to be deserted, an unlicensed pirate TV station in a nearby satellite is knocked off course and falls towards the Earth. With Thunderbird 5 unable to hear their distress calls, International Rescue may not even find out theres a problem until its too late.

Thunderbird 5The eyes and ears of International Rescue, Thunderbird 5 orbits the Earth, monitoring all broadcasts and frequencies to await the call to action.

ThunderbirdsSpaceships of Science Fiction

SPECIFICATIONNAME: THUNDERBIRD 3HEIGHT: 287 FTWIDTH: 23 FT (MAIN BODY) 80 FT (ENGINES)PROPULSION: ROCKET MOTORSMAXIMUM SPEED: 390 MPSBASE OF OPERATIONS: TRACY ISLAND

DATE OF BIRTH: 14 APRIL 1929NOTABLE WORK: SUPERCAR, FIREBALL XL-5, STINGRAY, THUNDERBIRDS, CAPTAIN SCARLET AND THE MYSTERONS, UFO, SPACE: 1999, TERRAHAWKS

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24

2001: A Space OdysseySpaceships of Science Fiction

In the prehistoric past a tribe of apes wake one morning to discover a mysterious black monolith by their watering hole. On touching the monolith, they discover their own capacity for violence, which allows them to destroy another tribe and prosper.

In 1999, Doctor Heywood Floyd travels to the Moon to investigate an identical monolith, which has been buried beneath the surface there for about four million years. When it is exposed to sunlight, it sends a powerful radio signal to one of the moons of Jupiter.

The spaceship Discovery One travels there to investigate, but onboard computer HAL 9000 malfunctions and kills all but one of the astronauts on board. On arrival at Jupiter, surviving astronaut Dave Bowman is drawn into a tunnel of light, which leads him into a surreal series of chambers where he sees himself in progressively older forms. Encountering a third and final monolith, Bowman is transformed into a Star Child, a being able to travel through the vacuum of space without harm, and returns to Earth.

The Ships of 2001The spaceships in 2001 were state of the art in all respects. Harry Lange and Frederick Ordway III had both worked for many years as aerospace engineers, when in January 1965 a chance meeting with their friend Arthur C Clarke in New York led to them meeting director

Stanley Kubrick and becoming engaged to design the ships and sets.

All of the technology was designed to be as realistic as possible, with Ordway and Lange insisting on knowing the function of every single item down to the labelling of each individual button, and ensuring that any information displays gave accurate readings of what was going on in the craft at any particular point.

This attention to detail gives a verisimilitude to the spacecraft and technology that we see onscreen that still impresses today, more than 40 years on and long past the titular 2001 itself.

Discovery OneDiscovery One is the craft which ferries astronauts Dave Bowman and Frank Poole together with three colleagues in suspended animation from Earth orbit to Jupiter. The ship is laid out with a command module at the front of the craft and the nuclear reactor which both powers and propels the ship far away at the rear.

Between the two a long axis frame contains supplies of food, water, and oxygen for the journey, and at the center of the frame sits a dish for receiving and transmitting signals to Earth.

Running around the inside of the spherical command module is a giant centrifuge which, when brought up to speed, provides artificial gravity for the astronauts within via centripetal force. The centrifuge also contains

three Hibernacula, suspended animation chambers to allow the other members of the crew to sleep through the long journey. Also aboard the command module are EVA pods which can leave the ship and move around it to allow external repairs during flight.

SPECIFICATIONLENGTH: 260 FTDIAMETER: 56 FT (DIAMETER OF COMMAND MODULE)POWER SYSTEMS: NUCLEARPROPULSION: GAS POWERED NUCLEAR ROCKET ENGINECREW: 2 AWAKE, 3 IN SUSPENDED ANIMATIONBASE OF OPERATIONS: EARTH TO JUPITER

INTERIOR VIEW OF THE DISCOVERY ONE

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2001: A Space Odyssey

25

The Space ClipperDoctor Heywood Floyd uses an Orion III space clipper to travel out of Earths gravity well to an orbiting space station where he will catch his connecting flight to the moon. The Space Clipper is a Single-Stage-To-Orbit (SSTO) re-usable spaceplane owned and operated by Pan American Airways. As the clipper is designed to operate in atmosphere, unlike all other spacecraft in the film it is streamlined and has wings.

SPECIFICATIONNAME: SPACE CLIPPERMAXIMUM SPEED: AT LEAST 25,000 MPHCLASS: ORION IIICREW: PILOT, CO-PILOT, STEWARD.PASSENGERS: 30

BASE OF OPERATIONS: EARTH AND SPACE

STATION V

Aries 1BThe Aries 1B is a transfer shuttle travelling between Space Station V and the Moon. As the ship never needs to land on Earth, it does not require any atmospheric streamlining, and is in the form of a sphere to maximise internal space. Four landing legs extend from the bottom of the craft when it comes in to land on the Moon.

Its propulsion system would not be strong enough to achieve escape velocity from Earth, so its terminus on the planetary end of the journey is at Space Station V, a large station which uses rotation to provide artificial gravity and which is still under construction in the film, as shown by the exposed spaceframe.

Using thrust from its plasma jets, the Aries 1B takes approximately two and a half days to make the journey from Earth orbit to the Moon, at a cost of $10,000 per trip for a single traveller, or $600,000 if you want to charter the entire ship.

