Simplicity only in texture though, the shape of it is quite complicated, bringing together disparate elements and even levels of stylization and yet it integrates and works.
Took a very good design, plussed it, and made it even better! Still based on the Matt Jefferies Phase II design, though. My only quibble is that I don't really see anyone realistically rebuilding a ship with such a radically different look as the TOS Enterprise into the Refit. What happens in real life is that they modify and rebuild superstructure on existing ships (see the World War II aircraft carriers refit with angled decks in the 1950s) BUT the general hull and engines are left alone; they build onto the hull and that increases weight dramatically, sometimes so much that sea handling gets worsened and the existing hull and engines are stressed because the ship was designed to a lower gross weight. They've lost tankers due to structural collapse from overloading when they revised the ship's specs from the original manufacturer recommendations. Allegedly, the Edmund Fitzgerald broke up partially because they revised her load carrying spec upward. It's too expensive and impractical to rebuild ships like they did in TMP in real life. What they really would have have done is retire the original Constitution Class Enterprise, maybe put it in an orbital museum, and THEN build a new ship like the TMP design from keel to bridge bubble. Someone actually wrote an alternate reality Star Trek comic (published by Marvel years ago) where this did happen. The critical difference was Pike was still in command of the "TMP ship" which was the Enterprise-A instead of the previous Enterprise/original NCC-1701 which was retired to the Smithsonian collection after a final 5-year mission commanded by Pike! NOW, if the TOS had been a bit more like the Phase II design, I could see that being refit into the TMP Enterprise. Phase 2 was an impressive redesign in itself that was more minimal but I gotta admit I liked the revised font, pinstriping, and paint job on the Refit Enterprise better. They never did another Enterprise design better than the Refit, IMHO. It's waffled back and forth between ugly and "okay" on the later designs but none of them equal the TMP ship.
@@AvengerII that’s why Jefferies made the nacelles way from the ship. QUICK CHANGE UNITS for upgrades or if one gets damaged. Also it was a STARSHIP CLASS. The ENTERPRISE was the 17th design, 01 FIRST BIRD. Also the refit should’ve been labeled 1701A according to Jefferies designs.
But the TOS Enterprise design SO accomplished what it was meant to. Yes, it does have a 60's TV sci-fi aesthetic about it (the Refit design helped with that). But what the original accomplished was, at the time, giving us a spaceship design that WASN'T a rocket ship, or a flying saucer. It combined elements of both, in a style that told the viewer immediately THIS IS A SPACE SHIP. It operates IN SPACE, not continually entering and leaving planetary atmospheres like the aforementioned designs we were all used to. As a vehicle of the imagination it was (and is) a freaking brilliant design.
ajb695, I've been thinking about this alot lately. And I don't think the Enterprise has much of a 60's sci-fi look. Look up 1960's futurism. And you'll see how sharp lines, and convex curves were popular. In comparison the Enterprise has a soft look, with many straight lines. I think this why the ship looks so good. Gene didn't want a ship that looked like it came from the 60's. Now obviously there are some 1960's design elements, that's, for obvious reasons unavoidable. Actually, love or hate it, the Kelvin Enterprise looks more 60's. And some of the concepts for it, even more.
The refit holds up just fine today, despite being from '78. Even the TMP sets had a few (fake) touch screens the actors would use (Kirk's chair, turbolift pads).
Actually the "refit design" totally ruined it. It added unnecessary complexity, and tried to make it look sleek and aerodynamic, even though there is no air in space. The original design was perfect. Matt Jeffries got it right the first time.
@@geraldscott4302 Yeah, the refit has its charm, but there is something ageless about the original. It is enigmatic, it can't be pigeonholed, and so it survives and retains its interest. None of the 'artists' who has tried to beat the original designs has accomplished squat, all told. Especially including the barbarians who did the CGI upgrades. They added shadows but they lost that ineffable glow, and texture. They sucked out all the magic with their 'improved' camera angles and cold dead surfaces. Their work is dating faster than the original. Oh but yes, the ship ...
@@geraldscott4302 I'm with you. I've never cared much for the refit design, and don't understand why so many Trek fans think it's better looking than Matt Jeffries' perfect original design.
Iconic is the word for that design. But what about the sound effects? I always loved the sound of the phasers and especially the photon torpedoes! Classic.
Without question, and the Kilngon D7 while derivative, and the original Romulan Warbird, all three fantastic designs. The Galileo projected the design for mini-vans decades in advance ;)
I agree , Manny Cotto was a champ in getting Enterprise better though towards the end of the second season it got better . What killed the show was most fans were trekked out with so many programs and then UPN couldn't find stations in areas .
