The Galileo and the airlock doors
- Thread starter Wingsley
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Given the scene where Spock orders Scott to use the Galileo's batteries to electrify the ship's exterior as a defensive move, I would say the design of the ship is not to be underestimated. We have no indication of any built-in ship's weapons, but "The Galileo Seven" alone seems to clearly show this to be an amazing, multifaceted spacecraft. The term "shuttlecraft" seems far beneath it.
And in "Metamorphosis", we see Spock rig an electrical-jamming weapon to try to disrupt the Companion. If a Class F shuttecraft were just a warp-speed airbus, it shouldn't be able to do things like that.
In "The Immunity Syndrome", we learn that the Class F shuttlecraft can be equipped with heavy-duty scanning and computer gear, as well as defensive shields. Apparently, this baby's design is both flexible and formidable. This ain't no oversized Travel Pod.
And in "Metamorphosis", we see Spock rig an electrical-jamming weapon to try to disrupt the Companion. If a Class F shuttecraft were just a warp-speed airbus, it shouldn't be able to do things like that.
In "The Immunity Syndrome", we learn that the Class F shuttlecraft can be equipped with heavy-duty scanning and computer gear, as well as defensive shields. Apparently, this baby's design is both flexible and formidable. This ain't no oversized Travel Pod.
In light of the rest of Star Trek, it seems that this particular type of shuttle is among the very smallest and least capable. Presumably, there would be no point in using more capable craft when the mothership does most of the work anyway. And presumably, when more was required, an elevator would bring up one of the TAS craft, or a team would quickly install special gear inside one of these featherweights as in "Immunity Syndrome".
Most warships today don't carry LCUs or LCACs as their liaison boats, nor do their davits support heavily armored and armed fighting craft. What a warship really has use for is a glorified rowboat or two. Starfleet might similarly decide that wasting hangar space on rarely needed special environment craft or the like is unnecessary and wasteful - but so is cramming every bell and whistle into a "multipurpose" shuttle when a more austere and affordable unit gets the work done, too.
Or then half an hour, with contingency supplies always carried for emergencies just like this one. There are limiting factors other than oxygen or food: with seven crew, the craft would be very cramped for sleeping, for one.
Timo Saloniemi
Right. If seven people were cooped up in that little cabin for several days in space, sharing a toilet and sleeping in their chairs, they would be very unhappy campers.
They should at least turn off the artificial gravity to make sleeping less miserable. For trips of this duration, gravity is more trouble than it's worth.
...But speaking of camping, the intent all along may have been for our heroes to land on a planet of interest and set up camp there. A medical/biological specialist would have more to do when surveying such a site for suitability as a long term observation outpost or whatnot. That would eliminate shuttlecraft endurance and versatility as factors, and put all the burden on the actual camping gear.
McCoy's presence is somewhat at odds with a short-term mission, as the odds of a medical emergency arising are pretty low then (and why not send a low-ranking medic instead of the CMO?). But it's at odds with a long-term mission, too - why isolate the CMO from his ship for great lengths of time? The same goes for Scotty, who isn't a quasarlet specialist AFAWK and could have sent one of his underlings instead.
Timo Saloniemi
McCoy's presence is somewhat at odds with a short-term mission, as the odds of a medical emergency arising are pretty low then (and why not send a low-ranking medic instead of the CMO?). But it's at odds with a long-term mission, too - why isolate the CMO from his ship for great lengths of time? The same goes for Scotty, who isn't a quasarlet specialist AFAWK and could have sent one of his underlings instead.
Timo Saloniemi
Maybe McCoy and Scotty were also specialists in an area related to "quasar-like phenomenon"? Similar to the justification used to get Crusher and Picard on the commando mission in Chain Of Command - i.e. a skillset never mentioned before or since the one episode!
I like the idea of turning off the artificial gravity while sleeping in space. Maybe that might quell snoring as well? 
