Facts About Spaceships in Star Trek

Among all the science fiction series that were released in its early years, Star Trek is a popular American science fiction television program and a popular genre that many film critics and scientists praise for being more grounded in reality. In fact, some of its ships are currently on display in science museums or up for auction.

Gene Roddenberry created the original Star Trek, an American television series that debuted in 1966 and lasted three seasons. It followed the interstellar exploits of Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the Federation Starship Enterprise, and it was based on the earlier pilot film “The Cage,” in which Jeffrey Hunter played Captain Christopher Pike.

Fans have been drawn to the Star Trek series for its variety of fascinating and amazing spacecraft in addition to its space-thrilling plot and visual effects. The majority of the Star Trek television shows, films, and expanded universe are set on various spaceships, and other spaceships help to develop the plots of the franchise. Throughout the development of the franchise, a variety of real-world and computer-generated models of spacecraft have been used.

The show has become popular with its array of spaceships. Here is a fact sheet on the spacecrafts featured in Star Trek:

1. Producers had to strike a balance between depicting realistic, futuristic ships and their frequently limited resources. Star Trek vessels have been promoted as models, books, and attractions in addition to their media appearances. At public auctions, filming models have fetched thousands of dollars. To cut down on production costs, the filmmakers had to reuse spacecraft from other installations. The (USS) Enterprise 1701 is a prime example of this kind of resourcefulness.

The starship from The Space Children is perhaps the most notable of the many other vessels that appeared in the original Star Trek television series that were repurposed from earlier television productions, including episodes of The Outer Limits, The Lieutenant, and Sea Hunt.

2. Star Trek ships and space stations were given designation as if they were US Navy ships. In the original television series, each ship or space station (and the occasional planet) was given a designation as if they were US Navy ships.The Star Trek Enterprise appeared as both a drawing and model in the original television series. The Enterprise was used as a command module in some space scenes while the larger ship Constitution-class is used in other space shots.  In Gene Roddenberry’s pitch to network executives for Star Trek, he stated the ship was named after the first nuclear submarine, called the Nautilus. Also, the original starship Enterprise on the television series Star Trek was named after the United States Navy aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6).

3. Star Trek spacecraft took inspiration from NASA’s designs. The interior of the starship Enterprise was carefully designed, based upon a NASA space shuttle orbiter design and paintings of futuristic interiors from magazines such as Life.

4. In 2006, the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum put the model of the original series’ Enterprise on display.  A Smithsonian Air and Space Museum curator oversaw the creation of a display case with interactive features to house this iconic piece of television history.As a historically important piece of television memorabilia, this relic commands respect and is a significant part of American pop culture history.

5. The television starship “Enterprise” was originally designed to have a “winged” shape, but this had to be abandoned in order to fit on the 8×8 foot stage. The original idea of giving the iconic television relic a winged shape was adjusted to accommodate its vast size in the studio since it was too big for the stage. Following that, the Enterprise was designed specifically for each Star Trek television and film series and had a unique appearance. Matt Jefferies created more than 200 schematics for the Enterprise over the course of more than a year for the original Star Trek television series.

6. Roddenberry had originally intended for the USS Enterprise to land on several worlds, but this proved to be prohibitively expensive due to the need to construct expensive sets. The next strategy called for the use of shuttles, but when filming began, the full-sized shooting model wasn’t ready. As a result, they had the genius idea to transfer the crew by “beaming down,” and the transporter was created!

7. ‘Enterprise’ designer Jefferies served in the United States Airforce and spent time inside various bombers during World War II. Jefferies, a talented engineer and aviation enthusiast, used his knowledge to create the Enterprise, both inside and out, with an “aircraft logic” that would enhance viewer engagement with the television show. According to Jefferies’ logic, the ship’s interior should contain all of the crucial machinery.

8. The Yamato, a sister ship of the USS Enterprise-D, is reportedly named after a Japanese aircraft carrier from World War II. It made a brief appearance in the “Contagion” episode of The Next Generation. In addition to being named after a Japanese aircraft, some people think it was also named after the anime Space Battleship Yamato, better known as StarBlazers. The majority of official Trek literature disputes the second influence, yet it doesn’t seem like a coincidence at all.

9. The first actual US aircraft carrier to use nuclear power was called Enterprise. When the crew travels back in time to 1986 in Star Trek IV, this is mentioned. Chekov and Uhura smuggle themselves aboard the Enterprise at the same time in order to steal some nuclear energy and relaunch their own damaged spacecraft. This was made possible when fans started a letter-campaign to name NASA’s shuttle after the most famous Star Trek original series ship.

10. A shooting miniature of Enterprise was purchased at an auction at a hefty price. An authentic shooting model of the USS Enterprise-D that was expected to fetch between $20,000 and $30,000 was sold at auction. It went for nearly $600,000.