Has anyone else driven on a trafficless road at night in a snowstorm and imagined your were travelling at warp speed as snowflakes looked like stars whizzing by?
I was in awe w the original design NCC-1701. All other Sci-Fi ships 50s & 60s looked simple finned rockets, or flying saucer-ish (Except for 2001: A Space Odyssey). Thank you for this video.
Somewhere I read that Matt Jefferies reasoned everything should be able to be repaired on the inside of the ship so no one would need to be exposed to the harsh environment of space.
Funny that originally it was supposed to be upside down in the early design sketches.....warp nacelles on the bottom and all that. Glad it's the way it is now. I still have a thing for the Miranda Class.....
@@gabevee3 NO...NBC- not CBS. CBS had that retarded show called "Lost in Space". And there was bad blood between Roddenberry and CBS as he ran the show proposal by them first and they rejected it, after picking his brain. This is why Roddenberry had his subtle revenge on CBS by having the uniform's Science/Medical logo vaguely resemble the CBS logo. Look closely within Spock's or McCoy's chest insignia sometime and you will see it.
@@alecfoster4413 Yes, my error. And my apologies. I was under the impression Lucy was associated with CBS, but I guess any show Desilu made can be shown anywhere that took it. Thanks for the correction.
"Can you tell me why you crashed sir?" "Honestly Officer, that damned Enterprise ahead of me slammed on its reverse thrust and I had to swerve to avoid it!" "Errr...ok Sir, please blow into this bag..."
U.S.S. Enterprise, NCC-1701, is the most beautiful ship that has ever been envisioned. To me, the design exudes grace, elegance, dignity, and strength. The refit design was also magnificent, but to me, the original is awe inspiring.
In later years, the ship design itself was used as the rule for developing the warp field theory of Star Trek canonical knowledge. The theory was fitted to the ship design.
TOS Enterprise has some anthropomorphism going on: Head held high, her critical mind glowing from within, her chest below, broad and powerful breast, sturdy yet elegant neck, to a solid torso harboring all the vital organs, with legs... they go all the way up - long, intense, tireless power plants, powering this majestic mistress across the stars with assurety, ease and grace... Once you see her like this - it kinda sticks forever, did for me. add the horns decalring: Da da daaaaa, da da da da daaaaaaa, da daaaaa! Oh yeh, she is proud, beautiful, brilliant and classic, beyond all assessment
I was amazed when, changing channels on TV, looking for something interesting to watch, I first stumbled on Star Trek, way back in the late 60s. Before that, I hadn't even heard of it. Love that ship! Built a model of it way back when.
Yes, I agree, the man who designed the Enterprise ship I think his nane is Matt Jefferies (forgive me if I'm incorrect) was an actual aircraft designer. It was one of those "off-things" that they let him do. Even the hull-markings, and registry numbers, on the ship had actual designation meanings, not just some googly-moogly. You can definitely see items on the structure of "the next gen enterprise" ship as well, relating to ocean sailing ships. For example look at the neck connection between the flying saucer and the boat looking bottom hull. The neck is kind-of gracefully triangular in shape, like a ships (bow) prow. The boat type, lower section is connected to two structural pylons to make it look like an upside down catamaran. Even the flying saucer looking part, if you look at it from the top is not actually round, its ovular, like a squat-surfboard. Kind of neat all the design aspects that go into these things; at least it is to me.
2 things were popular in the 60's, flying saucers and jet airplanes, what do you think was going through the designers head when he designed the enterprise.
People think of the Enterprise when they want to escape/drift off and go on an adventure.Sometimes it's fun to imagine and go onto fantasy but it can be a problem if it happens instead of facing life.
i remember roddenberry rejecred one design after anothet until they made the iconic enterprise we all know and love. i always thought the enterprisewas designed like an eagle with itts "head" (saucer section) held high and wings (nacelles) above. the klingon ship was like a vulltire with the head low and the wings lower.
I feel pretty much exactly that same way. Very few people involved with any Trek since the orig. and TNG understand what Trek is about. I heard it put recently on one of these videos that it's fundamentally a workplace drama. Only, the workplace is as beloved as the characters who's drama we live with. And that's the key term, "live with." It's about living ON THAT SHIP as much as it is about the circumstances. The ship is the beloved framework. That's why, among the new Pine/Quinto Treks, the best of all of them is the first couple of minutes when it looks like we're going to spend time on the ship... but then the voiceover by Kirk is talking about how ho-hum it is, and then we get ACTION!!1! And it's hard to care as much because those producers don't understand that the ship has to be made "home."