SPECIFICATIONNAME: ARIES 1BDIAMETER: 40 FTHEIGHT: 40 FT (LANDING LEGS RETRACTED) 46 FT (LANDING LEGS EXTENDED)PROPULSION SYSTEMS: LOW-THRUST PLASMA JETS

PASSENGERS: 60BASE OF OPERATIONS: SPACE STATION V TO MOON

not require any atmospheric streamlining, and is in the form of a not require any atmospheric streamlining, and is in the form of a not require any atmospheric streamlining, and is in the form of a not require any atmospheric streamlining, and is in the form of a sphere to maximise internal space. Four landing legs extend from sphere to maximise internal space. Four landing legs extend from sphere to maximise internal space. Four landing legs extend from sphere to maximise internal space. Four landing legs extend from the bottom of the craft when it comes in to land on the Moon. the bottom of the craft when it comes in to land on the Moon. the bottom of the craft when it comes in to land on the Moon. the bottom of the craft when it comes in to land on the Moon.

Its propulsion system would not be strong enough to achieve Its propulsion system would not be strong enough to achieve escape velocity from Earth, so its terminus on the planetary end of escape velocity from Earth, so its terminus on the planetary end of escape velocity from Earth, so its terminus on the planetary end of the journey is at Space Station V, a large station which uses rotation the journey is at Space Station V, a large station which uses rotation the journey is at Space Station V, a large station which uses rotation to provide artificial gravity and which is still under construction in

CO-PILOT,30

ERATIONS:AND

STATION

25,000 MPHCLASS: ORION IIICREW: PILOT, CO-PILOT,

LEGGS RETRACTED)RETRACTED)RETRACTED)RETRACTED)RETRACTED) 4646 FTFT(LANDIN(LANDIN(LANDIN(LANDING G G LELEGGGSS EXTENDED)EXTENDED)EXTENDED)EXTENDED)EXTENDED)EXTENDED)PROPROPROPPUUULLSION SYSTEMS: SION SYSTEMS: SION SYSTEMS: SION SYSTEMS: SION SYSTEMS: SION SYSTEMS: SION SYSTEMS: LLOW-THRUSTOW-THRUSTOW-THRUSTOW-THRUSTOW-THRUST

CREW: PILOT, CO-PILOT,PASSENGERS: 30

BASE OF OPERATIONS:EARTH AND

S

SPECIFICATIONSPECIFICATIONSPECIFICATIONSPECIFICATIONSPECIFICATIONSPECIFICATIONSPECIFICATIONSPECIFICATIONSPECIFICATIONSPECIFICATIONSPECIFICATIONSPECIFICATIONSPECIFICATIONSPECIFICATIONSPECIFICATIONNAME: AME: AME: ARIESRIESRIES 1B1BDIAMETER: DIAMETER: DIAMETER: DIAMETER: 4040 FTFTHEIGHT: EIGHT: EIGHT: 4040 FTFT (LANDIN(LANDIN(LANDIN(LANDING G LEGGS RETRACTED)RETRACTED)RETRACTED)RETRACTED)RETRACTED) 4646 FTFT

PASSENGERS: PASSENGERS: PASSENGERS: PASSENGERS: PASSENGERS: PASSENGERS: 6060BASE OF BASE OF BASE OF BASE OF OPOPERATIONS: ERATIONS: ERATIONS: ERATIONS: SSPACEPACE TATIONTATION VV TO M MOONOONBASE OF BASE OF

PACE S STATIONTATIONTATION

24_25_Sci Fi_Space 2001.indd 25 20/01/2012 20:09

26


Star TrekThe Original SeriesThe starship Enterprise has been sent out from Earth on a five year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, and to boldly go where no man has gone before.

But you probably already knew that.

Designing the Future Matt Jefferies was the Assistant Art Director on the original Star Trek television series, and the man who together with Art Director Pato Guzman designed the Enterprise. His name has been immortalized within the show itself in the Jefferies Tube, the internal maintenance conduits which carry cables and wiring from one place to another within the body of a starship.

Asked to design a cruiser-sized deep-space vessel to explore the galaxy and without the trails of fire, streaks of smoke, jet intakes or rocket exhausts that had characterized spaceships up to that point Jefferies and Guzman went back to first principles. Pinning present-day space exploration designs onto the wall together with previous designs from Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers as examples of what

not to do, they set to work. Gene Roddenberry, the creator and producer

of Star Trek insisted that every design that they make be believable. And he did not like any of the first ones that they put before him.

Using a piece of a design that Roddenberry liked here together with another piece there, Guzman and Jefferies started again, creating another twenty or more different designs. These were shown to Roddenberry, the sales department, the production office, and a representative of the RAND corporation (a US government thinktank).

This time there were four or five things he liked. And so the process began again.

Because the ship would be seen in every single episode, it was important that it feel real, and look right. Going against advice from the studio, who felt that spending so much time on the design of the Enterprise was a waste of time and money, Roddenberry stuck to his guns in the conviction that even though the audience might not realise it consciously, the ship would feel right to them. And that would help the audience to believe in the reality of the world that he was creating.

As the design began to converge on something that all parties were satisfied with, Jefferies went down to the model-making shop on the studio lot and had the craftsmen there create a saucer-shape which he used as a basis for a three-dimensional model of the ship. He hung the model from the ceiling, and invited Roddenberry in to view the Enterprise in flight for the very first time. A main saucer and two engine nacelles, each attached by pylons to a secondary hull. And with a few minor variations, this is the same basic design that the Enterprise has today.

The only major difference? In the original presentation the model Enterprise was hung upside-down from the way in which it travels the galaxy now.

Shuttlecraft GalileoThe USS Enterprise carries a number of shuttlecraft for use when the transporter is nonoperational, or for carrying personnel and equipment on investigatory expeditions in space.

