All Hands Abandon Ship

[hux]

Harry has urges just like the rest of us.

So in "Workforce" they used virtually all the escape pods (Harry asks how many left and B'Elanna says five so he uses three of them as bombs).

Did they get them all back or is it a one time thing?

Do escape pods self-replicate like Voyager shuttles and torpedoes famously do?

 

[The_Baroness]

I've always assumed they can be re-docked with the main ship. Unless they've been blowed up like what Harry did.

 

[hux]

Or could you just beam them back into position? That would certainly make life easier in the event that you use them a little prematurely.

 

[T'Girl]

They might be designed to withstand only a single entry into a atmosphere, so even if they were recovered the exterior would require refurbishing.

 

[The_Baroness]

Possibly. I never imagined they could take off again once they've hit the surface, but could be salvaged, re-docked and re-fuelled if they weren't too damaged from the landing.

Floating in space? Easy.

 

[Paradise City]

They built the Delta Flyer. It shouldn't be too hard to cobble together the lost escape pods over time.

 

[hux]

They might be designed to withstand only a single entry into a atmosphere, so even if they were recovered the exterior would require refurbishing.

What's canon as far as escape pods are concerned? Are they designed to be put back after use? In Workforce they never address it. At that point, they (theoretically) still had decades left on their journey so probably would have wanted/needed them back.

Possibly. I never imagined they could take off again once they've hit the surface, but could be salvaged, re-docked and re-fuelled if they weren't too damaged from the landing.

Floating in space? Easy.

We don't know if the Workforce people captured the pods in space or if the crew hit just the planet. Presumably, a warp capable species wouldn't just allow pods to randomly hit their planet and they'd intercept them in space.

They built the Delta Flyer. It shouldn't be too hard to cobble together the lost escape pods over time.

Why did they build the Delta Flyer at all. Why not just use the Aeroshuttle?

 

[T'Girl]

Why did they build the Delta Flyer at all. Why not just use the Aeroshuttle?

The conjecture I came up with is that the areoshuttle isn't there.

For whatever reason, the aeroshuttle wasn't with Voyager when she left Mars. What we're seeing is a hatch cover that closes when the aeroshuttle leaves, so Voyager can land, and to disguise the aeroshuttle's absence.


.

 

[Catarina]

They never address escape pods returns ever. HOw many are really missing at this point? Some were blown up after being decoys, some were allowed to drift off with Kazon in them. Really...they're just coming up with all kinds of spare parts for shuttles, torpedoes, and escape pods. Or maybe Janeway is cramming everyone in like sardines.

 

[hux]

The conjecture I came up with is that the areoshuttle isn't there.

For whatever reason, the aeroshuttle wasn't with Voyager when she left Mars. What we're seeing is a hatch cover that closes when the aeroshuttle leaves, so Voyager can land, and to disguise the aeroshuttle's absence.

The far more amusing explanation is that... Doh!... She just didn't know it was there. Once they're back on Earth, Starfkert asks how the Aeroshuttle held up and she's like... The what now?

hux likes this (I'm officially liking my own posts at this point)

They never address escape pods returns ever. HOw many are really missing at this point? Some were blown up after being decoys, some were allowed to drift off with Kazon in them. Really...they're just coming up with all kinds of spare parts for shuttles, torpedoes, and escape pods. Or maybe Janeway is cramming everyone in like sardines.

The only other episode I can recall where they were used was "Year of Hell" and the reset button was used there so doesn't count. Off hand, I can't think of any other episodes.

 

[Catarina]

I wasn't counting Year of Hell.

 

[Avro Arrow]

The conjecture I came up with is that the areoshuttle isn't there.

For whatever reason, the aeroshuttle wasn't with Voyager when she left Mars. What we're seeing is a hatch cover that closes when the aeroshuttle leaves, so Voyager can land, and to disguise the aeroshuttle's absence.

Or it was there initially, but they cannibalized it for parts early on in order to build replacements for the smaller shuttles.

