The upside-down Enterprise

Discussion in 'Star Trek - The Original & Animated Series' started by TrickyDickie, Jan 11, 2013.

  1. TrickyDickie

    TrickyDickie Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Jan 9, 2003
    Location:
    In a painting, darkly.
    Several months ago, there was a discussion of where such images appeared.

    Here is the ad in the back of Mudd's Angels:

    [​IMG]

    And here is a listing from TV Guide for The Tholian Web:

    [​IMG]
     
  2. E-DUB

    E-DUB Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    Oct 28, 2011
    In space there is no up or down.
     
  3. ZapBrannigan

    ZapBrannigan Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Jan 7, 2013
    Location:
    New York State
    I think one of Matt Jeffries' design concepts for the Enterprise, just after the spherical hull version (now known as the USS Horizon), was pretty much the final model but upside down. His drawings are in THE MAKING OF STAR TREK.
     
  4. Albertese

    Albertese Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    May 3, 2003
    Location:
    Portland, OR
    It was the final drawing right-side up. He had the prop department knock up a smallish model of it to push the design he favored (which is what we finally got) but the saucer and engineering hull were made of balsa and the engines were birch dowels (they had a pretty short time frame to finished model). Since the dowels were heavier, the model flipped over on it's string and Roddenberry really liked it that way and MJ had another fight on his hands to get it turned back right-side-up.

    True story!

    --Alex
     
  5. scotpens

    scotpens Professional Geek Premium Member

    Joined:
    Nov 29, 2009
    Location:
    City of the Fallen Angels
    That would be this one.

    [​IMG]


    This is pretty close to the final design.

    [​IMG]

    I've never heard that story before, but it sounds plausible. Source?
     
  6. RPJOB

    RPJOB Commander Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Apr 11, 2012
    I think that the Kelvin would have looked pretty cool with this design.
     
  7. Tiberius

    Tiberius Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Sep 28, 2005
    The Enterprise on the covers of the Nitpicker's Guide for Classic Trekkers and Next generation Trekkers also had the Enterprise upside down, surrounded by floating televisions...
     
  8. ZapBrannigan

    ZapBrannigan Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Jan 7, 2013
    Location:
    New York State
    I wish that TOS and all the spinoffs had been less rigid about maintaining "up and down" in space. As Spock said in TWOK, the spacial thinking was most often two-dimensional.
     
  9. RPJOB

    RPJOB Commander Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Apr 11, 2012
    In my mind Regula One WAS upside down. We saw how the station was oriented at the beginning of TMP when Scotty and Kirk left in the travel pod. No reason for the entire station to be inverted and no reason the transporter couldn't compensate for the difference in orientation.
     
  10. YARN

    YARN Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    Aug 8, 2010
    Meh, ships should not be designed with bilateral symmetry either. There is only one axis which matters in space (forward/back). It makes sense for a ship to have a front end and a back end, but not to have a top or bottom or dedicated left and right hand side.
     
  11. Redfern

    Redfern Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Sep 28, 2006
    Location:
    Georgia, USA
    I've read that anecdote as well, but looking at that "inverted" earlier illustration, I just can't fathom how that would flip to give us the orientation we know today.

    Consider, the reasonable spot to secure a string would be upon the thicker cylinder (what is now the engineering hull) towards the end aligned with the saucer. Tell how THAT could flip to have the cylinder underneath and the saucer on top! Somebody activate a grav-plate mounted upon the celing during that fateful meeting? (Sorry, that was a bit snarky.)

    Now, what I imagine could have happened is this. The wooden model is revealed, the longer cylinders simply resting upon the desk or table. Roddenberry lifts it and slowly turns it around in his hand, staring at it from various angles. Finally, he turns it over with the thick short cylinder now underneath. Since he stated the ship never lands upon planets (due to the effects budget needed to depict this on a weekly basis), he realizes this orientation better implies this thing CAN'T land, that it is a craft built purely for space travel.

    I have my suspicions this is just another of those colorful anecdotes that makes for more interesting stories than the boring reality.

    Sincerely,

    Bill
     
  12. mb22

    mb22 Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    May 11, 2009
  13. BoredShipCapt'n

    BoredShipCapt'n Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Apr 5, 2012
    Location:
    Stage 9 forever
    That is the image seared into my 11-year-old memory. :techman: Thanks.
     
  14. RPJOB

    RPJOB Commander Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Apr 11, 2012
    Perhaps in real life but Trek has, for the most part, handled things differently. The notable exceptions are the Borg and the Fesarius.
     
  15. ToddPence

    ToddPence Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    Apr 18, 2007
    Location:
    Fairfax, VA
    There's an upside down Klingon ship in the photo section of David Gerrold's "The World of Star Trek",
     
  16. Wingsley

    Wingsley Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Feb 18, 2007
    Location:
    Wingsley
  17. scotpens

    scotpens Professional Geek Premium Member

    Joined:
    Nov 29, 2009
    Location:
    City of the Fallen Angels
    Forbin, I think I've just found your next kitbashing projects!

    (Unless you've already done one or both of these.)
     
  18. Warped9

    Warped9 Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Aug 3, 2003
    Location:
    Brockville, Ontario, Canada
    They just look upside down with a few tweaks.
     
  19. JarodRussell

    JarodRussell Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jul 2, 2009
    In relative coordinate systems there is always and up and a down.
     
  20. sbk1234

    sbk1234 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Nov 24, 2006
    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Of course, Reliant was approved upside down.