Spacedock: When Was It Built?

[MyClone]

I suspect that the first section built was the bottom-most section, the sphere... and that section was built as a big spaceborne environment... basically, I see this as a hollow shell with an "artificial sky" and so forth. Probably built a very long time ago, during the reconstruction.

Next, the middle "mushroom cap" section was added. We know that this is a dock section, because in ST-VI we see four underside-mounted spacedoors around the rim. It's probably a smaller space-borne construction yard, capable of handling smaller-scale vessels. But for the really big stuff (1701-ish ships), it would've been way too small.

Now, in between the "yard" and the "habitat sphere" I imagine it was originally just a lot of trusswork, tankage, etc... very industrial-looking. Not the smooth, cylindrical look we eventually have in that region. And I suspect that the "yard" was cruder initially.

I suspect that "the yard" was already underway, if not already in existence, at the time of the NX-01, albeit in a much cruder (and probably nearly unrecognizable) form.

The big problem was that with larger vessels being constructed, the spaceborne facilities couldn't handle anything that big... and thus the big components had to be constructed planetside and be lifted into orbit (not all THAT big of a deal, construction-wise, but a MAJOR issue in terms of transit time... sort of like making parts of a device in China, shipping it to Akron, then shipping it to Germany, then back to Akron again... not technologically challenging, just not the most efficient route).

SO... they created another section... the Spacedock complex... on top of the existing Starbase One structure, providing an otherwise essentially unobtainable environment... microgravity combined with a breathable atmosphere, capable of holding some really BIG ships not only in segments but in fact COMPLETE.

I'm convinced. And, with a little squinting, one can see the three segments you describe as being from three different Treknological eras: (1) bottom sphere-and-post from the Daedalus era; (2) middle mushroom from the K-7 space station era; (3) flashy, well-lit top mushroom cap from the post-TMP era. I like it. Also, if we assume that Spacedock is a Federation Starfleet build, it makes sense that there would be several of these stations spaced around the Federation that were all upgraded according to the same plan.

Thanks,
--MyClone

 

[Philo]

I'm not convinced. It's a nice theory but the design of the thing seems too aesthetically consistent to back it up.

I can buy a function for the thing based on simple impression though I admit I have no credible idea what that function may be. Ultimately, I buy the design because I'm swayed by the aesthetic look of the thing, which I like, so perhaps it really is best just to subscribe that function to it. Maybe it was a massive white elephant PR make-work project. Hell, wouldn't it be fun to suppose that Kirk himself approved it while head of Operations (or would that kind of thing be outside his purview)?

 

[Cary L. Brown]

I'm not convinced. It's a nice theory but the design of the thing seems too aesthetically consistent to back it up.

I can buy a function for the thing based on simple impression though I admit I have no credible idea what that function may be. Ultimately, I buy the design because I'm swayed by the aesthetic look of the thing, which I like, so perhaps it really is best just to subscribe that function to it. Maybe it was a massive white elephant PR make-work project. Hell, wouldn't it be fun to suppose that Kirk himself approved it while head of Operations (or would that kind of thing be outside his purview)?

The G3 officer (that's his closest parallel in modern military terms) doesn't decide what programs get implemented. He just gets to do the planning around how to implement the decisions made by those above him.

Of course, it's established that Nogura wouldn't have been able to do that either, really... rather, though Nogura could have PROPOSED it.

The decision to build this thing would've been made by the civilian political body. Maybe the Federation Counsel (if it's a primarily military installation) or perhaps the Earth Government (if it's a primarily civilian installation with some ancillary military roles associated with it). I'm inclined to say that it's military, almost exclusively so, in nature... so it would be proposed to the Federation Counsel, debated, altered, funded a bit at a time, sent back for redesign... bureaucracy is an UGLY thing, ya know...

The funding would have to be apportioned towards this (instead of being directed towards some other project). Yes, I know that latter-day Trek pretended that "there is no money" but money refers to hard currency... we know that there is such a thing as "federation credits" and we know that people "earn their pay." It's naive and impractical to say "everyone can have everything that they want without any limitations"... so there IS an economy, and there are resources which get spent on this thing or that thing but have to be directed to a specific end-use.

Would the Federation shut down most of the rest of their starfleet building program for a couple of years and focus everything on this one program?

How long would it take to design the thing? How many people would be involved in designing it, and how many times would their design goals get changed during the program? (trust me, it happens all the time)

I do not believe that anything like this could ever be built in the fashion some of you wish to think in terms of in any REALITY. And my "trek fandom" tends to be focused on "what if this could be real?"

The further that Trek moves away from "I could believe this could really happen" the less interested I become.

 

[Deks]

Cary ... don't you think you are slightly biased by reality and what we know in our present day?

Technological advancements were far greater for SF in comparison to us.
The Vulcans initiated first contact ... a race that was in space for over a thousand years before humans.
Humans helped found the Federation, and gained powerful races that already had large amount of experience in comparison ... which resulted in sharing of technology, resources, personnel, etc.

You cannot really apply contemporary way of thinking and knowledge of science to Trek.
Those humans went into a vastly different direction in comparison to us.
And for the record, we have no idea what exactly WE will be doing in 250 years from now.
We might be able to make stations twice or 3x bigger in comparison to SF with half the time it took them.
We might also take far longer than that ... point is, we don't know.

If you are saying how it's 'impossible' for SF to design and build a large scale project (without shutting down production in other areas) ... well, we have 0 evidence to support your claims.

The mushroom type star-bases in my opinion could have been designed at the start of TOS (or years before that ... so you could argue the design was changing over time) and constructed right with the beginning of TMP (technological transition period).
SF portrayed quite impressive capabilities actually (before the writers decided to dumb it all down for the sake of drama).
But ignoriing the inadequacies ... I don't think it's impossible for SF to construct large scale objects like the mushroom star-base in a relatively short time span really.
Designing it could have taken a decade or more ... but construction ... half that time (in Kirk's era).

And if you bring up the fact the Enterprise took 18 months to be re-fitted ...
Well, let's not forget the re-fitted version looked quite a bit different in scale and various other aspects while essentially retaining the basic look.
It would have been simpler (not to mention faster) constructing a new ship from the grounds up.
And for all we know, the Enterprise-A was a completely NEW and untested ship.
The re-fit Enterprise was eventually destroyed in ST III.
How much time elapsed between ST III and ST IV really?
Months?
Or ... we could argue that SF wanted to replace the original Enterprise re-fit with the 'A' in ST III, yet we had no indication of such a decision.

So many possibilities.

 

[Tigger]

Would the Federation shut down most of the rest of their starfleet building program for a couple of years and focus everything on this one program?

They can make planets...

I really don't think they'd need to shut down for a time just to put a Spacedock into orbit...

 

[trevanian]

Would the Federation shut down most of the rest of their starfleet building program for a couple of years and focus everything on this one program?

They can make planets...

I really don't think they'd need to shut down for a time just to put a Spacedock into orbit...

And I guess they make their spacedocks out of protowhatsis to speed them along, right? I wish the 'shrooms would just go boom ...