*Potential Spoilers* What will the Alternate Enterprise-A look like

[Dukhat]

To be honest, I hate the Star Trek depiction of a swarm of small lifeboats, ever since it was introduced in "First Contact". It makes no sense.

Real-life lifeboats on exploring ships, oil-drilling-plattforms and even the Antarctic station are usual very small, but are capable to carry 20+ persons. Makes much more sense to built only a few(!) lifeboats for all(!) crew members, than the need to have space, equipment and maintenance for hundreds(!) small one-person starships that are built to hopefully never be used...

The last time "lifeboats" were resalistically depicted in Star Trek was, you know, in the pilot episode of Deep Space nine, when Sisko and Jake were evacuated from the USS Saratoga...

Actually, for a ship as large as the nuEnterprise, it makes MORE sense for there to be small one-man escape pods strung throughout the ship rather than just a few large lifeboats in one central location. If you're in the front of the saucer and the lifeboats are at the other end of the ship by the shuttlebay, your chances of getting there in time to escape a disaster are exponentially smaller.

And your example of the Saratoga? Sisko and Jake barely made it to the lifeboat before it took off, which kinda reinforces my point.

 

[Tyr]

I've seen it said that First Contact style escape pods can hold 12 people, 8 for an extended time and that they can dock together to form a interconnected structure. I don't know if that's info from the production crew or fan supposition.

For the Ent E Lifeboats I haven´t found any Site supporting your theory, but the Ent D´s Lifeboats had that feature.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

One wonders though, Prime Universe ships did have escape pods attached to the bridge. Since they had no Kelvin incident, what motivated them to add this feature?

Easily accessed escape pods don't necessarily need a catalyst the same way bigger ships or better weapons do.

 

[Tyr]

Easily accessed escape pods don't necessarily need a catalyst the same way bigger ships or better weapons do.

I don´t know if one (!) encounter with an alien starship, during which one (!) Starfleet vessel was destroyed, qualifies as a cataclyst... That is one point I find totally unrealistic in the JJ-Universe. Skyrocketting militarization after one lame incident... Sure there were multiple ships lost to unknown starships/phenomena before and after the Kelvin incident and in the prime universe. And those didn´t lead to giant starships armed to the teeth?

 

[saddestmoon]

Okay - you guys have inspired me!

I've got some customising ideas, using my DVD Enterprise 1701 model, and some Terminator Salvation Playmates Aerial HK angular fins...

Will keep you posted!

And now for my TL update

So - I tried using the angular fins (from my Playmates Aerial HK toy) buuuuuuut, that particular 'tree' didn't produce the fruit I was wanting: the 'struts' were too thick and heavy, for the angle of placement - and in the end, I found cutting new gaps for them to fit into the enterprise hull, too difficult (turns out the DVD 1701 plastic is reasonably robust - especially on the secondary hull!).

I had tried drilling the gaps (for the 'struts' to fit into more snuggly, and to take the weight of the nacelles) - however:

* I probably had the wrong type of drill bit, hence I couldn't drill a hole
* The plastic was too hard to drill.

So, alternatively - I tried fitting the struts into the recess left by the actual models regular struts) - however, that didn't work, and the results were distinctly average (to put it mildly!) :P

I then decided to do away with the Refit-style struts, and go back to the actual model struts instead: I reversed their direction, cut them to shape, and angled them swepting backwards - and used superglue to fix them to them to the hull.

This worked much better (and closer to what the Beyond Enterprise looks like).

Next, I trimmed off the the plastic front 'peg' on the forward end of the nacelle strut (that joins to the nacelle itself). This allowed for the angle of the nacelle to sit correctly, in relation to the Primary and secondary hull. Due the nacelles gap/attachment recess now being altered to how it would normally attach, I then used waste plastic from the trimmed struts to pack the gap on the nacelle strut (also packing it with paper towel, which added bulk, without much weight). I then (rather heavily) superglued the nacelles onto the struts: this was a rather muscle-aching experience, due to making sure the nacelles were sitting correctly angled. I used a mirror to see the alternate view, whilst pressing them together, for at least 5-7 minutes a piece.

Unfortunately, it too at least three attempts with one of the nacelles to do this, whilst trying to avoid gluing my fingers to the ship!

In summary: I got there in the end (approx 3 hours later!), and the results are not too bad (IMO)!
I now have to tidy up some of the glue streaks, and paint in some further detailing - but otherwise, I'm extremely satisfied with the results! Far from perfect (in terms of the detailing), but at least the angles are predominantly right.

