Starfleet Academy Starship Thread

[Discovery McDiscoveryFace]

I haven't seen this mentioned but the outer ring on the saucer, being of laurels..... representing the laurels around the Federation logo.

I wonder if at some point there will be a visual where the inner saucer is lit or matter-programmed (maybe through all those portholes) to represent the stars on the Federation logo.

 

[Michael]

I haven't seen this mentioned but the outer ring on the saucer, being of laurels..... representing the laurels around the Federation logo.

We talked about the laurel wreath on the saucer ring seven posts before yours.

Visually they are like a stylized wreath, but functionally I think they are supposed to indicate that those parts can retract, when the ship lands for example. You‘ll find these stepped scales/ribs all over the ship design inside and out, and the idea seems to be to hint at the ship‘s capability to transform.

 

[tenmei]

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Theres a schematic of the Atrium halfway through.

Curiously the interview suggests the saucer could be 20 decks thick?

 

[Rahul]

I remember reading somewhere that the basis of the California class design was 'a ship that might have been introduced in TNG's 5th season,' or something like that. So with that info, and the general design of the ship itself inside and out, indicates that it's not all that old. McMahon did make a comment that these support ships have 'always been around,' but I don't think he literally meant the California class specifically, just random support ships.

One problem that cropped up registry-wise is that the USS Rubidoux NCC-12109, with already too low of a registry, was replaced by the brand-new USS Solvang NCC-12101, a registry even lower than the ship it replaced. Luckily this was the only instance of this.

Also, the design of the California class could have it potentially be a ship built during the Lost Era, after the Ambassador class but before the Galaxy family (Nebula, New Orleans, Challenger, Springfield, Cheyenne, Olympic, Galaxy.) Unfortunately it also shares design elements with the Parliament class, which is a post-TNG design, reinforcing the 'TNG 5th season ship' idea more.

Another bit of weirdness was that Mariner referred to a Steamrunner/Saberrunner class ship as an 'old tub,' which makes zero sense since that ship would have been much newer than any TNG-era ship.

Not quite. The Oberths were science vessels, not second-contact support ships.

Well the Galaxy, Nebula etc are top of the line warships.
The California class is more like a support vessel. It doesn't need the newest, most complicated, top-of-the-line types of engines, weapons, etc. Reliability, low-maintenance & functionality are much more important for its mission profile.
So it makes sense, that even being newer than the Enterprise D, it would use a mash-up of new & old components.

 

[Michael]

What an interesting find, @tenmei! The article is a great read and a welcome look at the thought process of the people who designed the sets and ship. I’m going to add the slides of the article to this post, for posterity. I think it’s an interesting choice to give the job of designing the set to someone who hasn’t worked on sci-fi before. Probably makes sense, though, considering the ship is supposed to evoke both starship and Earth-bound school campus. Using the large window that shows either space or the warm sunlight of San Francisco to create that dual nature of the atrium is a cool concept. As is the use of wooden veneer in Ake’s office. If you look at objects designed by Frank Lloyd Wright it becomes clear where the inspiration for her office came from.

What he says about sight lines on the bridge is intriguing, although I don’t feel that approach is as novel as he thinks when it comes to Trek bridges. The bridges for both the NX-01 and Voyager also had all the characters’ sight lines directed at the main viewscreen. The same goes for the raised captain’s chair, which we also have seen a few times before. For some reason Davies also makes it sound like he thought on previous bridge sets the captain was somehow stationed at the front of the set. What’s interesting about the bridge — and I don’t think I would have ever figured it out just by watching the show — is that the large glowing and pulsing teal light installation in the back of the bridge is supposed to represent the warp core. I’m not sure if the idea is that it’s literally the warp core or just an in-universe graphical representation.

This also confirms, by the way, that the dorm set is an original creation, not a redress of another set. Not that there was much doubt about that.

Curiously the interview suggests the saucer could be 20 decks thick?

