The New USS Discovery....

[jamestyler]

It's the Shenzhou.

The Discovery is a different design, based on the Ralph McQuarrie version of the Enterprise from the never-made Star Trek: Phase II.

^ Indeed! Plus the robot in the trailer has Shenzhou's name on the side of it's head.

Really looking forward to seeing he actual Discovery and how it fits in after that trailer considering we have two captains and now a potential captain in training? Curiouser and curiouser.

Anyway... Shenzhou looks lovely! Nice and rugged, just what I was hoping for!

 

[cultcross]

These are like UFO images

This is exactly what they hoped we would do

 

[Fandango831]

Well if the idea that the Shenzhou will become or contribute to the Discovery is still relevant ala the Shenzhou gets rofl stomped by the Klingons and parts are used to make Discovery she might end up looking more like this fan art. The art is also reflective of the poster version of the ship to a degree.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Well if the idea that the Shenzhou will become or contribute to the Discovery is still relevant ala the Shenzhou gets rofl stomped by the Klingons and parts are used to make Discovery she might end up looking more like this fan art. The art is also reflective of the poster version of the ship to a degree.

"Size of the USS Discovery" thread in 5... 4... 3... 2...

 

[Fandango831]

"Size of the USS Discovery" thread in 5... 4... 3... 2...

Pretty sure the Enterprise is supposed to be further back in the art not directly next to the Discovery. So no. However just from earlier info we know She is supposed to be bigger than the TOS Connie, by how much god only knows.

 

[Timo]

I'm not much concerned about size - my fetish here is age. Which of the ships is newer? The Shenzhou with her ENT looks, or the Discovery with certain TOS influences but also with certain commonalities with that famous 2233 vessel?

I'd think TPTB would create as great a visual distinction between their two pretty toys as possible. And not just externally, but in terms of interiors as well. For all we know, neither of the ships is "current" as of the 2250s, representing outdated generations of design (heck, perhaps Kirk's ship did that in TOS already), but the interiors could be refitted to distinct standards to separate the two.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Fandango831]

I'm not much concerned about size - my fetish here is age. Which of the ships is newer? The Shenzhou with her ENT looks, or the Discovery with certain TOS influences but also with certain commonalities with that famous 2233 vessel?

I'd think TPTB would create as great a visual distinction between their two pretty toys as possible. And not just externally, but in terms of interiors as well. For all we know, neither of the ships is "current" as of the 2250s, representing outdated generations of design (heck, perhaps Kirk's ship did that in TOS already), but the interiors could be refitted to distinct standards to separate the two.

Timo Saloniemi

True and just from the trailer we know Georgiou and Burnham have been doing their thing on the Shenzhou for seven years. so that means she's at the least as old as 2248, and that can't be true as Georgiou has probably been Captaining the Shenzhou for longer than Burnham was her XO which puts the Shenzhou at older than 2248 by who knows how many years. Also if Georgiou wasn't the first command for the ship it could be even older. Potentially a ship commissioned in the late 2220's or as early as the 2210's that was refitted at some point in the late 2230's and given to Georgiou as her command. Then in 2248 she recieved Burnham as her XO up until the potential events transpiring in 2255 for the show. This again all presumes the show takes place in 2255 for the pilot episode with the Shenzhou and not prior to 2255 with the rest of the show pertaining to the Discovery being set in 2255. So both ships could be pretty old, or the Discovery could be pretty new. The Enterprise was built in 2245 so it could also be possible that the Discovery is a newer ship built in the 2250's after all we don't really see much of the rest of Starfleet or other ships of the line in TOS so it's very possible she's just a newer ship we never see like many of the other classes of ship. For me I see this>
USS Shenzhou - Commissioned 2215
USS Kelvin - Commissioned 2225
USS Enterprise - Commissioned 2245
USS Discovery - Commissioned 2250

Edit: The later commissioning date for the Discovery would also account for things like the solid blue deflector dish, Phaser ball turrets, and other design aesthetics or prototyping of technologies.

 

[Timo]

Why should the history of the ship extend any farther back than the joint history of the CO and the XO? For that matter, why should it extend even that far? The two could have served together wherever the story takes them, getting the brand knew Shenzhou just two minutes before the trailer rolls; truncating it at their joint seven years sounds fine to me, though. Surely Georgiou would be a sorry loser if stuck on one and the same ship for decades?