 

[T'Girl]

I wasn't counting Year of Hell.

That's okay ... nobody does.



.

 

[hux]

It's odd that they never even mention the aeroshuttle. Either the writers didn't know about it or its possible existence didn't come about until long after.

 

[stardream]

I remember reading about it. Too bad they either forgot about it or ignored it. I would have liked to have seen it utilized.

 

[Terok Nor]

I had no idea about the aero shuttle. It looks so cool!

 

[Catarina]

wow, I didn't even know that was a ship. I thought it was part of the design. Maybe they didn't use it because it didn't maneuver well Maybe it needed a rare dilithium crystal that was no where to be found in the delta quadrant. Theory#2 Paris whined he wanted to make the flyer. He wanted to be cool. And sorry that doesn't look cool to my eye. It looks cumbersome.
I don't even know why they had boxy shaped shuttles anyway. If the delta flyer is any indication, is aerodynamics relevant? Or just cool looking?

 

[hux]

Apparently, it turns up in comics and novels but just wasn't uitilised or even mentioned in the show.

 

[Akiraprise]

Why did they build the Delta Flyer at all. Why not just use the Aeroshuttle?

I had always wished we got to see it in action. I had to settle for a modded ship in Bridge Commander. A really great mod I should add.

 

[Drone]

Harry has urges just like the rest of us.

So in "Workforce" they used virtually all the escape pods (Harry asks how many left and B'Elanna says five so he uses three of them as bombs).

Did they get them all back or is it a one time thing?

Do escape pods self-replicate like Voyager shuttles and torpedoes famously do?

Even factoring in a bit of whimsy, what would be the big deal of just replicating replacements and beaming them into their release positions? I don't see why it would be any more implausible than the noted examples you've cited and it's not as if the full complement would have to be immediately regenerated. There use is hardly commonly needed and probabilities would really have to be screwing with them, if the pods were required again before the full replacement recycle was completed.

As for the Aeroshuttle, these short snippets from Memory Alpha are salient to the discussion here, though the whole piece is quite interesting.


The aeroshuttle originated as a design by Rick Sternbach who conceived it as early March 1994 as part of the design process of the USS Voyager, labeling his design "Manta Shuttle". [X]wbm As to the function of the wings, he stated, "Wings aren't so much wings in the 24th century when we have EM field effect lift and impulse thrust and mass-reduction technology. The AeroShuttle appendages are more pylons for the warp nacelles and landing gear and RCS gear. They look cool, but they aren't designed to be aerodynamic."

Rob Bonchune, who eventually created a full rendering of Voyager's aeroshuttle, added, "In a nutshell, back at Foundation, we got into our heads that it would be cool to see the "captain's yacht" of the Voyager, that being the AeroShuttle. Rick Sternbach gratuitously did a prelim design and I used part of that and designed the ship you see here. Mojo and I did a whole launch sequence, on spec, meaning "free" and then had it shown to Rick Berman. The response: Mr. Berman thought it was nice, but didn't want to trump the captain's yacht launch sequence from the upcoming film Star Trek: Insurrection. As you remember that was a VERY dramatic, epic and cool launch sequence."

The CGI model was first presented to the general public in 2001, in the Star Trek: Starship Spotter to which co-author Alex Rosenzweig commented, "When I worked on aeroshuttle text for Starship Spotter, I had a whole paragraph that I wrote, talking about how the Voyager's aeroshuttle hadn't been ready when the ship went on its mission into the Badlands, and how the completed shuttle was finally fitted to the refitted Voyager with great ceremony and circumstance after the ship's return from the Delta Quadrant. Alas, the rule from Licensing was that we weren't allowed to invent stuff like that, which hadn't been established on the show, so nothing came of said idea. But it was very much based on my agreement with you that a vehicle like the aeroshuttle would have made the Delta Flyer utterly unnecessary. Oh, well..." [X]wbm Rosenzweig's notion was partially followed by Sternbach in his later Starfleet Technical Database article.