Just Runabouts? No Shuttles?

[Tyjos Azari]

Well I guess since we have gotten used to seeing Shuttlecraft in TNG being used since the Enterprise is a Starship and needed smaller craft.

I have wondered why DS9 just had Runabouts and not Shuttlecraft?

The Defiant has Shuttle Pods but not Shuttles like the ones in TNG.

 

[Timo]

We might say that Starfleet had at least one shuttlepod in the Bajoran system, since in "Whispers" Sisko says (somebody) lost one near Bajor VII's third moon, and he had two runabouts (supposedly search for it).

However, that bit from "Whispers" is a communications snippet, and the snipped parts may well have revealed that the shuttlepod did not belong to Starfleet, or perhaps belonged to a Starfleet ship but not to DS9.

That's as far as canon helps or hinders us. We could well argue that the station had several shuttlecraft of varying types, but the heroes never felt an urge to use them on screen because they could do warp 2 at best against the runabouts' warp 5. Anything a shuttle could do, a runabout could do better.

The station may have been stocked with shuttles originally, when Starfleet thought it would be orbiting Bajor within easy shuttle range. "Emissary" changed all that, and perhaps the shuttles were removed as unnecessary? OTOH, they wouldn't have been of any use in the onscreen adventures: too small and slow and helpless for evacuation, ditto for reconnaissance or exploration missions, utterly unsuited to defense...

The Defiant has Shuttle Pods but not Shuttles like the ones in TNG.

The Voyager also has shuttles that are different from those of the E-D in design. Perhaps the Defiant's bigger shuttles (only seen once, in "The Sound of Her Voice") are proper shuttlecraft while the smaller ones (from "The Search" and "Destiny") are pods?

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Jono]

^ I think in "The Sound of Her Voice" that Sisko referred to the Chaffee as a shuttlepod.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I have wondered why DS9 just had Runabouts and not Shuttlecraft?

Runabouts would seem to obviate the *need* for shuttles. What can a shuttle do that a runabout can't? A runabout is only slightly larger, but certainly more useful and faster than a shuttle.

Besides, for dramatic purposes, a runabout has a lot more space to tell a story inside.

 

[Silvercrest]

True. That's why they showed the rear compartment so often.

 

[SpyOne]

The station may have been stocked with shuttles originally, when Starfleet thought it would be orbiting Bajor within easy shuttle range. "Emissary" changed all that, and perhaps the shuttles were removed as unnecessary?

Actually, IIRC, before it got moved the station was in transporter range of Bajor: perhaps Starfleet didn't send them any shuttles because they thought they would be pointless: the Transporter is going to be the major method of travel, and the Bajorans have their own ships for running around the system, down to the planet when the transporter can't be used, and to nearby systems as needed.

Only when the station became the gateway to things Starfleet would like a better look at does the station need Starfleet craft of it's own, and then shuttles are too small and slow, with too short range.

 

[Jono]

The station may have been stocked with shuttles originally, when Starfleet thought it would be orbiting Bajor within easy shuttle range. "Emissary" changed all that, and perhaps the shuttles were removed as unnecessary?

Actually, IIRC, before it got moved the station was in transporter range of Bajor: perhaps Starfleet didn't send them any shuttles because they thought they would be pointless: the Transporter is going to be the major method of travel, and the Bajorans have their own ships for running around the system, down to the planet when the transporter can't be used, and to nearby systems as needed.

Only when the station became the gateway to things Starfleet would like a better look at does the station need Starfleet craft of it's own, and then shuttles are too small and slow, with too short range.

The runabouts arrived on the Enterprise-D along with Sisko when the station was still in orbit of Bajor and before the wormhole was discovered.

Was there even much of a Starfleet presence on the station before the Enterprise arrived?

 

[C.E. Evans]

The runabouts arrived on the Enterprise-D along with Sisko when the station was still in orbit of Bajor and before the wormhole was discovered.

Was there even much of a Starfleet presence on the station before the Enterprise arrived?

I would think so. Chief O'Brien and a number of Starfleet personnel were already cleaning up the "farewell party" the Cardassians had when they abandoned the station. A number of Federation starships probably visited the station prior to the Enterprise.

 

[Tomalak]

On the other hand, there's that 1701-D shuttle that dropped off Tom Paris and Stadi in Voyager's pilot.

Maybe one the Enterprise had donated in Emissary that was sent out to collect them from another ship? They could do that on computer control surely?

 

[Timo]

The runabouts arrived on the Enterprise-D along with Sisko when the station was still in orbit of Bajor and before the wormhole was discovered.

Quite so. But they would have been considered useful and necessary quite regardless of whether the station had shuttles or transporters or neither.

I would think so. Chief O'Brien and a number of Starfleet personnel were already cleaning up the "farewell party" the Cardassians had when they abandoned the station. A number of Federation starships probably visited the station prior to the Enterprise.

I'd think the Cardassians would have spent some time destroying the station's weapons, yet O'Brien had phasers and at least one torpedo launcher up and working in "Emissary". Starfleet might have spent a week or two on the station already...

All we know for sure from dialogue is that "the first contingent of officers" arrived two days prior to Sisko's arrival. But that could refer to the officers intended to crew the station, and could easily discount any prior Starfleet assessment and repair teams.

On the other hand, there's that 1701-D shuttle that dropped off Tom Paris and Stadi in Voyager's pilot. Maybe one the Enterprise had donated in Emissary that was sent out to collect them from another ship? They could do that on computer control surely?

I have nothing against the idea that the E-D originally dumped a few shuttles to the station. However, the shuttle in "Caretaker" is seen sporting two registries - the E-D one and the Voyager one. We could try to wiggle out of that and simply say that those were two different shuttles; surely the visiting starship could have held the attention of a swarm of small craft, not just one. There's nothing rock-solid there to establish that the NCC-1701-D shuttle contained Paris and Stadi... Perhaps it just happened to be in the camera frame at the same time the NCC-74656 shuttle was approaching the ship with the hero and the expendable extra aboard?

Timo Saloniemi