.... Continued from above page
(Bajoran Lightship)
Bajoran lightship The lightship (and the basic plot of the episode itself) was inspired by the voyage of the Kon-Tiki, a deliberately primitive sailing craft that Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl used to sail from Peru to Tahiti in 1947, substantiating his belief that it was possible that a Pre-Columbian South American civilization could have settled Polynesia by making a trans-oceanic voyage.
Production designer Herman Zimmerman and illustrator Jim Martin envisioned the Siskos as "sailors in space" and intentionally made the set of the lightship similar to a sailing boat. René Echevarria told Zimmerman and Martin that he wanted the ship to have a "Jules Verne look, a wooden cabin outfitted with brass." Indeed, some real sailing equipment can even be seen in the background at various points in the episode. Both men count this episode among their favorites to work on from a design point of view, and Zimmerman mentions it in the Star Trek V: The Final Frontier Special Edition DVD special feature Herman Zimmerman: A Tribute.
As Jim Martin explains, in reality, a solar sail would need to be several miles wide to propel a ship like this. As such, "We needed to take it into the realm of fantasy. But that was a very whimsical idea, and we could be very whimsical with it, and do something that was kind of in a fun fantasy vein." (Sailing Through the Stars: A Special Look at "Explorers", DS9 Season 3 DVD special features)
At one point in the episode, commander Sisko says, "We'll be tacking against the light most of the way." However, tacking a sailboat involves exploiting the force exerted by water against the keel; as such, it is impossible to tack a lightship in vacuum.
John Knoll at Industrial Light & Magic created the lightship as a CGI model. He later used the model for Akorem Laan's ship in "Accession".
At its 1995 convention, the Space Frontier Foundation recognized this episode for exemplifying "the most imaginative use of a vehicle to travel in space," and awarded the episode the "Best Vision of the Future" award. The award was presented by Robert Staehle, the world's foremost expert on solar sails.
Most shots of the lightship are from the aft (rear) because, being powered by solar currents, the ship always has its back to the Bajoran sun.
When the Star Trek Customizable Card Game released its "Energize" set in 2003, special pairs of starships and their matching commanders were released as a promotion to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the game's launch. One such pair was "Benjamin Sisko, Shipwright" (whose alignment was Bajoran, rather than Federation) and the ship seen in this episode, which was given the name Baraka.
The Cardassian attitude towards Bajoran "fairy tales" about ancient first contact and interstellar flight bears similarities to some European countries' initial reaction to the notion that Columbus was not the first to "discover" America.
(Bajoran Lightship)
Bajoran lightship The lightship (and the basic plot of the episode itself) was inspired by the voyage of the Kon-Tiki, a deliberately primitive sailing craft that Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl used to sail from Peru to Tahiti in 1947, substantiating his belief that it was possible that a Pre-Columbian South American civilization could have settled Polynesia by making a trans-oceanic voyage.
Production designer Herman Zimmerman and illustrator Jim Martin envisioned the Siskos as "sailors in space" and intentionally made the set of the lightship similar to a sailing boat. René Echevarria told Zimmerman and Martin that he wanted the ship to have a "Jules Verne look, a wooden cabin outfitted with brass." Indeed, some real sailing equipment can even be seen in the background at various points in the episode. Both men count this episode among their favorites to work on from a design point of view, and Zimmerman mentions it in the Star Trek V: The Final Frontier Special Edition DVD special feature Herman Zimmerman: A Tribute.
As Jim Martin explains, in reality, a solar sail would need to be several miles wide to propel a ship like this. As such, "We needed to take it into the realm of fantasy. But that was a very whimsical idea, and we could be very whimsical with it, and do something that was kind of in a fun fantasy vein." (Sailing Through the Stars: A Special Look at "Explorers", DS9 Season 3 DVD special features)
At one point in the episode, commander Sisko says, "We'll be tacking against the light most of the way." However, tacking a sailboat involves exploiting the force exerted by water against the keel; as such, it is impossible to tack a lightship in vacuum.
John Knoll at Industrial Light & Magic created the lightship as a CGI model. He later used the model for Akorem Laan's ship in "Accession".
At its 1995 convention, the Space Frontier Foundation recognized this episode for exemplifying "the most imaginative use of a vehicle to travel in space," and awarded the episode the "Best Vision of the Future" award. The award was presented by Robert Staehle, the world's foremost expert on solar sails.
Most shots of the lightship are from the aft (rear) because, being powered by solar currents, the ship always has its back to the Bajoran sun.
When the Star Trek Customizable Card Game released its "Energize" set in 2003, special pairs of starships and their matching commanders were released as a promotion to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the game's launch. One such pair was "Benjamin Sisko, Shipwright" (whose alignment was Bajoran, rather than Federation) and the ship seen in this episode, which was given the name Baraka.
The Cardassian attitude towards Bajoran "fairy tales" about ancient first contact and interstellar flight bears similarities to some European countries' initial reaction to the notion that Columbus was not the first to "discover" America.
.
Comment