SPECIFICATIONNAME: GALILEOLENGTH: 24 FTHEIGHT: 8 FTWIDTH: 13 FTCREW: 1 PILOT - 6 PASSENGERS

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27

USS Enterprise NCC-1701Carrying a crew of 430 men, women, and aliens, the USS Enterprise can be said to be, in many ways, the starship that millions of people grew up on. Throughout the pre-production process Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry insisted on verisimilitude - the appearance of truth - in every aspect of the spaceship that would carry his heroes from adventure to adventure.

As just one example, the terminology used on the Enterprise was based on that of US Naval vessels, so that the ship would feel real to viewers in a way that many other spacecraft of the time on film and television did not.

When creating the bridge, the designers asked themselves: What does each station do? How many people need to be on the bridge at any one time, and what are each of them doing? How can the Captain get information from his bridge officers quickly and easily? These questions led to the placement of the captains chair in the middle of the bridge, which can swivel around to see every command station. The reason that the bridge of the Enterprise feels so realistic is that throughout its design, the following question was always kept in mind: If this starship really existed, how would it work?

2727

THE REFITFOR STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE, THE USS ENTERPRISE UNDERWENT A COMPLETE REDESIGN AND REFIT. BOASTING IMPROVED ENGINE NACELLES AND DIFFERENT PROPORTIONS, THE NEW ENTERPRISE MODEL WAS DESIGNED WITH MUCH MORE EXTERNAL DETAILING, INCLUDING MANY ADDITIONAL WINDOWS.

RE-IMAGINEDIN THE NEWEST STAR TREK FILM FROM 2009, HISTORY TAKES A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT PATH. INTO THIS REBOOT OF THE SERIES STEPS A NEW, SLEEKER ENTERPRISE WITH FLOWING CURVES AND CHROME INTAKES ON THE ENGINE NACELLES.

THE NEW ENTERPRISE IS LARGER THAN THE ORIGINAL, AND BUILT ON THE PLANETARY SURFACE RATHER THAN IN SPACE. BUT DESPITE THE SURFACE DISTINCTIONS, SHES STILL THE SHIP WE KNOW AND LOVE.

SPECIFICATIONNAME: USS ENTERPRISE NCC-1701LENGTH: 947 FTPRIMARY HULL (SAUCER) DIAMETER: 417 FTLENGTH, SECONDARY HULL: 340 FTLENGTH, ENGINE NACELLES 504 FTDIAMETER, ENGINE NACELLES: 60 FTWEAPONS: PHASER BANKS, PHOTON TORPEDOESBASE OF OPERATIONS: OUR GALAXYPROPULSION: IMPULSE DRIVE (SLOWER THAN LIGHT), WARP DRIVE (FASTER THAN LIGHT)POWER: MATTER/ANTIMATTER REACTORSCREW: 430


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Klingon D-7 The Klingon D-7 battlecruiser wasnt seen until the third season of Star Trek as the production could not afford the cost to build the model before then. In earlier seasons Klingon ships were talked about, but never seen clearly on screen.

The D-7 was designed by Matt Jefferies to look completely different from the Starfleet ships, so that it would be instantly recognisable even in a short cutaway shot. Other design constraints included the need to make the ship look threatening and vicious.

Its first appearance in the show was not, however, as a Klingon ship, but as a Romulan ship in The Enterprise Incident. As model ships were expensive to make, and the original Romulan Bird of Prey ship was no longer available, the D-7 was was used there in order to put money on the screen, and its appearance explained by a line that said the Romulans were now using ships of Klingon design!

The original colour scheme of the D-7 was two-tone, in grey and pale green. In the effects shots, though, the green was washed out into a blue-grey colour.


Romulan Bird of PreyFirst appearing in the episode Balance of Terror, this class gets its designation from the giant bird of prey that the Romulans paint upon the underside of their ships. While the Romulan Bird of Prey is much slower than the Enterprise, it has two advantages the Enterprise does not a powerful plasma weapon, and the ability to cloak itself, becoming effectively invisible. This leads to a tense cat and mouse game as it and the Enterprise seek to destroy one another.

MARK LENARD - THE ROMULAN COMMANDER IN BALANCE OF TERROR - LATER WENT ON TO PLAY SPOCKS FATHER SAREK.

Model ShotsThe studio models of the D-7 and the Galileo shuttlecraft were actually built by toy company Aluminum Model Toys (AMT) as part of a deal with Star Treks production company Desilu.

The television series was still in production at the time and in exchange for the rights to produce models based on the series, including that of the Enterprise, AMT would help out by building models to be used on the show itself.

AMT produced two versions of the D-7 to Matt Jefferies designs, one for use as a filming model by the TV series, and one to act as the master for their model production.

SPECIFICATIONNAME: ROMULAN BIRD OF PREYLENGTH: 395 FTWIDTH: 525 FTHEIGHT: 127 FTWEAPONS: HIGH-ENERGY PLASMA, NUCLEAR WARHEADSBASE OF OPERATIONS: BEYOND THE NEUTRAL ZONEPOWER: MATTER/ANTIMATTER REACTORS

SPECIFICATIONNAME: KLINGON D-7LENGTH: 947 FTWIDTH: 446 FTHEIGHT: 156 FTWEAPONS: DISRUPTOR CANNON, PHOTON TORPEDOESBASE OF OPERATIONS: OUR GALAXYPROPULSION: IMPULSE DRIVE (SLOWER THAN LIGHT), WARP DRIVE (FASTER THAN LIGHT)POWER: MATTER/ANTIMATTER REACTORSCREW: 430


30

Klingon Bird of PreyOne of the most widely-seen ships in all of Star Trek, the Klingon Bird of Prey has appeared in no less than five Star Trek films and three of the Star Trek television series.

