The inconsistent helm and navigation consoles of the Galileo Shuttlecraft in TOS

[Koloth TOS]

Matt Jefferies designed the Galileo control consoles, but he did not consider this to be a major item: “We just tried to come up with something that looked sensible; some intrumentation they would have to have, compared to what could be done automatically on the Enterprise. Unless you had a story that involved a shuttlecraft entirely then it would have been such a quick, transitory thing that it would have been wasted effort.”

That explains the inconsistencies compared to the helm and navigation instruments on the Enterprise bridge. So we see inside the shuttlecraft some funny helm and navigation gizmos, on the right side a blind screen, in the middle section another one and below a strange 60s tape recorder, even some 60s airplane dials are there! Things you would never expect on the bridge of the Enterprise. So why here? (BTW I love the rest of the interior and of course the exterior of the Galileo.)

So this is a first sketch of what could be a "logical" shuttlecraft console, containing helm, navigation and a small screen.

Thoughts and ideas, please, cause I am going to scratch build a 1:6 scale interior of the Galileo.

 

[Mr. Spook]

I loved the really awkward control that Latimer had to hit to cut forward momentum.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

Matt Jefferies designed the Galileo control consoles, but he did not consider this to be a major item: “We just tried to come up with something that looked sensible; some intrumentation they would have to have, compared to what could be done automatically on the Enterprise. Unless you had a story that involved a shuttlecraft entirely then it would have been such a quick, transitory thing that it would have been wasted effort.”

That explains the inconsistencies compared to the helm and navigation instruments on the Enterprise bridge. So we see inside the shuttlecraft some funny helm and navigation gizmos, on the right side a blind screen, in the middle section another one and below a strange 60s tape recorder, even some 60s airplane dials are there! Things you would never expect on the bridge of the Enterprise. So why here? (BTW I love the rest of the interior and of course the exterior of the Galileo.)

So this is a first sketch of what could be a "logical" shuttlecraft console, containing helm, navigation and a small screen.

Thoughts and ideas, please, cause I am going to scratch build a 1:6 scale interior of the Galileo.

I wouldn't use the Transporter sliders, but otherwise that's tremendous. For your center monitor, they could put in a rear projector; the slides could be faux data readouts. But the art department wasn't very good at that because nobody had seen modern computer screens yet. The centerpiece could be a hands-on astrogator like Sulu had, instead of a monitor.

 

[Koloth TOS]

I wouldn't use the Transporter sliders, but otherwise that's tremendous. For your center monitor, they could put in a rear projector; the slides could be faux data readouts. But the art department wasn't very good at that because nobody had seen modern computer screens yet. The centerpiece could be a hands-on astrogator like Sulu had, instead of a monitor.

Thank you for your observations. The « transporter sliders » are no invention of mine, they are present in « The Doomsday Machine » and « The Immunity Syndrome ». The « slides » are intended to be control panels with real buttons like Sulu’s und Chekov’s. I, too, had the idea of the astrogator in the centerpiece, but the transparent astrogator in the original show is such a prominent thing that I’ve been afraid to touch it.

 

[Koloth TOS]

I loved the really awkward control that Latimer had to hit to cut forward momentum.

 

[Koloth TOS]

I loved the really awkward control that Latimer had to hit to cut forward momentum.

Even worse the course deviation device, lent from the Enterprise bridge, and nowhere installed in the Galileo!

Or even Spock reaching out for the center piece to click the fuel jettison button.

The Computer type 4A alpha/beta was not installed in the center piece, it was hanging on the side walls of the shuttlecraft.

 

[Shawnster]

The « transporter sliders » are no invention of mine, they are present in « The Doomsday Machine » and « The Immunity Syndrome ».

They look more like how throttle controls are depicted, though. Much more pronounced curve than the flat transporter sliders.

https://tos.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/screencaps/season2/219-immunity-syndrome/immunity-syndrome-br-575.jpg

Totally different design from The Doomsday Machine. That's interesting.

https://tos.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/screencaps/season2/206-doomsday-machine/doomsday-machine-br-628.jpg

 

[ZapBrannigan]

There seems to be a third variant in Metamorphosis:

https://tos.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/screencaps/season2/202-metamorphosis/metamorphosis-br-021.jpg

They were absent in The Galileo Seven:

https://tos.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/screencaps/season1/113-galileo-seven/galileo-seven-br-564.jpg

 

[Koloth TOS]

Here is an alternative composition.