Amusingly, NCC-1227 is a fan registry typically associated with the FASA Anton class that's a perfect fit in so many ways:

Made of components of existing designs, even if oddly scaled - check.
Drooping nacelles on broad pylons - check.
Saucer plus elongated trailing edge with greeblies - check
Ugly - check (but hey, this is FASA).
Pre-TOS - check.
Makes little visual impact on the universe - check...

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Fandango831]

I see what you mean but by that logic why was the Enterprise built in 2245, Captained by April for six years, Pike for eleven (does that make him a sorry loser also), and then Kirk for another five bringing the old bird to 25 some years of age, and then post 2270 again under Kirk until 2285 with her destruction when the crux of the story only cares or revolves around Kirk? Why not just make the Enterprise a new ship with Kirk as her Captain from the start if truncating elements to fit story outline is the goal? I mean that's what Abrams did. He truncated those historical elements of both crew and ship to just toss it all into one movie (new ship, new crew, new captain) and it hurt how everything developed severely. It said screw exposition and history and lets just hand it all over at once and hope it sticks. It dried the experience of learning about the ship and crew since none of them had any history, none had depth in characterization which in turn made the adventure this odd rushed series of events that leave us asking who are these people again? What were they doing? What was so important again? What about the ship?

Ship and command history do not have to be a tie down and in many ways can be used to help tell a great story. The passing of the torch narrative is one that roots itself heavily in the history of it's crew and when it comes to the command of ships in the ships history themselves. The fact is by TOS the Enterprise is already older and just a normal ship of the line. Her age and experience of crew are what helps to define the episodic story telling of TOS. Kirk wasn't just some fresh Captain when we got to meet him and his crew. He was already barking commands, getting on Bailey for not keeping his head on straight, and sharing a clearly deep command relationship with Spock already. The Shenzhou being old and her captain also being mature makes her and her ship a great mentoring piece and tie down for Burnham who is clearly more of a hot head and still has lots to learn as indicated by the trailer. Where the Discovery is new, less restrictive, and instead can work as a place to challenge Burnham as she learns to work with Lorca and temper herself into a less brash leader who thinks before she acts.

So yes maybe the Shenzhou doesn't need to go all the way back to the 2220's as a ship of age but in narrowing what she and her crew can be diminishes the significance they could play in molding our protagonist especially if the show aims to show us the growth of a leader from brash XO to a truly distinguished and mission driven officer. Star Trek in its successful story telling is like a fine wine that allows for people to relish in its age and history. Not just a shot of Tequila to be burned in one go.

 

[Andru]

I have a hunch that the Discovery bridge will turn out to be quite similar to the Shenzhou bridge, at least in size and design, if not in colours and lighting. From the trailer, I'm guessing that the Shenzhou will be destroyed by the Klingons and that the surviving crew will be reassigned to the Discovery. Which will justify redressing the (presumably expensive) Shenzhou bridge set to serve as the Discovery bridge. Of course the Discovery doesn't appear to have an underslung bridge, but changing the set windows will take care of that. In fact, going by the preliminary Discovery design, the bridge doesn't appear to have any windows.

And... dedication plaque!

 

[Saul]

She looks MUCH better............View attachment 2398

Pft.... that's just an upside down NX class.

 

[Fandango831]

Stumbled on this neat gem. Redesigned Cage Era Bridge:

 

[PixelMagic]

Stumbled on this neat gem. Redesigned Cage Era Bridge:

Cool, but still way too dated for a 2017 show.

 

[O_Kav]

I have a hunch that the Discovery bridge will turn out to be quite similar to the Shenzhou bridge, at least in size and design, if not in colours and lighting. From the trailer, I'm guessing that the Shenzhou will be destroyed by the Klingons and that the surviving crew will be reassigned to the Discovery. Which will justify redressing the (presumably expensive) Shenzhou bridge set to serve as the Discovery bridge. Of course the Discovery doesn't appear to have an underslung bridge, but changing the set windows will take care of that. In fact, going by the preliminary Discovery design, the bridge doesn't appear to have any windows.

And... dedication plaque!

Yeah, the Discovery still is a great mystery to us. I remember someone speculating that maybe they will surprise us and when we get to see the main ship itself, the crew will be walking around with The Cage-esque Uniforms and the general aesthetics of the ship will be way more retro. Maybe even a Bridge without windows, like you said.

