I suppose we could also argue that the 1701-D was designed to always have a functional structural integrity field present and that hard-landed on a planetary surface without one was causing the saucer to collapse a bit under its own weight.
Spoilers Starship Design in Star Trek: Picard
- Thread starter pst
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That is what I love about the TNG Technical Manual, and the team that wrote it. They thought of all of this. Yes, structural integrity field gets set to maxium right before impact. The saucer also tries to skim the atmosphere, staying aloft as long as possible to allow sensors and computers to find a location to land the sauecer and then guide it there. Which one could argue happened in Generations, since the saucer was brought down the the valley of a mountain range.
I was impressed in Picard on how the bridge stations powered up and shut down at the end. Instead of the traditional fluttering backlights we saw displays start up in sections, very well done.
The more I look at designs such as the Neo-Constitution, the Duderstadt, the Sagan, and the Echelon, the more I think Starfleet may be moving towards more compact designs with some standardized components (like the warp nacelles). In that light, bigger designs with rarer hull components like the Odyssey-class and maybe even the Sovereign-class might now be considered out of vogue by 2401. Perhaps even the "refit" of the Luna-class Titan into the Neo-Constitution Titan-A was part of a program for a more design cohesive fleet possibly...
They were getting kind of ridiculous with the Odyssey class. The thing's over a kilometer long, and it comes with its own "Defiant-like" escort ship. It reminds me of all the "super ships" a lot of fans liked to design in the 90's.
1,061 meters of pure bulk that was given almost no screen time.
Screen time that could have gave fans of the Enterprise-E a little closure. While at the same time giving another Enterprise a half decent lifespan.
Well if you want to count the backstory that was created but not said on screen, the canon Ent-F had 15 years of service.
Longer than most Enterprises before it. Longer than the Ent-F in STO, which has only been in service for 2 years so far and has already had a major refit.
Longer than most Enterprises before it. Longer than the Ent-F in STO, which has only been in service for 2 years so far and has already had a major refit.
It also seems related to the loss of Utopia Planitia. They probably just don't have the facilities for a while to keep making these monsters, and who knows how many Leah Brahms types were killed.
I actually really like the Oddy (and most STO ships) quite a bit, but I also like the Echelon, Duderstadt, Sagan etc...
The only one I don't care for is the Neo-Connie. The Shangri-la was kind of an interesting ugly duck design that worked with the aesthetics of TMP, but I don't think they did a good job translating it forward, and I don't think it was ever pretty enough to be the big hero ship.
I actually really like the Oddy (and most STO ships) quite a bit, but I also like the Echelon, Duderstadt, Sagan etc...
The only one I don't care for is the Neo-Connie. The Shangri-la was kind of an interesting ugly duck design that worked with the aesthetics of TMP, but I don't think they did a good job translating it forward, and I don't think it was ever pretty enough to be the big hero ship.
Is it?
The NX-01 went 10 years, and by all accounts was probably decommissioned due to advancing technology, mixed with the fact the ship took one hell of a beating over those 10 years.
The 1701 had a good run at 40 years.
The 1701-A went 7 years, but we don't really know what was going on with that. Was Kirk given an aging ship that was renamed? Was she a total new build that just just became quickly obsolete? Was she crippled at Khitomer by the Bird of Prey?
The 1701-B? We have no real idea. We don't know when the C was launched. The B could have had an over 40 year lifespan.
The 1701-C? Same as the B. We don't know when it launched.
The 1701-D had a rather short 8 year lifespan.
The 1701-E had a lifespan of no longer than 14 years, if background info on the F is to be believed.
But it could have had a good 29 year run, if we didn't shoehorn in the F.
The NX-01, the A and the D certainly bring the average lifespans down. But at least those have some extenuating circumstances behind them. Bringing out the F, just for it to be decommissioned early is still a sore spot for me. Especially when we could have had a decently long-lived Enterprise-E.
The Odyssey-class is big. Big even by late 24th and early 25th century standards!
Agreed. Just to shoehorn in a real-life example here, the USS Enterprise CVN-65 aircraft carrier was in service for 51 years. The Nimitz-class carriers are also estimated to have a service life of around 50 years; the first ship of the class, the USS Nimitz herself, is currently 49 years old and still active, though currently planned to begin retirement in 2025.
Although speaking of real-life Enterprises, the CVN-65's predecessor, CV-6, was in service for only nine years before being decommissioned – but this was due to her being declared surplus after the end of World War II and the rapid development of US naval technology during the 1940s rendering her obsolete. This is conceivably quite similar to what happened to the Enterprise-A.
It's just my own head canon, but I think the Odyssey-class was in response to other nations (like the Romulans) having capital ships that were a kilometer-long and was built to be on par with them. At some point, though, Starfleet decided it no longer had to do that, which made it an easy decision to decommission the Enterprise-F rather than use resources to keep a vessel that was now too big for her own good. I think some designs are products of particular eras of Starfleet shipbuilding policy and can go quickly out of style when directions or priorities change, IMO.
A command ship? So the Enterprise-F is a Warship? I like it even less.
Command ship for what? A command ship just needs a flag bridge separate from the ship's main bridge. You could have a Nova-class as a command ship. The reason aircraft carriers are so large isn't because they're command ships, but because they have big squadrons of aircraft to haul about. This doesn't apply to the Odyssey. If anything the Akira would be the most obvious candidate for a dedicated Starfleet command ship, what with its through-deck carrier capabilities.
The Enterprise-J is still another 150 years or so into the future and it's two miles or more in length, but at least it's still another 150 years away.
Wasn't that future erased when the NX-01 destroyed the Sphere network?
