I didn't say that it didn't set the standard. I said that it wasn't a very logical or efficient design for a spacecraft.
The New USS Discovery....
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I didn't say that it didn't set the standard. I said that it wasn't a very logical or efficient design for a spacecraft.
As far as world-building goes, there was no need for it to be. The specs could have involved the use of well-harnessed dragons for all we care.
To make the ships of DIS significantly different from the ships of TOS is simply a case of bad world-building - unless, again, there is a plot point to the discrepancy. Fortunately, virtually nothing was established in TOS about starship design beyond the specs of the hero ship, so we get a bit of leeway there. Down to and including Kirk's ship being extremely exceptional for the era.
Timo Saloniemi
To make the ships of DIS significantly different from the ships of TOS is simply a case of bad world-building - unless, again, there is a plot point to the discrepancy. Fortunately, virtually nothing was established in TOS about starship design beyond the specs of the hero ship, so we get a bit of leeway there. Down to and including Kirk's ship being extremely exceptional for the era.
Timo Saloniemi
Early Trek already had a big variety of warp nacelles. The TOS-Enterprise warp nacelles look nothing like the refit ones. Or the ones from the USS Grissom, or the Excelsior either. There's a really good in-universe explanation for it:
Different types of starships need different kinds of engines for different kind jobs. A patrol vessel probably has engines that try not to interfere with sensors as much as they could. A war ship needs engines as fast as possible. An exploration vessel needs long-duration engines that are easily repairable. Hell, look at real world engines: Military cargo planes sometimes have propellor-engines. And the engines of a Blackbird look vastly different than those of a F35 or an AWACS plane.
The real-world explanation of course is: Because it looks cool. And I won't differ on that. In fact, I would be almost delighted if the older vessels in 'Discovery' have more of a ENT-/Johneaves-design, whereas the newer vessels should aesthetically be more akin to the classic Enterprise or the TOS-movies. Couldn't agree more on what they are (presumably) doing at the moment.
Different types of starships need different kinds of engines for different kind jobs. A patrol vessel probably has engines that try not to interfere with sensors as much as they could. A war ship needs engines as fast as possible. An exploration vessel needs long-duration engines that are easily repairable. Hell, look at real world engines: Military cargo planes sometimes have propellor-engines. And the engines of a Blackbird look vastly different than those of a F35 or an AWACS plane.
The real-world explanation of course is: Because it looks cool. And I won't differ on that. In fact, I would be almost delighted if the older vessels in 'Discovery' have more of a ENT-/Johneaves-design, whereas the newer vessels should aesthetically be more akin to the classic Enterprise or the TOS-movies. Couldn't agree more on what they are (presumably) doing at the moment.
I like those designs but I don't think they'll be going in that direction. I'm curious how much of the interiors will be updated or if they'll be a complete overhaul.
Hell, looking at the real world I see that propeller and jet engines operate by different means. A better comparison would be turbofan and turbojet engines. While they have noticeable differences, they aren't that wildly different (none are squarish or flattened) and operate by the same principles—which is why they look similar in the first place. The Russians and Chinese don't have distinctive variations of jet engines. Neither do anyone's air force or navy aircraft. From a physics standpoint there should be only one way to warp space for propulsion purposes, and hence an engine that will look similar no matter who invents it. Going from tubes to flattened tubes appears to be an advancement. But there is little consistency in nacelle design.
So how big the USS Discovery will be? A heavy cruiser just like a Constitution Class? A lighter one like Miranda? Or even smaller like Danube Class?
And this is were I would disagree. Whatever technology is applied, there are going to be different iterations and versions of it in engineering. Just look at modern day rockets: Compare the Soyuz, the Space Shuttle or the Arianne. They work on the same physical principles. But from pure optics, they look vastly different. We just don't know how warp drive works. The only thing we know for sure is that it doesn't have any exhaust ports, is somewhat long, and has glowing parts. Everything else is hidden behind the paneling and might even just look rather similar.
One of course can come up with technobable to explain the different designs. However, TOS engine design could easily be updated to look good on modern TV and it would be an easy visual cue to identify the ship belonging to that era, so I'd prefer if they'd use something like that.
No, it's not. It's a completely valid artistic choice and a sensible commercial choice, nothing more or less.
The vehicles or the rocket motors?
*cough*Defiant-class*cough*
The different casings for the rockets, as well as different arrangement and placement of fuel cells, nozzles, steering boosters and so forth.
What I want to say: They work the same way, were developed at the same time, by the same species, using the same physical principels. And still have a wide variety of looks. By all means, future starships (and their engines) should be even more diverse in how they look.
I'm not sure if anyone ever posted about this here, but I saw a post on John Eaves' Facebook page from last Year when John Glenn died saying:
So could the wireframe ship actually be this one? I know the Shenzhou is more likely but considering the very John Eaves style it has I'd say it is possible.
In the same thread, Eaves also mentioned other ships he named after Bob Hoover and Chuck Yeager. Curious to see if they will all show up in the finished product.
It certainly looks like a design we have seen before. The important thing really though is have ever seen this style of the primary hull being used above the saucer in any of the "hero" ships up to now? I don't think we have, and that'll be all that matters to the general public. So long as it's something different from all the various Enterprises, Defiant and Voyager, it'll probably seem fresh and new to them.
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