Work in progress:
TOS shuttle cutaway
- Thread starter Bill Morris
- Start date
One wonders... Should the impulse engine be the row of vertical yellowish squares on top of the stern plate - or rather the single red horizontal nozzle in the middle of said plate?
The latter would be more consistent with how impulse engines look like on big starships or on later shuttle models. Granted that it's a bit off center; but so is the row of yellow squares, vertically speaking.
Also, I don't think that the aft landing pad was ever intended to retract in any fashion. In the shots of the shuttle flying in open space, such as in "Immunity Syndrome", we see this leg fully extended.
...Plus, if this thing is gonna have a toilet somewhere, the port wall of the aft compartment would be the perfect place. It was never seen on screen, after all.
Timo Saloniemi
The latter would be more consistent with how impulse engines look like on big starships or on later shuttle models. Granted that it's a bit off center; but so is the row of yellow squares, vertically speaking.
Also, I don't think that the aft landing pad was ever intended to retract in any fashion. In the shots of the shuttle flying in open space, such as in "Immunity Syndrome", we see this leg fully extended.
...Plus, if this thing is gonna have a toilet somewhere, the port wall of the aft compartment would be the perfect place. It was never seen on screen, after all.
Timo Saloniemi
It's a mess. I should start over. I like the shape of Warped9's version. And yes, the toilet will be there. I also was just looking at a screencap and noticed that the landing pads housed in the nacelles are wider than the nacelles. So they must have some clever design for that.
Man- I really don't know if a can is needed. It really needs to be determined what the range is... Not really the point of the thread, but anything less then a 4 hour flight, then one isn't really needed.
In a shuttle this small, I'd imagine anything longer would require less passanger seating, and more amenity space. That's were your toilets, sleeping, emergency gear, food, et c. would go. That bulkhead leading to the aft compartment would be moved forward, removing the last row of seats at least.
Christ, I'd hate to go on a flight longer then 2 hours it that bucket with those lousy seats!
In a shuttle this small, I'd imagine anything longer would require less passanger seating, and more amenity space. That's were your toilets, sleeping, emergency gear, food, et c. would go. That bulkhead leading to the aft compartment would be moved forward, removing the last row of seats at least.
Christ, I'd hate to go on a flight longer then 2 hours it that bucket with those lousy seats!
Which screencap? The full-size prop had its pontoons buried in sand in "The Galileo Seven", but in every subsequent episode it seemed to feature squarish pads with corresponding cutouts at the bottoms of the pontoons - longer than wide, and nicely fitting inside.
http://tos.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/3x20/waytoeden_433.jpg
The round pads visible on the scale model in takeoffs and landings (but retracted in forward angle views) are a different matter. But most blueprints seem to exaggerate their size.
TOS-R shows all the pads retracting, including the aft one (behind split hatches at the lower corner of the hull, in "The Galileo Seven"). But I'm not sure we should put much weight on that detail.
Timo Saloniemi
Technically it's a "section at centerline" view.
Another version:
For the toilet, I'd recommend something along the lines of what we saw in "Firefly", where it folds back into the wall when not in use, which would go a long ways towards explaining why we never saw the thing. Plus, it avoids the potential issue of it being in the way in a critical moment.
Good idea. I'll make it like that. Thanks.
That's something they could have fixed in TOS-R: remove the "windshields" completely. From the inside, the three panels could easily be considered to be monitors, or rather three virtua-windows opened on a wall-sized monitor (and TOS-R could have introduced a fourth, larger window at eye level). From the outside, the three panels would never open, but would be sensor covers or something like that.
But no, TOS-R confirmed that these are transparent windows by showing people inside when viewed from outside.
Perhaps we could argue that the positioning is a compromise for both horizontal and vertical approaches to a mothership? That is, on some starships, the shuttlebay hatch might be at the bottom (like on NX-01) and the shuttle would do positive z to get in, so the pilot would need an upward view.
Timo Saloniemi
But no, TOS-R confirmed that these are transparent windows by showing people inside when viewed from outside.
Perhaps we could argue that the positioning is a compromise for both horizontal and vertical approaches to a mothership? That is, on some starships, the shuttlebay hatch might be at the bottom (like on NX-01) and the shuttle would do positive z to get in, so the pilot would need an upward view.
Timo Saloniemi
True they're not much good as forward viewports, but shuttle pilots tend not to use them anyway. In "Metamorphosis" Spock is flying using that fold-in spherical scanner thing...until the dramatic reveal of the energy cloud that is!
And I think Commodore Decker flies with them shut as well, until he's close enough to the Planet Killer to have...a dramatic reveal!
And I think Commodore Decker flies with them shut as well, until he's close enough to the Planet Killer to have...a dramatic reveal!
Good points.
Any space vessel that independently houses personnel for any length of time requires facilities for relief, cleansing, food/water and first aid. If a spacesuit would have its own built-in relief facilities, a space vessel obviously would as well. About the only exception I could think of would be a travel pod, which itself stretches the definition of space vessel. (Seems more like a turbolift-in-space to me.) Although maybe it, too, would have built-in facilities.
As for the impulse engine: it all depends on where the center of gravity is for this ship. And what powers a shuttlecraft anyway? Are those matter-antimatter nacelles, just like the ones used by large starships? If so, where to they store the fuel? "The Galileo Seven" and "The Menagerie, Part 1" seemed to suggest that shuttlecrafts may use a different power source, but it was never clear to me what it was. If the ship uses some fuel-based reactor technology, then the fuel must be stored in either the nacelles or the underbelly of the ship (where Scotty was tinkering while on the surface of Taurus II) which would suggest the lower half of the ship to be the center of gravity. This would, in turn, suggest that the impulse engine would be located near the bottom of the vessel.
If, on the other hand, fuel were stored in the ceiling of the main fuselage, that glowing rear array would be ideal for an impulse engine.
Sorry if this muddies the waters, but Timo brought up some great points.
Clearly, we're not dealing with Newtonian thrust systems....
Here's the final, no 5-year project here, including CRA's foldaway toilet:
Are you talking about the red access plate which Spock opens in Metamorphosis to gain access to equipment? The magnetic plate which he places on the hull just above the opening in that episode?
Well, it wouldn't have been my first choice for an impulse engine... but if that is what you think that should be, you're welcome to think that.
So it opens up? Too bad. I knew it had lettering on it, but I was sort of hoping nobody would notice...
Then again, one should have some sort of access to one's impulse engine, now shouldn't one?
Semi-seriously, the red-glowing plate capping most impulse engines could quite well be a removable, solid-looking object. As long as impulse engines aren't interpreted to be rockets, their tailpipe could have very fine mesh covering it...
That aft landing leg still looks wrong to me. TOS-R is the only time we see it retract, and there it doesn't fold upward; it sort of slides into the underfloor space (which is still missing from the cutaway).
Timo Saloniemi
Then again, one should have some sort of access to one's impulse engine, now shouldn't one?
Semi-seriously, the red-glowing plate capping most impulse engines could quite well be a removable, solid-looking object. As long as impulse engines aren't interpreted to be rockets, their tailpipe could have very fine mesh covering it...That aft landing leg still looks wrong to me. TOS-R is the only time we see it retract, and there it doesn't fold upward; it sort of slides into the underfloor space (which is still missing from the cutaway).
Timo Saloniemi