Well, more specifically he says the atrium was described being 20 stories in the first outline. Ultimately they designed and built it as a four-story atrium. And the long-ish tracking shot in the premiere shows it has being ~13 stories from the top of the Starfleet delta ceiling window all the way down to the ground floor of the set (counting the illuminated Red Alert stripes as a deck each). So whatever the exact number of decks in the saucer, it probably should be greater than 13?

 

[Michael]

Just noticed that there must be at least one slide missing, because page six describes two illustrations of the bridge set (A+B) that we don’t get to see. Hopefully they’ll pop up at some point.

 

[tenmei]

Good catch. That looks like it was bridge concept art

 

[Jack Watford]

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Theres a schematic of the Atrium halfway through.

Curiously the interview suggests the saucer could be 20 decks thick?

According to the display screen in the turbolift car, the campus has 10 levels (1-10) and 7 sub levels (a1-a7). However, the Athena in total has 35 decks. Not quite sure yet how that correlates.

 

[tenmei]

According to the display screen in the turbolift car, the campus has 10 levels (1-10) and 7 sub levels (a1-a7). However, the Athena in total has 35 decks. Not quite sure yet how that correlates.

17 decks in the central saucer, 18 in the neck?

 

[Michael]

According to the display screen in the turbolift car, the campus has 10 levels (1-10) and 7 sub levels (a1-a7). However, the Athena in total has 35 decks. Not quite sure yet how that correlates.

What display screen are you referring to? Looking over the screenshots I only found this one, but that doesn’t seem to show what you are saying.

 

[Jack Watford]

What display screen are you referring to? Looking over the screenshots I only found this one, but that doesn’t seem to show what you are saying.

View attachment 51562

That is what I am referring to. Unless I misread it (which is possible according to my wife who tells me that I am frequently wrong), the left column has a header that reads "Campus" with Levels 1-10 and Sub Levels a1-a7 below it in that column. Level 1 also reads "Ground Lobby." The two columns to the right have a single header that reads "Athena" with Decks 1-35 below. Deck 2 has additional text but it is too blurry to read. It is possible that it also reads "Ground Lobby" meaning that Campus Level 1 and Athena Deck 2 are one and the same. If that is true, the campus is situated in the neck of the Athena.

 

[Michael]

That is what I am referring to. Unless I misread it (which is possible according to my wife who tells me that I am frequently wrong), the left column has a header that reads "Campus" with Levels 1-10 and Sub Levels a1-a7 below it in that column. Level 1 also reads "Ground Lobby." The two columns to the right have a single header that reads "Athena" with Decks 1-35 below. Deck 2 has additional text but it is too blurry to read. It is possible that it also reads "Ground Lobby" meaning that Campus Level 1 and Athena Deck 2 are one and the same. If that is true, the campus is situated in the neck of the Athena.

Ah, thanks for that explanation! I can see it now. Although I wouldn’t be able to decipher “Ground Lobby” from that. But yes, the left column says “Campus” whereas the right column says “Athena”. I wonder if that’s just how the turbolift screen looks when the ship is landed and whether the “Campus” column disappears once they are in space. This would mean the “Campus” column refers to a part of the Academy situated permanently on Earth.

What's interesting and perhaps even more confusing, is that the scene shows the turbolift traveling up from deck 35 all the way to deck 8(?), showing how the circular deck schematic shifts through each individual deck. So that either means even the neck has a circular deck layout (which would be awkward) or it’s only representing the saucer and that is 35 decks thick (which would be overkill in terms of size). Either way the graphic – while looking cool – doesn’t appear to make much sense.

 

[Nerys Myk]

We talked about the laurel wreath on the saucer ring seven posts before yours.

Visually they are like a stylized wreath, but functionally I think they are supposed to indicate that those parts can retract, when the ship lands for example. You‘ll find these stepped scales/ribs all over the ship design inside and out, and the idea seems to be to hint at the ship‘s capability to transform.

So, your'e saying there is more than meets the eye?

 

[Michael]

Athena, have you landed or are you just happy to see me?