@@rays7437 THAT is exactly right, and something the JJ Trek never understood. The Enterprise was a beloved character on the show, and we grieved her when she finally ended her last voyage.
There's something to the reverse of what we would think being aerodynamic should be, and having the girthier traits being in the front, and the more narrow features being in the rear. And with the rare exception of the USS Voyager design, the HEIGHT of the earlier ships all the way through the Enterprise-D made them so fascinating. It's interesting to say this, given that two of my other favorite ships of all time are the Klingon Bird of Prey and the Star Destroyer.
I would have liked this Blu ray release better if they had A) given us more outtakes than they did; and B) designed the menu so you COULD watch specific outtakes instead of having to slog through the documentaries all the time! Most people don't watch documentaries more than once or twice, even on the series they like! The whole point of this set WAS the outtakes and I felt the lack of an ability to go straight to and watch the outtakes you wanted was a huge minus in an other-wise decent but arguably optional purchase.
LOL... I had that same "where's the bridge?" problem - having missed the pilot episode that showed that bridge overlay effect in 1966. It puzzled me for years up till syndication sometime after 1970 when they finally re-aired the pilot and I finally saw that bridge scene and went, "Ohhh! Hey! There they are!" lol...
If you think about it, the bridge on the Enterprise is where the crows nest would be on a sailing ship. I always felt it was too exposed and would be better placed mid-saucer.
Look - a window! To all those who complain about the Kelvin Timeline Enterprise or the ships in Discovery having windows which are also used a viewing screens - the original Enterprise had one as far back as The Cage.
I love the original ship. The only other Enterprise I ever liked was the one they used for Star Trek Enterprise starring Scott Bakula. My problem with all of them, however, is that none of them are actually big enough in scale to have accommodated as many personnel as was claimed.
If you look at some of the spaceship concepts for the Alcubierre Warp Drive. The USS Enterprise is surprisingly similar to what NASA imagines a warp capable ship to look like.
Was the design based on John R. R Searl's Inverse gravity vehicle? It was what was called a anti gravity ship that went into space on a test flight. It looked like a flying saucer
It was the first time we realized that a ship that never lands doesn't have to look like a rocket or have fins. A Borg cube is just as viable really, maybe more so
So much about the design of the Enterprise shouldn't work. It's a flying saucer with two cigars all attached to sausage. Yet, it does work and has become the most iconic spaceship in science fiction.
www.physics.uq.edu.au/lp/lasdiag/enterp.php - _"For StarTrek fans we tested the USS Enterprise in our super-orbital expansion tube - X2. A scale model was placed in the test section and the facility used to generate a high speed gas flow of around 6.6 km/s. This was passed over the Enterprise for a duration of approximately 100 microseconds. We perform similar tests on other models investigating dissociation and ionisation processes which occur during atmospheric re-entry. (...) A crucial design point is the avoidance of "shock-shock" interactions where one shock wave hits another directly in front of the body. If this were to occur there would be catastrophic consequences for structural integrity in these regions. The image shows that the designers certainly knew their stuff - at this speed, the bow shocks pass comfortably outside the other sections of the vehicle."_ In short: the design is more logical than you realized.
I remember when I was 14 I tied a rope to my model Enterprise and lit the necells on fire and swung it around with gigantic black smoke chunkage flying off the back end. Good times good times
I do the same thing. Just looking at the ENTERPRISE's on screen is one thing. It's only 900 feet long. But it's all about the Girth. The saucer section alone has to be about 7 to 10 stories tall.
Joe Diaz Well, you’re wrong. I have the “Official Plans” from circa 1967. For some reason, they put the Bridge at about 12 degrees to the left. Meaning, if you are looking down with dead forward at 12 o’clock, its pointing at 11.
@@JM1701ABCD actually it was meant to face forward and the elevator offset for dramatic purposes. This was directly told to me by a guy that worked on STAR TREK and the designer told him.
Something someone might be able to explain. I'm assuming there are gravitational plates to keep everyone on the floor at one g. Pretty powerful actually. So when the top of the roof gets blown out why do people go flying out when there's gravity holding them and the air in? Are the plates only directional towards the top. Say it gets blown out the side. Is there no gravity that direction? Are the plates only on the bottom deck? If they were on each deck that wouldn't seem me necessary. Besides if you were in between decks your head would be in zero g. Now all those plates pulling down would propel the ship up at 1 g. After several weeks you'd be way off course without compensating. I could go on but the fact is there is so much unexplained about sci-fi. Gravity on this style ship with lateral decks seems nearly impossible. To produce this much pull you must have enough energy to replicate Earth's gravitational pull. But damn! It's cool.