From its first appearance on the big screen in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock to its last (at least so far) appearance in the Star Trek: Enterprise episode Borderland, the sweeping lines of a Klingon Bird of Prey graced our screens for 20 years.

In early drafts of Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, the enemy ship was to have been a Romulan craft, which is why it bears the same name as the Romulan Bird of Prey from the original Star Trek. Like the Romulan vessel the

Klingon Bird of Prey carries a cloaking device which allows it to become effectively invisible. In later drafts of the script the idea of the craft being Romulan was dropped - but the ship and its cloaking capabilities remained.

The Klingon Bird of Prey has seen many different bridge designs over the years, but all have shared the same characteristics. In contrast to the pristine interiors of the Starfleet ships which they oppose, Klingon starships have a broken-down look. Their interiors are often filled with smoke, and the sound design is more jagged and filled with machinery than the low ambient hum of the Enterprise. In all ways, Klingon vessels are designed to present a marked contrast to those of the Federation.

ENTERPRISE (NX-01) USS ENTERPRISE (NCC-1701)

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ENTERPRISE (NX-01) USS ENTERPRISE (NCC

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ENTERPRISE TIMELINETHE USS ENTERPRISE TOOK HER NAME FROM A LONG LINE OF DISTINGUISHED UNITED STATES SHIPS. IN 1983, A CAMPAIGN BY STAR TREK FANS RESULTED IN THE FIRST SPACE SHUTTLE BEING GIVEN THE NAME ENTERPRISE.


Star TrekKlingons

SPACE SHUTTLE ENTERPRISE

1983 (TEST VEHICLE ONLY)

USS ENTERPRISE (CVN 65)

1961 1877-1909

USS ENTERPRISE

SPECIFICATIONNAME: KLINGON BIRD OF PREYLENGTH: 360 FT WIDTH: 414 FTHEIGHT: 225 FT WEAPONS: DISRUPTORS, PHOTON TORPEDOESBASE OF OPERATIONS: ALPHA QUADRANTPROPULSION: IMPULSE DRIVE (SLOWER THAN LIGHT), WARP DRIVE (FTL)POWER: MATTER/ANTIMATTER ANNIHILATIONCREW: 12TOP SPEED: WARP 9.6


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Size MattersThe Klingon Bird of Prey is one of the most extreme examples of whats known as starship scaling.

Its sometimes necessary for the visual effects artists to change the real size of the vessel in order to make a shot look better. The classic example of this is when two starships are hovering in space, yet the director (or other person in charge) wants to see the two vessels in the same shot.

The distance between them is therefore cheated so that ships can be seen together, despite the fact that they should be much too far apart for this to happen. This is also, incidentally, why its rare for a character in a

show to explicitly say how far away another ship is, as this allows the special effects designers much more wiggle-room in placing the starships in shot simultaneously.

Similarly, in order to make an enemy starship look and feel more impressive, it can be shot to appear much larger than its real size within the fiction.

One of the most extreme examples of scaling is in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. While rescuing the two whales George and Gracie from evil whalers, the Bird of Prey commanded by Captain Kirk appears above the whaling ship. In the script, the Bird of Prey is described as being as big as a football field, but onscreen its presented as being about eight times its size of

the whaler, dwarfing it and terrifying the crew. If this is correct, then the Bird of Prey must be at least 1080 feet wide!

Later, after crash landing the Klingon Bird of Prey into San Francisco Bay, the crew are forced to abandon ship, climbing on top of the bridge to stay afloat. This gives us a human reference for the size of the ship meaning the whole thing must be less than 150 feet long at the outside.

Obviously these two measurements are irreconcilable. Given that it changes size so much even within the same film, were going to go with the information in the script, and say that its the size of an American Football pitch: 360 feet long.

USS ENTERPRISE (NCC-1701) USS ENTERPRISE (NCC-1701-A)

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NCC-1701) USS ENTERPRISE (NCC-1701-A)

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ENTERPRISE (NX-01) USS ENTERPRISE (NCC-1701) USS ENTERPRISE (NCC-1701-A)

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Threats FederationThere are many alien races in the galaxy which make it a dangerous place for explorers. Here are just a few of the threats that Starfleet has encountered over the years...

CENTER: A DKORA CLASS FERENGI MARAUDER READIES ITSELF FOR BATTLE

RIGHT: THE USS CONSTELLATION AFTER AN ENCOUNTER WITH THE PLANET-DESTROYING DOOMSDAY MACHINE.

ABOVE: THE USS ENTERPRISE PASSES THROUGH VGER

LEFT: A CARDASSIAN GALOR-CLASS STARSHIP

to the

VgerThe Voyager 6 probe was originally launched from Earth in the late 20th Century. Its mission was to search the galaxy for knowledge and then to return home with it. During its travels the probe was transported to the homeworld of a machine race which built a giant ship around it to help Voyager fulfil its original programming.

During its return journey to Earth Vger became sentient and sought its creator, believing it to be a machine like itself. Assuming that humanity was an infestation on the creators planet, Vger took steps to remove that infestation by eradicating humanity.

CardassiansFirst appearing on Star Trek: The Next Generation, Cardassians come from a militaristic society in which obedience to the state is the greatest responsibility and duty for a citizen. The Cardassians appeared several times during the run of Star Trek: The Next Generation before becoming one of the primary antagonists in

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, a series set on a Cardassian-built space station. Although Cardassian technology may

not be as effective as that of humanity, their ships were able to hold their own in combat against those of the Federation in a series of wars fought over a period of more than ten years.