I would say McCoy and Scott were along for three reasons: The mission had to have a medical and an engineering component, and it must've been planned to take at least a day or two, otherwise they would not have needed such a well-rounded crew. Finally, Kirk sent along two of Spock's peers (Spock, Scott and McCoy were all Lt. Cdr.s at that point) to witness Spock on his first time commanding an expedition. This was probably a significant feather in Spock's cap as Enterprise's XO, and necessary for his promotion to full commander.
One notion never really explored in STAR TREK would be the concept of zoned gravity. In other words, someone on "first shift" would be in the pilot's seat, while someone else might be sleeping in the rear of the main cabin while floating in a zero-gravity zone. The ceilings in the Class F are certainly high enough that crewmembers ought to be able to "bunk" over top of each other while floating above the chairs.
I would also say that since the shuttlecraft expedition to retrieve Commissioner Hedford in "Metamorphosis" was stated to be at least several hours one-way (Scott said the Galileo was abducted 5 hours shy of rendezvous), the Class F would have to include a toilet. And accommodating someone who is ill would require zoned gravity in that situation in the absence of any Sickbay facilities aboard the Galileo.
I would say McCoy and Scott were along for three reasons: The mission had to have a medical and an engineering component, and it must've been planned to take at least a day or two, otherwise they would not have needed such a well-rounded crew. Finally, Kirk sent along two of Spock's peers (Spock, Scott and McCoy were all Lt. Cdr.s at that point) to witness Spock on his first time commanding an expedition. This was probably a significant feather in Spock's cap as Enterprise's XO, and necessary for his promotion to full commander.
One notion never really explored in STAR TREK would be the concept of zoned gravity. In other words, someone on "first shift" would be in the pilot's seat, while someone else might be sleeping in the rear of the main cabin while floating in a zero-gravity zone. The ceilings in the Class F are certainly high enough that crewmembers ought to be able to "bunk" over top of each other while floating above the chairs.
I would also say that since the shuttlecraft expedition to retrieve Commissioner Hedford in "Metamorphosis" was stated to be at least several hours one-way (Scott said the Galileo was abducted 5 hours shy of rendezvous), the Class F would have to include a toilet. And accommodating someone who is ill would require zoned gravity in that situation in the absence of any Sickbay facilities aboard the Galileo.
That's a clever one! McCoy certainly seems to play the part. But Scotty for his part plays the loyal underling. Is he just writing notes in his little black book for later use for or against the Vulcan?
Spock never questions the presence of McCoy as such, so either he knows he is being watched, or then there's some excuse for having a veteran medic aboard.
Interestingly, there's only one Class M destination available for the expedition, and dialogue suggests this either wasn't the only destination or wasn't even among the destinations. So much for the camping idea!
Another issue of intrigue: was the mission launched at warp speed or not? Everybody only speaks of the "off course" issue, there being no suggestion that the shuttlecraft going far enough and fast enough to be lost in the middle of four separate star systems would be unexpected or would be blamed on the phenomenon rather than on the craft's own engines. This IMHO is the only TOS episode to specifically require a warp-capable shuttle, the other incidents being explainable as something else if need be.
Timo Saloniemi
I get the impression that Galileo was outfitted for multiple contingencies if need be in "The Galileo Seven", but their planned flight was to observe the Murasaki Effect from nearby interstellar space, perhaps much closer that the Enterprise. It's a definite in this ep that the Galileo was employing warp speed. She would have to to fly all the way around the Murasaki Effect to take readings.
In "The Menagerie, Part 1" Starbase 11's shuttlecraft, the Picaso, has to be chasing the Enterprise at warp speed. Otherwise, that part of the story doesn't make sense. It is obvious that Picaso is brought aboard the Enterprise in deep space, already part-way to the Talos Star Group.
In "Metamorphosis", Kirk's mission is to transport Commissioner Hedford from Epsilon Canaris to the Enterprise in deep space, until the entity encounters the shuttlecraft in deep space and carries the ship to Epsilon Canaris. So interstellar flight in strongly indicated there.
In "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield", the Starbase shuttlecraft is again found in deep space.