The ships design was awesome back in the day. and is unique in its own way. i do not like the newer ships design for the st movies. is not the same but then again nothing stays the same but i will forever stick to the iconic older design.
The impulse engines drive the ship forward when it's traveling sub-warp, but what is the mechanism used when Kirk calls for full reverse? Does Scotty have to remind him that there is no reverse? 😃😃😃. And even if there was a reverse, and the ship was orbiting a planet, wouldn't it fall like a rock? 🤔🤔🤔
So how about we NOT try and change it whenever we get around to showing one on Star Trek Discovery ;) The USS Defiant doesn't count because they've already confirmed differences are the result of Terran modifications.
I cringe at the episode with Enterprise in the blue sky like a blimp, even though they show the fighter plane going much higher in the dark atmosphere. Sadly they doubled-down on it during the remake/divergent movies and I think another series?
I think the simplicity of the design makes it more memorable than a lot of the over-designed stuff in sci-fi.
Her sleek, clean design always impressed me. It seems a more believable future vision of ships than other sci-fi shows.
Simplicity only in texture though, the shape of it is quite complicated, bringing together disparate elements and even levels of stylization and yet it integrates and works.
I agree. I was hooked the first time I saw the NCC-1701. I still am. Thank you Mr. Roddenberry.
MATT JEFFERIES
he didnt design the thing lol
She was, and still is, a beautiful ship of the imagination!
I love the Enterprise from TOS but the refit in ST The Motion Picture was AMAZING!
Took a very good design, plussed it, and made it even better!
Still based on the Matt Jefferies Phase II design, though.
My only quibble is that I don't really see anyone realistically rebuilding a ship with such a radically different look as the TOS Enterprise into the Refit. What happens in real life is that they modify and rebuild superstructure on existing ships (see the World War II aircraft carriers refit with angled decks in the 1950s) BUT the general hull and engines are left alone; they build onto the hull and that increases weight dramatically, sometimes so much that sea handling gets worsened and the existing hull and engines are stressed because the ship was designed to a lower gross weight. They've lost tankers due to structural collapse from overloading when they revised the ship's specs from the original manufacturer recommendations. Allegedly, the Edmund Fitzgerald broke up partially because they revised her load carrying spec upward.
It's too expensive and impractical to rebuild ships like they did in TMP in real life. What they really would have have done is retire the original Constitution Class Enterprise, maybe put it in an orbital museum, and THEN build a new ship like the TMP design from keel to bridge bubble. Someone actually wrote an alternate reality Star Trek comic (published by Marvel years ago) where this did happen. The critical difference was Pike was still in command of the "TMP ship" which was the Enterprise-A instead of the previous Enterprise/original NCC-1701 which was retired to the Smithsonian collection after a final 5-year mission commanded by Pike!
NOW, if the TOS had been a bit more like the Phase II design, I could see that being refit into the TMP Enterprise.
Phase 2 was an impressive redesign in itself that was more minimal but I gotta admit I liked the revised font, pinstriping, and paint job on the Refit Enterprise better. They never did another Enterprise design better than the Refit, IMHO. It's waffled back and forth between ugly and "okay" on the later designs but none of them equal the TMP ship.
@@AvengerII that’s why Jefferies made the nacelles way from the ship. QUICK CHANGE UNITS for upgrades or if one gets damaged. Also it was a STARSHIP CLASS. The ENTERPRISE was the 17th design, 01 FIRST BIRD. Also the refit should’ve been labeled 1701A according to Jefferies designs.
But the TOS Enterprise design SO accomplished what it was meant to. Yes, it does have a 60's TV sci-fi aesthetic about it (the Refit design helped with that). But what the original accomplished was, at the time, giving us a spaceship design that WASN'T a rocket ship, or a flying saucer. It combined elements of both, in a style that told the viewer immediately THIS IS A SPACE SHIP. It operates IN SPACE, not continually entering and leaving planetary atmospheres like the aforementioned designs we were all used to. As a vehicle of the imagination it was (and is) a freaking brilliant design.
ajb695, I've been thinking about this alot lately. And I don't think the Enterprise has much of a 60's sci-fi look. Look up 1960's futurism. And you'll see how sharp lines, and convex curves were popular. In comparison the Enterprise has a soft look, with many straight lines. I think this why the ship looks so good. Gene didn't want a ship that looked like it came from the 60's. Now obviously there are some 1960's design elements, that's, for obvious reasons unavoidable. Actually, love or hate it, the Kelvin Enterprise looks more 60's. And some of the concepts for it, even more.