FerengiO r i g i n a l l y positioned as one of the

major threats in Star Trek: The Next Generation, the first

appearance of the Ferengi in the series was not well received. Despite their

technology being estimated to be the equal of the Federation, they did not come across as the terrifying opponents that were originally envisaged, and in later years were instead used as comic relief.

The Doomsday MachineIn the original Star Trek, the Doomsday Machine is an automated planet killer that carves up planets using an antiproton beam and uses them for fuel. Its hull, made from pure neutronium, is invulnerable to weapon fire and its course is set to take it through the most densely populated region of the galaxy.

29_Sci Fi_Threats to the federation.indd 29 22/01/2012 17:04

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Star TrekThe Next Generation

The starship Enterprise has been sent out from Earth on an ongoing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, and to boldly go where no one has gone before.

Which seems vaguely familiar.

The future of the futureAfter the cancellation of the original Star Trek by NBC, it went into syndication, airing daily across the US. Appreciation for the show grew vastly over the next few years as it reached a new audience who had not discovered it during its first airings, and this surge in interest soon resulted in the studio looking to create more Star Trek.

In the mid-1970s, work began on a new series, which would star many of the original cast and was known as Star Trek: Phase II. Scripts were commissioned and starship models built for the new series (including a new version of the Enterprise), but production was shut down in 1978 in order to allow what would become the first of many Star Trek films to be made instead.

Fast forward to 1986, and stars William

Shatner and Leonard Nimoy were pulling in large salaries for each new film. By hiring a new cast of less-well-known actors at a cheaper price, a new TV series could be created that would continue to bring profit to the studio for years to come.

Design SketchesThe new starship Enterprise was to be much larger than the original, capable of holding whole families rather than just a crew of 430 personnel. The registration number of the

LEONARD NIMOY, DEFOREST KELLEY, WILLIAM SHATNER, GENE RODDENBERRY, AND ROBERT WISE ON THE SET OF STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE


Enterprise was altered from NCC-1701 to NCC-1701-D to show that it was the fifth starship to bear that name although early versions of the Star Trek: The Next Generation bible (the document that talked potential writers and directors through the show) listed the registration number as NCC-1701-G, which would have made it Enterprise number eight.

The exterior of the ship was created by Andrew Probert, a designer who had assisted in updating the original Enterprise for Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Gene Roddenberry, the creator of the original Star Trek, was overseeing the new series and had remembered Proberts work on the film. This resulted ten years later in Probert becoming the 11th person to be hired on Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Initially Probert was set to work on the bridge design. As one of the most important sets on the show, it was important to begin design work on the bridge as early as possible, in case any changes needed to be made. As he was working on the bridge, though, Probert also sketched possible designs for the

Enterprise itself, one of which he kept on the wall of his office.

David Gerrold, who worked on Star Trek: The Next Generations first season and developed many of the concepts that would become part of the show, was passing through Proberts office when he saw the sketch. Asking to borrow it, Gerrold took the artwork to a meeting of the producers, and within half an hour the basis for the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D had been approved.

Probert went on to design most of the starships for the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

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USS ENTERPRISE (NCC-1701-B)

USS ENTERPRISE (NCC-1701-C)

USS ENTERPRISE (NCC-1701-D)

22932320s

2332 2344

23632371

USS ENTERPRISE (NCC-1701-E)

2372 ACTIVE (AS OF 2387)

ENTERPRISE TIMELINE CONTINUED...

RICK BERMAN, GENE RODDENBERRY, MICHAEL PILLER AND THE CAST CELEBRATE THE 100TH EPISODE OF STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION ON THE BRIDGE OF THE ENTERPRISE NCC-1701-D IN 1991

SPECIFICATIONNAME: USS ENTERPRISE NCC-1701-D LENGTH: 2,005 FTWIDTH: 1,836 FTHEIGHT: 384 FTWEAPONS: TWELVE PHASER ARRAYS, TWO PHOTON TORPEDO LAUNCH TUBESBASE OF OPERATIONS: ALPHA

QUADRANTPROPULSION: IMPULSE DRIVE (SUBLIGHT), WARP DRIVE (FTL)POWER: MATTER/ANTIMATTER ANNIHILATIONCREW: 1,012 MEN, WOMEN, CHILDREN, AND ALIENS (INCLUDING FAMILIES OF CREWMEMBERS)


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Klingon Vorcha Class Attack CruiserThe Vorcha attack cruiser was a mainstay of the Klingon Empire throughout the runs of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space 9. First seen in the episode Reunion, the Vorcha merges the aesthetics of the classic Klingon D-7 cruiser together with Federation technology, as seen in the design of the engine nacelles. Despite this, the hard angles still show the lineage of a Klingon ship.