NOTE: I could probably describe this 'refit' of the 1701 as simply a swept-back nacelle upgrade (and nothing further): it doesn't have the other new upgrades the Beyond Enterprise has, eg: smaller nacelles, the longer Impulse drive, the slimmer neck, etc.

Apologies for not having any pics yet - I will try and get some done (hopefully soon)

 

[Nightowl1701]

I don´t know if one (!) encounter with an alien starship, during which one (!) Starfleet vessel was destroyed, qualifies as a cataclyst... That is one point I find totally unrealistic in the JJ-Universe. Skyrocketting militarization after one lame incident... Sure there were multiple ships lost to unknown starships/phenomena before and after the Kelvin incident and in the prime universe. And those didn´t lead to giant starships armed to the teeth?

But this wasn't a completely unknown ship - this was a Romulan ship. Remember 'Balance of Terror'? Remember Stiles? The Federation hadn't seen the Romulans in a century at that point, and they were gut-scared of them. Even after it turned out that, plasma torpedo and cloaking device aside, the BOP was a pathetic joke next to the Enterprise. In the JJ-verse, the Romulans now show back up 35 years early with a ship that makes the Kelvin (top of the line at the time) look like the Valiant in comparison. A ship that then falls into the hands of the Klingons, allowing them to get an early jump on 24th century technology. From that point on, it's an arms race. (Not to mention this is now the first time the Federation learns the Romulans were offshoots of Vulcans - it's a miracle Spock was allowed into the Academy.)

 

[Tyr]

But this wasn't a completely unknown ship - this was a Romulan ship. Remember 'Balance of Terror'? Remember Stiles? The Federation hadn't seen the Romulans in a century at that point, and they were gut-scared of them. Even after it turned out that, plasma torpedo and cloaking device aside, the BOP was a pathetic joke next to the Enterprise. In the JJ-verse, the Romulans now show back up 35 years early with a ship that makes the Kelvin (top of the line at the time) look like the Valiant in comparison. A ship that then falls into the hands of the Klingons, allowing them to get an early jump on 24th century technology. From that point on, it's an arms race. (Not to mention this is now the first time the Federation learns the Romulans were offshoots of Vulcans - it's a miracle Spock was allowed into the Academy.)

But obviously noone in the federation knew where the Narada was between the Kelvin Incident and the Destruction of Vulcan... Because then it would not have been such a surprise. And the whereabouts of the Narada were never explained during the movie.

 

[Nightowl1701]

But obviously noone in the federation knew where the Narada was between the Kelvin Incident and the Destruction of Vulcan... Because then it would not have been such a surprise. And the whereabouts of the Narada were never explained during the movie.

True. Nor did they know if it would be by itself next time, or whether a whole FLEET of Naradas would come screaming across the Neutral Zone.

As for the Klingons, once advanced ships started showing up with distinctly bleeding edge tech that matched some of the Kelvin's sensor scans, it doesn't take a astrophysicist to figure out where the Klingons are getting their edge from.

 

[Rahul]

Actually, for a ship as large as the nuEnterprise, it makes MORE sense for there to be small one-man escape pods strung throughout the ship rather than just a few large lifeboats in one central location. If you're in the front of the saucer and the lifeboats are at the other end of the ship by the shuttlebay, your chances of getting there in time to escape a disaster are exponentially smaller.

And your example of the Saratoga? Sisko and Jake barely made it to the lifeboat before it took off, which kinda reinforces my point.

It's literally stupid as hell from any logical engineering standpoint.

The point of a lifeboat is not that you have one within 10 meters around you. The point of it is to actually keep you alive in case of an emergency. There is no way in hell a crew of 1000+ people can perform any kind of meaningful check and maintenance service on 1000+ lifeboats on the job. Those things are predestined to fail and kill their occupants. The consumption of resources and valuable space not even further mentioning.

Of course you may feel safer if there's an emergency exit next to your seat on a commercial plane. It still would be stupid as hell to install emergency exits in EVERY passenger row of a plane...

 

[Dukhat]

This is a fictitious futuristic spacecraft with fictitious engineering techniques. It's futile to try to rationalize it with real-world engineering.

 

[eyeresist]

The trailers have shown Kirk on a motorcycle. Now we know it's something he got from the Franklin.

Where it was on display in the mess hall, apparently. I am sad that my theory that Kirk brought the bike along has gone phooey, but I assume Pegg has provided a reasonable explanation for its presence.