The refit holds up just fine today, despite being from '78. Even the TMP sets had a few (fake) touch screens the actors would use (Kirk's chair, turbolift pads).
Actually the "refit design" totally ruined it. It added unnecessary complexity, and tried to make it look sleek and aerodynamic, even though there is no air in space. The original design was perfect. Matt Jeffries got it right the first time.
@@geraldscott4302 Yeah, the refit has its charm, but there is something ageless about the original. It is enigmatic, it can't be pigeonholed, and so it survives and retains its interest. None of the 'artists' who has tried to beat the original designs has accomplished squat, all told. Especially including the barbarians who did the CGI upgrades. They added shadows but they lost that ineffable glow, and texture. They sucked out all the magic with their 'improved' camera angles and cold dead surfaces. Their work is dating faster than the original. Oh but yes, the ship ...
@@geraldscott4302 I'm with you. I've never cared much for the refit design, and don't understand why so many Trek fans think it's better looking than Matt Jeffries' perfect original design.
Iconic is the word for that design. But what about the sound effects? I always loved the sound of the phasers and especially the photon torpedoes! Classic.
The most beautiful starship ever!
Without question, and the Kilngon D7 while derivative, and the original Romulan Warbird, all three fantastic designs. The Galileo projected the design for mini-vans decades in advance ;)
The Klingon D7 design that was revolutionary.
The D'deridex class roumlan warbird is a beauty
Manny Coto always got Star Trek right. Too bad Enterprise was too far gone for even his input to save. I really wanted to see the Romulan War.
I agree , Manny Cotto was a champ in getting Enterprise better though towards the end of the second season it got better . What killed the show was most fans were trekked out with so many programs and then UPN couldn't find stations in areas .
I think the nx01 looked good though. It had a classic star trek shape and was believable as the first long range exploration vessel.
Has anyone else driven on a trafficless road at night in a snowstorm and imagined your were travelling at warp speed as snowflakes looked like stars whizzing by?
Yeah I took acid back in the '70s
I was in awe w the original design NCC-1701. All other Sci-Fi ships 50s & 60s looked simple finned rockets, or flying saucer-ish (Except for 2001: A Space Odyssey). Thank you for this video.
Somewhere I read that Matt Jefferies reasoned everything should be able to be repaired on the inside of the ship so no one would need to be exposed to the harsh environment of space.
There was two episodes I think that talked about Enterprise going to space dock for repairs. One was Court Martial.
It's an elegant design What is called Starfleet Clean I know Every part and what every part does
It'll never be equalled
Matt Jeffries got it Right !!
GNDN
@@mem1701movies It seems that you are GNDN.
Funny that originally it was supposed to be upside down in the early design sketches.....warp nacelles on the bottom and all that. Glad it's the way it is now. I still have a thing for the Miranda Class.....
From certain angles it does give you the majestic look of a sailing ship.
The very rare opening color test footage, brief as it was, still very thrilling to see.
Beautiful footage and wonderful commentary, but there's something utterly UNHOLY about having CBS's name attached to it.
Yes, I'm a grumpy Trekkie.
Trek... originally... aired... on... ... CBS... How is it... ... unholy?
@@gabevee3 It's unholy what they have done to the franchise with Discovery
You're mistaken sir, It originated on the network with the Peacock, NBC!
@@gabevee3 NO...NBC- not CBS. CBS had that retarded show called "Lost in Space". And there was bad blood between Roddenberry and CBS as he ran the show proposal by them first and they rejected it, after picking his brain. This is why Roddenberry had his subtle revenge on CBS by having the uniform's Science/Medical logo vaguely resemble the CBS logo. Look closely within Spock's or McCoy's chest insignia sometime and you will see it.
@@alecfoster4413 Yes, my error. And my apologies. I was under the impression Lucy was associated with CBS, but I guess any show Desilu made can be shown anywhere that took it. Thanks for the correction.
"Can you tell me why you crashed sir?"
"Honestly Officer, that damned Enterprise ahead of me slammed on its reverse thrust and I had to swerve to avoid it!"
"Errr...ok Sir, please blow into this bag..."
"Would you mind stepping out of the vehicle sir?"
I hate when that happens.
My "Enterprise" was a 1971 Pontiac Tempest station-wagon. I was Captain K-nerd. LOL!