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SPECIFICATIONNAMR: ROMULAN WARBIRDLENGTH: 4,440 FT WIDTH: 3,067 FTHEIGHT: 1,419 FT WEAPONS: DISRUPTOR ARRAYS, PHOTON TORPEDO LAUNCHER. SOME WARBIRDS HAVE ALSO BEEN SEEN TO USE PHASERS. BASE OF OPERATIONS: ALPHA QUADRANTPROPULSION: IMPULSE DRIVE (SUBLIGHT), WARP DRIVE (FTL)POWER: NAKED SINGULARITYCREW: 1,500

SPECIFICATIONNAME: KLINGON VORCHA CLASS ATTACK CRUISERLENGTH: 1,500 FT WIDTH: 1,065 FT HEIGHT: 333 FTWEAPONS: DISRUPTOR CANNON, PHOTON TORPEDOESBASE OF OPERATIONS: ALPHA QUADRANTPROPULSION: IMPULSE DRIVE (SUBLIGHT), WARP DRIVE (FTL)POWER: MATTER/ANTIMATTER ANNIHILATIONCREW: 1,900

Romulan WarbirdThe Romulan Warbird sometimes known as the Dderidex class was also created by the designer of the new Enterprise, Andrew Probert. The hollowed-out design of the Warbird comes from two primary causes the need to differentiate it from Federation and Klingon designs, together with the design principles that Probert had worked out for warp engines.

According to Gene Roddenberry, warp engines could only ever work in pairs. Probert went further and specified that in order for warp fields to propel a starship, the two warp engines must be able to see each other that is, there couldnt be anything between them other than empty space.

Although these design principles are contradicted later in the series (after Probert left), the hollow space inside the Warbird is there to allow the warp engines to work properly. In a 2005 interview about his designs, Probert said Science fiction in particular needs to be consistent. If you negate that... it all falls apart.



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The United Federation of Planets the organisation for which Captains Kirk and Picard have been boldly seeking out new worlds and civilizations has been asked to oversee the planet Bajors entry to the Federation. The operation is based on a space station known as Deep Space Nine commanded by Captain Benjamin Lafayette Sisko .

When a stable wormhole is discovered nearby leading to the Gamma Quadrant, more than 70,000 light years away, the crew of Deep Space Nine find themselves first upon the threshold of a new frontier and then on the front line of a war.

Deep Space NineThe station designated by the Federation as Deep Space Nine was originally a Cardassian mining station called Terok Nor in orbit around the planet Bajor. After the Cardassians left Bajor, the station was assigned to a mixed command of Federation and Bajoran personnel and when a stable wormhole to the Gamma Quadrant was discovered in the Bajoran solar system, it was moved to the mouth of the wormhole.

Star TrekDeep Space Nine


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RunaboutsDuring the first two seasons, the only spaceships regularly available to the characters were Runabouts small warp-capable vessels not much larger than a shuttle. In the third season, the station gained its own starship, the Defiant, with a greater range and more powerful weapons.

Larger than a shuttle, a runabout is capable of travelling as fast as warp five. With a crew of two, they can be used for missions both in the local area and through the wormhole into the Gamma Quadrant.

USS DefiantOriginally created by Starfleet to fight the cybernetic assimilators known as the Borg, the Defiant is a prototype warship. Much more heavily armed and armored than most ships its size, the Defiant came to Deep Space Nine at the beginning of the shows third season.

As well as being tasked with defending Deep Space Nine and Bajor, the Defiant can be sent on missions through the wormhole and far across the galaxy. To this end the Defiant is equipped with a Romulan Cloaking Device which allows it to become all-but-invisible to enemy starships.

Unlike other Federation vessels of this era, the Defiant has no scientific labs or noncombat facilities. The Defiant was designed and built for one reason and one reason only: war.

NAME: RUNABOUTLENGTH: 76 FT WIDTH: 45 FTHEIGHT: 18 FTWEAPONS: PHASERS, PHOTON TORPEDOESBASE OF OPERATIONS: DEEP SPACE NINEPROPULSION: IMPULSE DRIVE (SLOWER THAN LIGHT), WARP DRIVE (FTL)POWER: MATTER/ANTIMATTER ANNIHILATIONCREW: 2TOP SPEED: WARP 5

SPECIFICATION

RunaboutsRunaboutsRunaboutsRunaboutsRunaboutsRunaboutsDuring the first two seasons, the only spaceships During the first two seasons, the only spaceships During the first two seasons, the only spaceships During the first two seasons, the only spaceships During the first two seasons, the only spaceships During the first two seasons, the only spaceships During the first two seasons, the only spaceships During the first two seasons, the only spaceships During the first two seasons, the only spaceships During the first two seasons, the only spaceships During the first two seasons, the only spaceships During the first two seasons, the only spaceships During the first two seasons, the only spaceships During the first two seasons, the only spaceships During the first two seasons, the only spaceships regularly available to the characters were regularly available to the characters were regularly available to the characters were regularly available to the characters were regularly available to the characters were regularly available to the characters were regularly available to the characters were regularly available to the characters were regularly available to the characters were regularly available to the characters were regularly available to the characters were regularly available to the characters were regularly available to the characters were regularly available to the characters were regularly available to the characters were Runabouts small warp-capable vessels not much Runabouts small warp-capable vessels not much Runabouts small warp-capable vessels not much Runabouts small warp-capable vessels not much Runabouts small warp-capable vessels not much Runabouts small warp-capable vessels not much Runabouts small warp-capable vessels not much Runabouts small warp-capable vessels not much Runabouts small warp-capable vessels not much Runabouts small warp-capable vessels not much Runabouts small warp-capable vessels not much Runabouts small warp-capable vessels not much Runabouts small warp-capable vessels not much Runabouts small warp-capable vessels not much Runabouts small warp-capable vessels not much larger than a shuttle. In the third season, the station larger than a shuttle. In the third season, the station larger than a shuttle. In the third season, the station larger than a shuttle. In the third season, the station larger than a shuttle. In the third season, the station larger than a shuttle. In the third season, the station larger than a shuttle. In the third season, the station larger than a shuttle. In the third season, the station larger than a shuttle. In the third season, the station larger than a shuttle. In the third season, the station larger than a shuttle. In the third season, the station larger than a shuttle. In the third season, the station larger than a shuttle. In the third season, the station larger than a shuttle. In the third season, the station gained its own starship, the Defiant, with a greater gained its own starship, the Defiant, with a greater gained its own starship, the Defiant, with a greater gained its own starship, the Defiant, with a greater gained its own starship, the Defiant, with a greater gained its own starship, the Defiant, with a greater gained its own starship, the Defiant, with a greater gained its own starship, the Defiant, with a greater gained its own starship, the Defiant, with a greater gained its own starship, the Defiant, with a greater gained its own starship, the Defiant, with a greater gained its own starship, the Defiant, with a greater gained its own starship, the Defiant, with a greater gained its own starship, the Defiant, with a greater range and more powerful weapons.range and more powerful weapons.range and more powerful weapons.range and more powerful weapons.range and more powerful weapons.range and more powerful weapons.range and more powerful weapons.range and more powerful weapons.