There is no way in hell a crew of 1000+ people can perform any kind of meaningful check and maintenance service on 1000+ lifeboats on the job. Those things are predestined to fail and kill their occupants. The consumption of resources and valuable space not even further mentioning.

Which is why we don't use personal computing devices, but instead have to book time on the supercomputer.

Future tech should be self-maintaining.

 

[TrickyDickie]

I found this to be quite interesting:

http://www.goldennumber.net/uss-enterprise-golden-ratio-design/

Is the JJprise even based on that principle to begin with?

 

[M'Sharak]

I found this to be quite interesting:

http://www.goldennumber.net/uss-enterprise-golden-ratio-design/

Is the JJprise even based on that principle to begin with?

Nope.

Neither was the TV series Enterprise, nor the TMP refit, nor were many of the artworks, buildings, etc. which are said to have incorporated it.

In the world of art, architecture, and design, the golden ratio has earned a tremendous reputation. Greats like Le Corbusier and Salvador Dalí have used the number in their work. The Parthenon, the Pyramids at Giza, the paintings of Michelangelo, the Mona Lisa, even the Apple logo are all said to incorporate it.

It's bullshit. The golden ratio's aesthetic bona fides are an urban legend, a myth, a design unicorn. Many designers don't use it, and if they do, they vastly discount its importance. There's also no science to really back it up. Those who believe the golden ratio is the hidden math behind beauty are falling for a 150-year-old scam.

Read more: The Golden Ratio: Design's Biggest Myth

 

[TrickyDickie]

Nope.

Neither was the TV series Enterprise, nor the TMP refit, nor were many of the artworks, buildings, etc. which are said to have incorporated it.



Read more: The Golden Ratio: Design's Biggest Myth

Ah, thanks for that!

 

[Rahul]

This is a fictitious futuristic spacecraft with fictitious engineering techniques. It's futile to try to rationalize it with real-world engineering.

Yeah, that's the reason why every good sci-fi has always thrown any real-world engineering out of the window. That sure leads to good worldbuilding. Why need an airlock? It's just fiction, the characters should be allowed to breathe in space

Look, I get that it's only a minor nitpick. That'y why I'll happily accept it in the movie to move the plot along. But it still is annoying, and I'm voicing my discomfort with it in the vague hope it will get fixed one day. In the 50s science fiction movies often didn't make a difference between sublight and faster-than-light engines. The original Star Trek fixed that. Until "Interstellar" wormholes were always depicted as glowing holes in space (DS9). I could live with it. But I'm always for a more realistic depiction of actual things, even in space opera.

 

[BillJ]

The Kelvin pods make sense if Starfleet wants to ensure the command crew survives a devastating failure or attack. Regular escape pods throughout most of the ship and a few one man pods in key locations.

 

[137th Gebirg]

It makes sense to name things like that - just like "Jefferies tubes", "Bussard collectors", "Heisenberg compensators", etc.

However, assuming that these escape pods were named after the ST '09 Kelvin (and not some dude who also happens to have been named "Kelvin"), there is the implication that nobody ever thought to include them in any starship until after the Kelvin was destroyed and was forced to use shuttles as escape vehicles. This is disturbing, especially if there wasn't enough room in the shuttles for the entire crew.

Speaking of which, the "officer's escape pod" (singular) on the Franklin design kind of feels a little cowardly. Like "you enlisted flotsam are SOL! Yeoman! Put my tea set and autographed copy of the Life and Times of Richard Nixon in the pod before I pop smoke!"

 

[Rahul]

The Kelvin pods make sense if Starfleet wants to ensure the command crew survives a devastating failure or attack. Regular escape pods throughout most of the ship and a few one man pods in key locations.

That would indeed make sense: The bridge crew stays on the sinking ship while the crew get's to their excape pods, and in the last minute the bridge crew get to their personal "small" capsules. (It would still make more sense to have one(!) bigger capsule for the whole bridge crew, but this is the best possible explanation yet - let's see if the movie sticks to it)

 

[Nightowl1701]

Speaking of which, the "officer's escape pod" (singular) on the Franklin design kind of feels a little cowardly. Like "you enlisted flotsam are SOL! Yeoman! Put my tea set and autographed copy of the Life and Times of Richard Nixon in the pod before I pop smoke!"

As tiny as that ship is, one big pod may be all you need. If NX-01 carried about eighty-five crew, I doubt the Franklin in its heyday carried more than fifty - sixty tops.

 

[Commander Richard]

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Spoiler

It does look a lot like this. It was metallic and I liked that but I wish it was more of a departure from the original design. Perhaps it could have had swept back nacelle pylons.