U.S.S. Enterprise, NCC-1701, is the most beautiful ship that has ever been envisioned. To me, the design exudes grace, elegance, dignity, and strength. The refit design was also magnificent, but to me, the original is awe inspiring.
People who didn't know where the Bridge is on the ship are now running the franchise. Figures.
In later years, the ship design itself was used as the rule for developing the warp field theory of Star Trek canonical knowledge. The theory was fitted to the ship design.
TOS Enterprise has some anthropomorphism going on:
Head held high, her critical mind glowing from within, her chest below, broad and powerful breast, sturdy yet elegant neck, to a solid torso harboring all the vital organs, with legs... they go all the way up - long, intense, tireless power plants, powering this majestic mistress across the stars with assurety, ease and grace...
Once you see her like this - it kinda sticks forever, did for me.
add the horns decalring: Da da daaaaa, da da da da daaaaaaa, da daaaaa!
Oh yeh, she is proud, beautiful, brilliant and classic, beyond all assessment
And even moreso with her movie refit: sleeker and streamlined.
For me the original design of the star ship Enterprise made watch the show, it's just awesome I hope to build one of my own in the next life.......
The Romulan Bird of prey and the Klingon Battle cruiser were excellent too
'She's a beautiful lady, and we love her!'...Capt. James T. Kirk, in the TOS episode: 'I Mudd'. 😉
Big Star Trek fan, never once thought I was following or being followed by the Enterprise down the highway. Dude must watch it much more than I do!
I was amazed when, changing channels on TV, looking for something interesting to watch, I first stumbled on Star Trek, way back in the late 60s. Before that, I hadn't even heard of it. Love that ship! Built a model of it way back when.
THE most beautiful starship in movies or TV. The ORIGINAL Matt Jeffries designed U.S.S. Enterprise. Lovely.
Yes, I agree, the man who designed the Enterprise ship I think his nane is Matt Jefferies (forgive me if I'm incorrect) was an actual aircraft designer.
It was one of those "off-things" that they let him do. Even the hull-markings, and registry numbers, on the ship had actual designation meanings, not just some googly-moogly.
You can definitely see items on the structure of "the next gen enterprise" ship as well, relating to ocean sailing ships. For example look at the neck connection between the flying saucer and the boat looking bottom hull. The neck is kind-of gracefully triangular in shape, like a ships (bow) prow. The boat type, lower section is connected to two structural pylons to make it look like an upside down catamaran. Even the flying saucer looking part, if you look at it from the top is not actually round, its ovular, like a squat-surfboard. Kind of neat all the design aspects that go into these things; at least it is to me.
Does anyone else prefer the actual original version w/out the weird domes on the aft ends of the warp nacelles?
Yes!
2 things were popular in the 60's, flying saucers and jet airplanes, what do you think was going through the designers head when he designed the enterprise.
Lots of stuff because he did a million designs. There were several good interviews about it.
I was obsessed with the communicators, too. I have the Bluetooth one on my nightstand…
People think of the Enterprise when they want to escape/drift off and go on an adventure.Sometimes it's fun to imagine and go onto fantasy but it can be a problem if it happens instead of facing life.
i remember roddenberry rejecred one design after anothet until they made the iconic enterprise we all know and love. i always thought the enterprisewas designed like an eagle with itts "head" (saucer section) held high and wings (nacelles) above. the klingon ship was like a vulltire with the head low and the wings lower.
My awd does great with off-road vulltires....
I feel pretty much exactly that same way. Very few people involved with any Trek since the orig. and TNG understand what Trek is about. I heard it put recently on one of these videos that it's fundamentally a workplace drama. Only, the workplace is as beloved as the characters who's drama we live with. And that's the key term, "live with." It's about living ON THAT SHIP as much as it is about the circumstances. The ship is the beloved framework. That's why, among the new Pine/Quinto Treks, the best of all of them is the first couple of minutes when it looks like we're going to spend time on the ship... but then the voiceover by Kirk is talking about how ho-hum it is, and then we get ACTION!!1! And it's hard to care as much because those producers don't understand that the ship has to be made "home."
Well said. For me, Enterprise is the main character of the show
@@rays7437 THAT is exactly right, and something the JJ Trek never understood. The Enterprise was a beloved character on the show, and we grieved her when she finally ended her last voyage.
"So what is your job there?
"I`am rotating the Enterprise by hand"
There's something to the reverse of what we would think being aerodynamic should be, and having the girthier traits being in the front, and the more narrow features being in the rear. And with the rare exception of the USS Voyager design, the HEIGHT of the earlier ships all the way through the Enterprise-D made them so fascinating. It's interesting to say this, given that two of my other favorite ships of all time are the Klingon Bird of Prey and the Star Destroyer.