SESESE DDRIVRIVRIVEEWWWARP ARP ARP WARP WWARP W

R/ANTIMATTR/ANTIMATTR/ANTIMATTR/ANTIMATTEER R R

SPECIFICATIONLENGTH 560 FT WIDTH: 440 FTHEIGHT: 99 FTWEAPONS: FOUR PULSE PHASER CANNON, QUANTUM TORPEDOES, PHOTON TORPEDOESBASE OF OPERATIONS: DEEP

SPACE NINEPROPULSION: IMPULSE DRIVE (SLOWER THAN LIGHT), WARP DRIVE (FTL)POWER: MATTER/ANTIMATTER ANNIHILATIONCREW: 40TOP SPEED: WARP 9.982

DID YOU KNOW...THE USS DEFIANT ALSO FEATURED IN THE FILM STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT, AS UNDER THE COMMAND OF LIEUTENANT COMMANDER WORF IT ENGAGED THE BORG CUBE HEADING TOWARDS EARTH. UNABLE TO DEFEND AGAINST THE BORGS SUPERIOR FIREPOWER, THE DEFIANT WAS LEFT ADRIFT BUT SALVAGEABLE.

ALL OF THE RUNABOUTS SEEN ON STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE ARE NAMED AFTER RIVERS.

DID YOU KNOW...



Star TrekVoyagerThe crew of the Intrepid-class starship Voyager are flung half-way across the galaxy into the Delta Quadrant, from where it will take 75 years or more to reach home at maximum speed.

Star Trek: Voyager boasted several firsts for the Star Trek franchise it launched the television network UPN (where it was the first progamme broadcast) and remained there for the course of its seven year lifespan. This was also the first Star Trek series to star a female Captain, and over the course of its run made the change from miniature photography to fully CGI models for its starships.

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The Starship VoyagerAfter some years of increasing the size of Star Treks precincts (from the Enterprise, to the Enterprise-D, to Deep Space Nine) Voyager returns to the idea of a smaller ship. At a mere 183 feet longer than the original Enterprise (coming in at 1130 feet all-in), the Voyager requires a crew of just 150 to operate as opposed to the original Enterprises 430.

As well as the new variable geometry warp nacelles, which swing into position for faster than light flight, the Voyager is equipped with bio-neural circuitry organic circuits which can process information faster than the isolinear chips used in other Federation vessels.

SPECIFICATIONLENGTH: 1130 FT WIDTH: 445 FTHEIGHT: 185 FTWEAPONS: PHASERS, PHOTON TORPEDOES, TRI-COBALT DEVICESBASE OF OPERATIONS: DELTA QUADRANTPROPULSION: IMPULSE DRIVE (SLOWER THAN

LIGHT), WARP DRIVE (FTL)POWER: MATTER/ANTIMATTER ANNIHILATIONCREW: 150TOP SPEED: MAXIMUM RATED SPEED WARP 9.6 (THE SHIP CAN EXCEED WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A FEW MINUTES)

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The Starship VoyagerAfter some years of increasing the size of Star Treks precincts (from the Enterprise, to the Enterprise-D, to Deep Space Nine) Voyager returns to the idea of a smaller ship. At a mere 183 feet longer than the original Enterprise (coming in at 1130 feet all-in), the Voyager requires a crew of just 150 to operate as opposed to the original Enterprises 430.

As well as the new variable geometry warp nacelles, which swing into position for faster than light flight, the Voyager is equipped with bio-neural circuitry organic circuits which can process information faster than the isolinear chips used in other Federation vessels.