It would be similar to ST2009, in reverse. In the 2009 Reboot they wanted the audience to experience the transition between Old School Sci-Fi (the Kelvin scenes) to a Science Fiction with more updated looks. Transitioning from Contemporaneous Sci-fi to Retrofuturistic Sci-fi would be a cool way to make newer audiences more comfortable with the Prime Timeline.

Or maybe that's just wishful thinking. I still wouldn't mind if they kept the updated looks from the Shenzhou in the Main Ship, really. All I want is a well written Star Trek Series. There's still a lot of opportunities in the future for us to have a Rogue One equivalent of Star Trek. DSC seems to be more standalone and I like it.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Pft.... that's just an upside down NX class.

Or a downside down Akira class

 

[Mad Jack Wolfe]

Yeah, the Discovery still is a great mystery to us. I remember someone speculating that maybe they will surprise us and when we get to see the main ship itself, the crew will be walking around with The Cage-esque Uniforms and the general aesthetics of the ship will be way more retro. Maybe even a Bridge without windows, like you said.

It would be similar to ST2009, in reverse. In the 2009 Reboot they wanted the audience to experience the transition between Old School Sci-Fi (the Kelvin scenes) to a Science Fiction with more updated looks. Transitioning from Contemporaneous Sci-fi to Retrofuturistic Sci-fi would be a cool way to make newer audiences more comfortable with the Prime Timeline.

Or maybe that's just wishful thinking. I still wouldn't mind if they kept the updated looks from the Shenzhou in the Main Ship, really. All I want is a well written Star Trek Series. There's still a lot of opportunities in the future for us to have a Rogue One equivalent of Star Trek. DSC seems to be more standalone and I like it.

CBS have already sunk a fair bit of cash into creating the aesthetic we saw in the trailer. No way are they going to bin all that and trot out a 60's retro look to everything. The level of expectation has been set as to the visuals. To deliver less or, even worse, pull an outright bait-and-switch would rightly doom the show. Yes, I know there are more than a few fanboys involved in the project. While I'm sure they intend to throw all manner of winks and nods to the fans, they won't be stupid about it.

 

[O_Kav]

CBS have already sunk a fair bit of cash into creating the aesthetic we saw in the trailer. No way are they going to bin all that and trot out a 60's retro look to everything. The level of expectation has been set as to the visuals. To deliver less or, even worse, pull an outright bait-and-switch would rightly doom the show. Yes, I know there are more than a few fanboys involved in the project. While I'm sure they intend to throw all manner of winks and nods to the fans, they won't be stupid about it.

That's what makes more sense, to be honest. And I imagine retrofuturistic looks that are actually good, like those we saw in Rogue One, must be very expensive to create. Even more expensive than contemporaneous Sci-fi aesthetics.

Maybe if DSC ends up doing well and CBS injects more money into it, they will have some freedom to change the aesthetics a bit, but until then I think what we saw from the Shenzhou will probably dictate how the Series will look from now on.

 

[Timo]

Dating the Shenzhou is a matter of balancing the ENT looks and the high registry; if not for the latter, I'd be ready to declare her a century-old relic given a desperate interior refit for third-rate work. And even then I'd want to disassociate her career from that of Captain Georgiou, because marrying people with ships is perverse.

For the jump from one ship to another, I'm sure they will retain the bridge windows. I just wonder if there will be a marked difference in the graphics font or somesuch. The extremely plain corridors could be massively redecorated or then struck down and rebuilt without much concern, instantly changing the feel of the interior even if what they do with the bridge set is minimalistic.

It's just that I'm betting on change, because change apparently is not just a plot point but a premise. And beyond that it's wait and see on the direction of the change - AbramsversePseudoTOS or something else. Changing the uniforms would make no in-universe sense, say, since they should be true to the decade we witness, but neither of the ships need be true the same way.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Fandango831]

Cool, but still way too dated for a 2017 show.

Believe me I fully agree, and it's way to small for a modern set with multiple camera angle and passes as well as being too aged.

 

[publiusr]

The one with the neck bent backwards is really bad. I'm no fan of the D but I'm glad they didn't go with that.

I liked the study model of the Ent D from ILM...