TOS Enterprise has golden rule proportions in the x, y and z axes.
The guy with the hand crank turning the model was great!
I would have liked this Blu ray release better if they had A) given us more outtakes than they did;
and B) designed the menu so you COULD watch specific outtakes instead of having to slog through the documentaries all the time! Most people don't watch documentaries more than once or twice, even on the series they like! The whole point of this set WAS the outtakes and I felt the lack of an ability to go straight to and watch the outtakes you wanted was a huge minus in an other-wise decent but arguably optional purchase.
Simply a design classic.
1:02 I do that a LOT, too ! On a cloudy day... I think to myself: "Someday... There will be sips that big in low orbit.
Lots of nice comments, but from an engineer’s perspective having the Warp Drive engines mounted on a single extension from the body is a disaster.
Only with today's technology. They solved all inertial and structural problems by then. 😉
LOL... I had that same "where's the bridge?" problem - having missed the pilot episode that showed that bridge overlay effect in 1966. It puzzled me for years up till syndication sometime after 1970 when they finally re-aired the pilot and I finally saw that bridge scene and went, "Ohhh! Hey! There they are!" lol...
If you think about it, the bridge on the Enterprise is where the crows nest would be on a sailing ship.
I always felt it was too exposed and would be better placed mid-saucer.
Look - a window! To all those who complain about the Kelvin Timeline Enterprise or the ships in Discovery having windows which are also used a viewing screens - the original Enterprise had one as far back as The Cage.
I think it should have had a window for emergencies..,I don’t like the DISCOVERY or JJ designs
Over 50 yrs ago they had a full set of enterprise blueprints they sold in a plastic jacket that detailed everything. I know because I had a set.
I still,have mine.
The best sci-fi spaceship ever.
Looks like a Flying Saucer w dual-exhaust it's gorgeous!
The USS Enterprise was a huge leap forward from the rockets with fins which preceded it.
I love the original ship. The only other Enterprise I ever liked was the one they used for Star Trek Enterprise starring Scott Bakula. My problem with all of them, however, is that none of them are actually big enough in scale to have accommodated as many personnel as was claimed.
I don’t know why you need such a big crew anyway. You’d think automation would have advanced a bit more over the next few centuries?
Oh yes, the ship that stays with you everywhere you go. If you're lucky.
The TNG Romulan ship was the epitome of Star Trek ship design.
They should build a life sized Enterprise as a blimp and just let it float there in the sky.
Best Enterprise ever no bloody A, B, C, or D.
And if your transwarp granny had wheels she'd be a wagon...😂
1. USS Enterprise. 2. Battlestar Galactica. 3. Eagle from Space 1999. 4. Millennium Falcon. Iconic design. Honorable Mention: Daedalus - Stargate SG1
If you look at some of the spaceship concepts for the Alcubierre Warp Drive. The USS Enterprise is surprisingly similar to what NASA imagines a warp capable ship to look like.
They likely copied the Enterprise
"She's a beautiful lady and we love her."
Love that rare piece of model footage of the Enterprise.
Was the design based on John R. R Searl's Inverse gravity vehicle? It was what was called a anti gravity ship that went into space on a test flight. It looked like a flying saucer
It was the first time we realized that a ship that never lands doesn't have to look like a rocket or have fins. A Borg cube is just as viable really, maybe more so
It haunted me when I was a kid watching Star Trek, I wanted a model of the ship
The Enterprise is the Betty Page, or Lynda Carter, of spaceships! Great curves, unmatched beauty, simply a classic!
So much about the design of the Enterprise shouldn't work. It's a flying saucer with two cigars all attached to sausage. Yet, it does work and has become the most iconic spaceship in science fiction.
www.physics.uq.edu.au/lp/lasdiag/enterp.php - _"For StarTrek fans we tested the USS Enterprise in our super-orbital expansion tube - X2. A scale model was placed in the test section and the facility used to generate a high speed gas flow of around 6.6 km/s. This was passed over the Enterprise for a duration of approximately 100 microseconds. We perform similar tests on other models investigating dissociation and ionisation processes which occur during atmospheric re-entry. (...) A crucial design point is the avoidance of "shock-shock" interactions where one shock wave hits another directly in front of the body. If this were to occur there would be catastrophic consequences for structural integrity in these regions. The image shows that the designers certainly knew their stuff - at this speed, the bow shocks pass comfortably outside the other sections of the vehicle."_
In short: the design is more logical than you realized.