WEAPOWEAPOWEAPOWEAPOWEAPOWEAPOWEAPOWEAPOWEAPOWEAPOWEAPONNNS: S: S: PPHAHAHAHAHASESESESESERRRSSS, PHOTON TORPPHOTON TORPPHOTON TORPPHOTON TORPPHOTON TORPPHOTON TORPPHOTON TORPPHOTON TORPPHOTON TORPPHOTON TORPPHOTON TORPPHOTON TORPPHOTON TORPPHOTON TORPPHOTON TORPPHOTON TORPPHOTON TORPPHOTON TORPPHOTON TORPPHOTON TORPPHOTON TORPPHOTON TORPPHOTON TORPPHOTON TORPPHOTON TORPPHOTON TORPPHOTON TORPPHOTON TORPPHOTON TORPPHOTON TORPPHOTON TORPPHOTON TORPPHOTON TORPPHOTON TORPPHOTON TORPPHOTON TORPPHOTON TORPPHOTON TORPPHOTON TORPEDEDEDEDEDEDEDEDEDEDEDOOOOOOOESESESESESESES, TRI-, TRI-, TRI-, TRI-, TRI-, TRI-, TRI-, TRI-, TRI-, TRI-, TRI-, TRI-, TRI-, TRI-, TRI-CCCOBALT OBALT OBALT OBALT OBALT OBALT OBALT OBALT OBALT OBALT OBALT OBALT OBALT OBALT OBALT OBALT OBALT OBALT OBALT OBALT OBALT DEDEDEDEDEDEDEDEDEDEDEVIVIVIVIVIVIVICESCESCESCESCESCESCESCESCESCESCESBASE OF BASE OF BASE OF BASE OF BASE OF BASE OF BASE OF BASE OF BASE OF BASE OF BASE OF BASE OF BASE OF BASE OF BASE OF BASE OF BASE OF BASE OF BASE OF BASE OF BASE OF BASE OF BASE OF OOOOOOOPERATIOPERATIOPERATIOPERATIOPERATIOPERATIOPERATIOPERATIOPERATIOPERATIOPERATIOPERATIOPERATIOPERATIOPERATIOPERATIOPERATIOPERATIOPERATIOPERATIOPERATIOPERATIOPERATIONNNNNS: S: S: S: S: S: S: DDDDDEEELTA QLTA QLTA QLTA QLTA QLTA QLTA QLTA QLTA QLTA QLTA QLTA QLTA QLTA QLTA QLTA QLTA QLTA QLTA QUUUUUUUAAAAAAADDDDDDDRANTRANTRANTRANTRANTRANTRANTRANTRANTRANTRANTRANTRANTRANTRANTPPPROPUROPUROPUROPUROPUROPUROPUROPUROPUROPUROPUROPUROPUROPUROPULLLLLLLSIOSIOSIOSIOSIOSIOSIOSIOSIOSIOSIONNNNN: : : IIIMPMPMPMPMPMPMPMPMPMPMPUUUUUUULLLSESESESESESESESESESESEDRIVDRIVDRIVDRIVDRIVDRIVDRIVDRIVDRIVDRIVDRIVDRIVDRIVDRIVDRIVEEE ( ( ( ( ( ( (SSSSSSSLOWLOWLOWLOWLOWLOWLOWLOWLOWLOWLOWLOWLOWLOWLOWEEEEEEER THAN R THAN R THAN R THAN R THAN R THAN R THAN R THAN R THAN R THAN R THAN R THAN R THAN R THAN R THAN R THAN R THAN R THAN R THAN R THAN R THAN R THAN R THAN

ANNIHILATIONANNIHILATIONANNIHILATIONANNIHILATIONANNIHILATIONANNIHILATIONANNIHILATIONANNIHILATIONANNIHILATIONANNIHILATIONANNIHILATIONANNIHILATIONANNIHILATIONANNIHILATIONANNIHILATIONANNIHILATIONANNIHILATIONANNIHILATIONANNIHILATIONCRECRECRECRECRECRECRECRECRECRECREWWWWWWWWWWW: : 150150150150150150150150150150150TTTOP OP OP OP OP OP OP OP OP OP OP SSSSSPEED: PEED: PEED: PEED: PEED: PEED: PEED: PEED: PEED: PEED: PEED: PEED: PEED: PEED: PEED: PEED: PEED: MMMMMMMAXIMAXIMAXIMAXIMAXIMAXIMAXIMAXIMAXIMAXIMAXIMAXIMAXIMAXIMAXIMAXIMAXIMUUUUUM M M M M M M RATRATRATRATRATRATRATRATRATRATRATEDEDEDEDEDEDEDEDEDEDED SSSSSSSPPPPPPPEEDEEDEEDEEDEEDEEDEEDEEDEEDEEDEED WWWWWWWARP 9.6 ARP 9.6 ARP 9.6 ARP 9.6 ARP 9.6 ARP 9.6 ARP 9.6 ARP 9.6 ARP 9.6 ARP 9.6 ARP 9.6 ARP 9.6 ARP 9.6 ARP 9.6 ARP 9.6 ARP 9.6 ARP 9.6 ARP 9.6 ARP 9.6 ARP 9.6 ARP 9.6 ARP 9.6 ARP 9.6 WARP 9.6 WWARP 9.6 WWARP 9.6 W(((TTTTTTTHHHHHHHEEEEE SSSSSSSHIP HIP HIP HIP HIP HIP HIP HIP HIP HIP HIP CCCCCCCAN AN AN AN AN AN AN AN AN AN AN EEEXXXXXXXCEEDCEEDCEEDCEEDCEEDCEEDCEEDCEEDCEEDCEEDCEEDCEEDCEEDCEEDCEEDCEEDCEEDCEEDCEEDWARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A WARP 9.9 FOR ONLY A FFFEEEEEEEW MINW MINW MINW MINW MINW MINW MINW MINW MINW MINW MINW MINW MINW MINW MINW MINW MINW MINW MINW MINW MINUUUUUTTTESESESESESESESESESESES)))


Borg CubeFirst seen in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode Q Who, these are the starships of the Borg Collective. The Borg are a hive mind of cybernetic organisms whose objective is the assimilation of races and technology to add to their own. Each Borg Cube holds many thousands of drones, all a part of the Collective hive mind. What one Borg knows, all know.

The power of the Borg is shown in the design of their ships: a simple cube. With technology so powerful that it does not need the visible warp engines or streamlining of ordinary starships, the platonic solid of the ship reveals how powerful the Borg are. These creatures do not need subtlety to travel faster than light; they break through with their sheer power.

Any one Borg Cube is capable o

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Spaceships of Science Fiction