How Did The Enterprise Get Into Space ????

[Nero's Shadow]

Ok I've watched the movie many many times and it's always puzzled me how did the enterprise get into space.

I know we saw it getting built on earth so how was it transported into space did they fly it into orbit then dock onto the UFP starbase or did they use some kind of transports tuggs to pull into orbit.

Would construction have been better in orbit less weight problems on moving large parts of the ship into place or were ship systems fitted later and the hull transported into space ????

 

[JB2005]

A wizard did it...

 

[C.E. Evans]

CAPTAIN PIKE: "Take us up, Mr. McKenna."

HELMSMAN McKENNA: "Aye, sir."

And up Enterprise went...

 

[The Dominion]

They have this giant slingshot see...

 

[F. King Daniel]

Search the forum - I posted a thread about this with 2 fan videos. One was the ship being taken up in parts, the other was it taking off like a big-ass shuttle. I'd link to it, but I'm on my phone at the mo. The thread title was "Getting the Enterprise into space - with videos" or something like that.

 

[M'Sharak]

How Did The Enterprise Get Into Space ????

Didn't we just have a thread on this recently?

Getting the Enterprise into space - with vids!

I'm sure there have been others, going back to when the last movie was still in production.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Thanks, M'

 

[chardman]

How'd it get into space? Gracefully I'm guessing.

After all, we're talking about a 'verse where anti-grav technology is pretty commonplace. Don't see why anyone would have a problem fathoming what probably amounts to a pretty simple task for the technology of the time, Gotta be child's play next to warping the very fabric of space-time and the like.

 

[SheliakBob]

Okay. The true story is that it never did make it into space. Y'see, the dern thing is just part of a big "Star Fleet Experience" themepark type thingie in Iowa. I mean, c'mon, you didn't really think a juvenile delinquent punk could go from cadet to captain of the freakin' flagship in just one silly afternoon's adventure, did ya'? Whole thing was just a theme park thrill ride, complete with inexplicable special effects and dumb plot gaffes that no one is supposed to ask about.
Seriously, engineering is a BREWERY? For God's sake! That was just the waterpark part of the attraction.

Me, I would've spent the whole time in the Green Girl Review at the pub that sells the beer distilled in "Engineering", but security said something about "curmudgeons" and scaring off the paying customers. The nerve of those guys....

 

[JB2005]

...that would explain a lot about the film...

 

[BriGuy]

Scotty beamed it into space.

Scotty can do anything.

There's no good answer to this question. Much like Apple doesn't think you need to know where your iTunes music is, the makers of this film don't think you need to know how it got from there to here.

 

[JB2005]

Hey wait a second...where is my music?!

Personally I'd imagine they just used whatever it was Voyager used to maneouver a century later...

And in answer to the question how? Carefully...

 

[7thsealord]

Noting that there was at least one TOS episode where the Enterprise was (involuntarily) manuevering in atmosphere. The crew might not have liked the situation much, but it could be handled. Plus the 'emergency lifeboat' capabilities of the saucer section anyhow (natch!).

Though I really doubt if a starship would boost from dry-dock to orbit in a fully combat-loaded, ready-to-warp condition. For that first small step, it would be impulse engines only. If (ghods forbid) something went seriously wrong, you then don't have a giant antimatter bomb belly-flopping onto your facility. It just makes sense (IMO) that certain systems (Warp, weapons, etc.) would only be completed and brought on-line once the ship was in space.

One sees a similar thing with "wet" ships - construction details vary considerably but in general they are launched in an incomplete condition, then completed once afloat. For that matter, the opposite applies as well. A ship going INTO dock will often have a lot of stuff deactivated / removed / unloaded first. Naval vessels will routinely unload all of their ordnance (ammo, missiles, etc. - even if only a small amount is carried) before being dry-docked.

 

[chardman]

^I remember reading something once (from a novel or other wholly non-canon source) that Starfleet ships were mostly assembled planetside, but for safety reason, were launched sans Warp core. The core and related hoohah weren't installed until the ship was safely out of the planet's biosphere. As I said... it's totally non-canon, but it sure sounds plausible to me.

 

[scotpens]

Ok I've watched the movie many many times and it's always puzzled me how did the enterprise get into space.

Helium balloons.

A LOT of ’em.

 

[-Brett-]

We can accept that the ship can travel faster than light, but getting off the ground requires an explanation?

 

[JB2005]

For the same reason we have a huh moment when we find a car that is designed to function on dry land and is built at the bottom of the ocean...

 

[Transk53]

^I remember reading something once (from a novel or other wholly non-canon source) that Starfleet ships were mostly assembled planetside, but for safety reason, were launched sans Warp core. The core and related hoohah weren't installed until the ship was safely out of the planet's biosphere. As I said... it's totally non-canon, but it sure sounds plausible to me.

Would seem plausible with heavy duty lifting vehicles. Maybe a bloody great tractor beam from the orbital ship yard pulling and being guided by the fed version of a tug.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Actually, it was one of the pre-TMP Lost Years novels - the Enteprise's saucer section was refitted in San Fransisco, then launched under it's own power and flew to spacedock to reconnect with the engineering hull.

 

[-Brett-]

For the same reason we have a huh moment when we find a car that is designed to function on dry land and is built at the bottom of the ocean...

Or a submersible built on dry land? Oh wait...