He nailed it. it was just the perfect design 👌
Took me years to figure out that the whole bottom section is engineering.
Except for the impulse deck.
I remember when I was 14 I tied a rope to my model Enterprise and lit the necells on fire and swung it around with gigantic black smoke chunkage flying off the back end. Good times good times
0:45. 947 feet or three football fields long. The plan view makes it possible to visualize with its dimensions.
I do the same thing. Just looking at the ENTERPRISE's on screen is one thing. It's only 900 feet long. But it's all about the Girth. The saucer section alone has to be about 7 to 10 stories tall.
Girth Brooks
The Enterprise is a beautiful ship
I love Star Trek!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Is that a bridge with window?
No it's a forward sensor array the same as the 3 round sensors on the front of the saucer they are often mistaken for windows.
Carwyn Morris pretty sure it's a window to be honest.
Joe Diaz Well, you’re wrong. I have the “Official Plans” from circa 1967. For some reason, they put the Bridge at about 12 degrees to the left. Meaning, if you are looking down with dead forward at 12 o’clock, its pointing at 11.
@@samiam619 Hahaha...right. They offset the bridge by 12 degrees on a perfectly symmetrical ship. It's a production mistake between departments
@@JM1701ABCD actually it was meant to face forward and the elevator offset for dramatic purposes. This was directly told to me by a guy that worked on STAR TREK and the designer told him.
Yes! The original starship "USS Enterprise" was and still the best looking spaceship! Dave...
"Seeing the Enterprise flying overhead" YUP
If the aliens are smart, they will view our "historical records" and come to visit in the Enterprise 😄
Always thought The Enterprise looked like a frying pan turned upside down.
The original Enterprise is the coolest ship in sci-fi history
If you think about military drones, doesn't the original Constitution Class look like the same thing just for space?
Iconic.
Yes, Yes I do!
And the original plans are ALL in feet and inches!!!!!! OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jeffries was a fabulous designer.
The 17 in 1701 is the amount of times it took the designer to design the Enterprise, 01, I assumed ment the first ?
I thought that guy was Zachary Quinto!
Something someone might be able to explain. I'm assuming there are gravitational plates to keep everyone on the floor at one g. Pretty powerful actually.
So when the top of the roof gets blown out why do people go flying out when there's gravity holding them and the air in?
Are the plates only directional towards the top. Say it gets blown out the side. Is there no gravity that direction?
Are the plates only on the bottom deck? If they were on each deck that wouldn't seem me necessary. Besides if you were in between decks your head would be in zero g.
Now all those plates pulling down would propel the ship up at 1 g.
After several weeks you'd be way off course without compensating.
I could go on but the fact is there is so much unexplained about sci-fi.
Gravity on this style ship with lateral decks seems nearly impossible. To produce this much pull you must have enough energy to replicate Earth's gravitational pull.
But damn! It's cool.
It is perfect
The ships design was awesome back in the day. and is unique in its own way. i do not like the newer ships design for the st movies. is not the same but then again nothing stays the same but i will forever stick to the iconic older design.
I like it no matter what
The 1701A refit to me looks like a space yahct
good guys are curves bad guys are angles....its a trick as old as hollywood
Explain that to the Romulans, then.
The impulse engines drive the ship forward when it's traveling sub-warp, but what is the mechanism used when Kirk calls for full reverse? Does Scotty have to remind him that there is no reverse? 😃😃😃. And even if there was a reverse, and the ship was orbiting a planet, wouldn't it fall like a rock? 🤔🤔🤔
Reverse thrusters, I would guess. How did the Millennium Falcon reverse?
It's nice that Bobak celebrates the Bob's Big Boy hairdo. Of course, his judgment about design might be compromised because of this.
Bobak looks like Zachery Quinto!
I think I love the Enterprise almost as much as Captain Kirk did. I wish the writers did a better job with the story line when they destroyed her !
Lucy, you got some splaining.
So how about we NOT try and change it whenever we get around to showing one on Star Trek Discovery ;) The USS Defiant doesn't count because they've already confirmed differences are the result of Terran modifications.
Still is
I cringe at the episode with Enterprise in the blue sky like a blimp, even though they show the fighter plane going much higher in the dark atmosphere. Sadly they doubled-down on it during the remake/divergent movies and I think another series?
its the tailfins...
like a white swan
Is it a real star ship
?? That didn't tell us _anything_ about the "design".
Smooth
nothing like a connie
How many of you Trekkies play with your toy Enterprise in the bathtub?
Enterprise soap on a rope! Somebody should invent that