 

[Koloth TOS]

There seems to be a third variant in Metamorphosis:

https://tos.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/screencaps/season2/202-metamorphosis/metamorphosis-br-021.jpg

They were absent in The Galileo Seven:

https://tos.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/screencaps/season1/113-galileo-seven/galileo-seven-br-564.jpg

Indeed, there are a lot of changes in the interior decorations of the Galileo during seasons one and two. The otherwise naked walls (in Galileo 7, Menagery I) were decorated with gizmos looking like egg cartons in Doomsday Machine and Metamorphosis, or loudspeaker like gizmos in The Immunity Syndrome...

 

[Koloth TOS]

They were absent in The Galileo Seven:

https://tos.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/screencaps/season1/113-galileo-seven/galileo-seven-br-564.jpg

Indeed, and in The Menagery I.

 

[drt]

Until this thread, I never realized that I hadn't paid all that much attention to the shuttle controls and their somewhat nonsensicalness.

There seems to be a third variant in Metamorphosis:

https://tos.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/screencaps/season2/202-metamorphosis/metamorphosis-br-021.jpg

I'm distracted by all that new junk hanging off the upper walls.

 

[Koloth TOS]

I am beginning to believe that this might be a good idea for a 1:6 scale reproduction.

 

[trynda1701]

I am beginning to believe that this might be a good idea for a 1:6 scale reproduction.

This would help tie it in to a more compact version of the Bridge Helm/Nav console.

In a way, in the same way they used the Helm console for the Transporter console in "Where No Man Has Gone Before", I'm surprised they didn't reuse it for the Galileo. But it's probably too big for the interior set!

 

[ZapBrannigan]

I'm distracted by all that new junk hanging off the upper walls.

https://tos.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/screencaps/season2/202-metamorphosis/metamorphosis-br-021.jpg

First guess: those are two halves of the Styrofoam™ packing form that a new electric typewriter came boxed in. I would even bet on it.

Directly over Bill's head could be things as simple as a fast-food container and a dressed-up mailbox.

At the same time, they look right, because you need components, equipment, and even storage in a spacecraft. And it's reasonable for some of it to be mission-specific, so it's not continuity errors.

 

[Koloth TOS]

This would help tie it in to a more compact version of the Bridge Helm/Nav console.

In a way, in the same way they used the Helm console for the Transporter console in "Where No Man Has Gone Before", I'm surprised they didn't reuse it for the Galileo. But it's probably too big for the interior set!

Thanks for the WNMHGB hint! I am not sure whether the Helm/navi console would have been too big for the Galileo interior, the interior set of the shuttlecraft was quite large (even bigger compared to the exterior shuttlecraft).

 

[Koloth TOS]

https://tos.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/screencaps/season2/202-metamorphosis/metamorphosis-br-021.jpg

First guess: those are two halves of the Styrofoam™ packing form that a new electric typewriter came boxed in. I would even bet on it.

Directly over Bill's head could be things as simple as a fast-food container and a dressed-up mailbox.

At the same time, they look right, because you need components, equipment, and even storage in a spacecraft. And it's reasonable for some of it to be mission-specific, so it's not continuity errors.

"mission-specific, so it's not continuity errors", very well said, ZapBrannigan!

I won't use most of them anyway in my 1:6 scale project, though, except those nice gizmos:

 

[ZapBrannigan]

I won't use most of them anyway in my 1:6 scale project, though, except those nice gizmos:

Adam Savage just unboxed a 1:6 scale Batmobile, and one of his remarks was that if you collect cars at this scale, they take up only marginally less space than collecting the actual cars.

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Unless you're in a McMansion, your shuttlecraft is going to eat a lot of floor space, more than that Batmobile which is only 19 feet long IRL.

 

[Koloth TOS]

Adam Savage just unboxed a 1:6 scale Batmobile, and one of his remarks was that if you collect cars at this scale, they take up only marginally less space than collecting the actual cars.

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Unless you're in a McMansion, your shuttlecraft is going to eat a lot of floor space.

Hahaha! Well, he is right.
I have a current sickbay project, a current auxiliary control project, a Jefferies tube project, a turbolift project, a starbase K7 transporter pad ready to beam, so I won't have space for the complete shuttlecraft, just for the interior.

 

[FredH]

They look more like how throttle controls are depicted, though. Much more pronounced curve than the flat transporter sliders.

https://tos.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/screencaps/season2/219-immunity-syndrome/immunity-syndrome-br-575.jpg

Totally different design from The Doomsday Machine. That's interesting.

https://tos.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/screencaps/season2/206-doomsday-machine/doomsday-machine-br-628.jpg

Console swapouts?