Why do some shuttlecraft look like the parent vessel while other shuttles do not? Though it's not practical, I always loved the idea of shuttlecraft mirroring the mothership. This may not be practical, but for the TV audience, it just looks better, no? Speaking of mothership, in science-fiction, sometimes a small UFO will visit the Earth with the mothership in orbit. Have you ever looked at the Enterprise or Voyager as the mothership?
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The Enterprise D and E maybe, they were so big. It seems like Voyager was closer to Kirk's Enterprise in size. -
That's debatable. The ship had fewer decks and a smaller crew, but at the same time, it seemed to have a greater internal mass. Voyager had a beefier look than Kirk's Enterprise. Actually, I'd say Voyager came across as a midsize ship rather than a small ship. We only saw a few ship designs on the scale of the Enterprise-D & E. When Voyager was originally conceived, the ship was going to be a lot smaller. The final design ended up being midsize, but the writers still treated it like a smaller ship. I think this was only because it was small when compared to the Enterprise-D. When compared to other Starfleet ships, it's actually average size. The only Starfleet ship classes that were a lot bigger than Voyager were Galaxy, Sovereign, Nebula, Ambassador, and... well, that's it, really.
In regards to shuttlecraft, does size really matter? I figure if the ship is big enough to house at least one shuttlecraft, then it can be thought of as a mothership, no?Comment
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Voyager may not have carried as many shuttles as Picard's Enterprise, but it did have several. Plus Neelix's ship and the Delta Flyer. I don't know if they carried any runabouts or not.Comment
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Originally posted by tlw View Post
That's debatable, considering how many got destroyed during the series
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Given that the shuttlebay is usually empty except for whatever shuttle is being launched, it's long been assumed that their is a storage bay directly forward of the shuttlebay. Granted, the show has never been consistent with the ever changing shuttlebay interior. All in all, yes, Voyager carried at least four of it's own shuttlecraft, Neelix's Baxial, and the Delta Flyer (Season 5 onward). The ship did not carry a runabout as it simply wouldn't fit in the shuttlebay. However, it did carry a runabout-sized vehicle embedded in the saucer's underbelly. Unfortunately, this ship was never featured. The writers wanted to introduce it in the fifth season, but Rick Berman shot them down as he believed it would steal the thunder from the Enterprise-E's Captain's Yacht in Insurrection. Consequently, the Delta Flyer was introduced.Comment
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No. Personally I think of a 'mothership' as a ship which is specifically designed to carry smaller exploratory vessels, not unlike our own aircraft carriers. For example, I think of the Wraith Hive ships as 'motherships', as they carry a large number of darts which are used for culling and attack purposes.Originally posted by Snowman37 View Post
As the purpose of the Federation ships is rarely to provide transport for a fleet of smaller vessels, and their primary function is usually scientific analysis or defence, I view the smaller shuttle-craft more as support vessels, which are normally used when a smaller vehicle is required. Furthermore, small vehicles such as shuttle-craft, runabouts, Delta Flier, etc, are not completely reliant upon their parent vessel. They can travel great distances under their own impetus, and reach certain warp speeds. In opposition, Wraith darts cannot open hyperspace windows, and without a mothership to transport them (or alternatively, a convenient stargate to travel through) they would be stranded. For this reason I would also consider the X-303/304 series in stargate to be 'motherships', as they carry a number of 302s which are similarly reliant on them.Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master.
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I can see your point of view. If an alien was impressed with say, the Delta Flyer, wouldn't the alien be surprised to see Voyager and think the mothership? I guess mothership really only works when you think the smaller ship is the fullsize ship. Funny you never hear mothership much in space-based science-fiction.Comment
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I think Independence Day gave the term negative connotations.Originally posted by Snowman37 View PostBeware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master.
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