@ZapBrannigan: just to be clear, the time frame for "The Galileo Seven" would be two to three days at most, so Spock's expedition was probably only a day or two. We don't know what the range or duration of a Class F shuttlecraft would be as a maximum spec, but we can assume that a mission crew could use zoned gravity and lighting to sleep in darker, zero-g comfort above the seating without any hassle if need be.
In "The Menagerie, Part 1" Starbase 11's shuttlecraft, the Picaso, has to be chasing the Enterprise at warp speed. Otherwise, that part of the story doesn't make sense. It is obvious that Picaso is brought aboard the Enterprise in deep space, already part-way to the Talos Star Group.
In "Metamorphosis", Kirk's mission is to transport Commissioner Hedford from Epsilon Canaris to the Enterprise in deep space, until the entity encounters the shuttlecraft in deep space and carries the ship to Epsilon Canaris. So interstellar flight in strongly indicated there.
In "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield", the Starbase shuttlecraft is again found in deep space.
@ZapBrannigan: just to be clear, the time frame for "The Galileo Seven" would be two to three days at most, so Spock's expedition was probably only a day or two. We don't know what the range or duration of a Class F shuttlecraft would be as a maximum spec, but we can assume that a mission crew could use zoned gravity and lighting to sleep in darker, zero-g comfort above the seating without any hassle if need be.
The type-F shuttle has miniature versions of Enterprise's warp engines, so I always assumed that it could travel at warp speed. It apparently does not have a "core" like we have seen in all of the large scale ships, but is powered by some finite amount of "fuel" instead.
I makes zero sense for a shuttlecraft to be sublight only given the contexts we've seen on the show. It would take the Enterprise seconds to cover any distance a sublight craft could take. If sublight were the case you'd only ever use the shuttle for local operations, like flying from orbit to a planet like in "The Way to Eden" or "Journey to Babel" and never to traipse through space as seen in "Metamorphosis" or "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield".
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Yeah; it's just one of those cases that I set aside because it can be rationalized away (starships are known to start out slow, and indeed shuttles are sometimes considered superior to starships for movement inside star systems) even though I'd vastly prefer for the warp nacelles of the shuttle to be there for a reason.
Nothing about "The Menagerie" is obvious - it's all an illusion! But if this shuttle is the only thing available for chasing the starship, then being just two minutes out of spacedock at impulse would suffice for stranding Kirk and "Mendez" in the manner portrayed.
In "Metamorphosis", a starship rendezvous was needed for making the actual transit, indicating the shuttle would have been too slow. And there's the perfect excuse for using a shuttle at the starting site: asteroids would present a navigation hazard and possibly slow down the ship to speeds where the shuttle does equally well or better. In "Let", the shuttle is hijacked by a villain for whom ten thousand years is an eyeblink. Etc. But the episode at hand is a bit too much to swallow, as the issue of warp drive or lack thereof never arises, yet the underlying assumption is interstellar travel by short-lived humans, without starship rendezvouses in between.
Actually, I'd argue the finite and quickly exhausted fuel is there exclusively for sublight travel - in both the shuttle and the ship! See "The Doomsday Machine" for the major fuel problems facing a starship that has to move around at impulse.
Timo Saloniemi
The "more experienced commodore" was never aboard.
When was it established that Starbase 11's shuttle had a name? I'm guessing the remastered version?
Essentially this.
The way the various shuttlecraft were depicted in TOS none of it makes any sense unless the shuttlecraft are warp capable.
Then there are also the visual cues of the design itself. The nacelles are unmistakably simplified versions of the Enterprise's warp nacelles. And when the mockup was constructed the nacelle forward caps were intended to be lighted as were the two small rectangles under the forward hull (source: Gene Winfield and Gary Kerr) that were supposed to represent landing lights.
Nowhere throughout the series is it stated or established that Class F shuttlecraft are only sublight capable. And yet most everything in the show argues they have to be warp capable.
Details! Those illusions seemed just as real as a tabletop and just as impossible to ignore.
It was in TOS-R. The original footage simply reused a stock long shot of the Galileo.
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