I just finished up "In Theory", and it made me think of something kind of dumb, but still worth asking.
Posted by Ralph--Hinkley@reddit | TNG | View on Reddit | 43 comments
When a shuttle is lost or blown up, "Skin of Evil," "In Theory," "Lower Decks," etc., how do they replace it? Pick one up at the next space station? Order one from Daystrom, and it gets sent on a voyage to find the Enterprise? Do they have a giant replicator pad that can simply replicate one?
poprhythm@reddit
The Galaxy class main shuttle bay is … enormous. Much much bigger than shuttle bays 2 and 3 which are shown on the show. The Stage 9 simulator had a level to explore the main shuttle bay. There is room for many replacement shuttles. Probably every crew member could have a personal shuttle and have it stored there.
Ralph--Hinkley@reddit (OP)
So the main shuttle bay holds over a thousand shuttles?
poprhythm@reddit
Ok, maybe a bit hyperbolic! But here’s a video from that simulator, it can store enough shuttles for them not to worry about losing one every now and then. https://youtu.be/6Oy3Z2muHz0?si=fui4vRcqyqPawLbD
Ralph--Hinkley@reddit (OP)
Oh wow, yeah, that's quite large. The only time we really see the main shuttle bay is from the outside in "Cause and Effect," then?
Bill_Door_Et_Binky@reddit
In “Best of Both Worlds” briefly, also from the outside.
Ralph--Hinkley@reddit (OP)
Thanks, I'll keep an eye out when I get there again.
Middcore@reddit
The Enterprise-D has a stupid amount of internal space. Compare its internal volume to the official crew complement (including all of the families) of just over 1000 to the number of people that aircraft carriers or large cruise ships fit in a fraction of the space.
You can handwave it that they have a lot of extra room to carry colonist passengers and equipment, but it really seems like a lot of the time on a Galaxy class would feel like you were on a ghost ship. You could wander the corridors in between your shifts at whatever your duty station was and just never encounter another soul a lot of the time.
Ralph--Hinkley@reddit (OP)
I guess I never thought of it that way.
robonlocation@reddit
Wow that's super cool. They sure have room for a lot of shuttles. I'm surprised there's no high capacity shuttle... I'm thinking like a bus type shuttle that can hold, say, a hundred people or more. Would be handy for evacuations or shore leave.
BadBoyJH@reddit
I think if they had a ship capable of carrying 100 people, they'd use it as a ship, not a giant shuttle.
The Defiant was attached to a space station, and it held a crew of 50.
The Cerritos was the "enterprise of the support ships", and only crewed 200. I would estimate the average support ship probably runs about 100 crew.
ExpectedBehaviour@reddit
According to the TNG Technical Manual the main shuttlebay holds ten regular shuttles, ten cargo shuttles, five "special purpose" shuttles, and twelve two-person shuttlepods. It would also seem that, per "Timescape", it also holds at least one Danube-class runabout (which hadn't been created when the TNG TM was written).
FanMysterious432@reddit
I got the impression that the Delta Flyer shuttle was built on Voyager in a week. I presume materials were replicated. That's one of the things I just didn't think too hard about.
ExpectedBehaviour@reddit
A combination of existing spare parts and freshly replicated parts, certainly.
BadBoyJH@reddit
I think you'd need to be able to construct parts. Even if just for repairs for minor issues.
patty_OFurniture306@reddit
Prolly what industrial replicators are for...they get mentioned here and there but never gone into
ominous_squirrel@reddit
There’s a vehicle replicator in Prodigy
patty_OFurniture306@reddit
Neat, didn't watch that
Ralph--Hinkley@reddit (OP)
Interesting, thank you.
Malnurtured_Snay@reddit
Could be a combination of things.
Certainly possible the Enterprise carries sufficient parts to construct new shuttles as needed; also possible that they could pull into a starbase and requisition replacement shuttlecraft the way they might any other supplies or equipment that has been lost or destroyed.
BadBoyJH@reddit
I presume they have the ability to construct shuttles from replicated parts.
That's more based on Voyager than TNG though. That show sees more shuttles destroyed than it has crew.
ZombiesAtKendall@reddit
I think the shuttle craft thing is a minor issue compared to repairing the main ship every time it gets damaged. They must be either able to replicate parts and / or get raw materials from stuff in space.
I don’t know what a good modern comparison would be, maybe like a giant cruise ship having three cars, and one car gets destroyed but also the cruise ship gets giant holes shot through it and they’re able to fix the ship and replace the car and we’re are “how did they replace the car????” Well, probably the same way they fixed the ship.
BadBoyJH@reddit
That's a real obvious way of thinking about it, and I feel stupid for having not thought about that.
UrguthaForka@reddit
On Voyager, every time they fire ten torpedoes, a new shuttle appears in the shuttle bay.
And every time they lose a shuttle, 10 new torpedoes appear in the torpedo bay.
Malnurtured_Snay@reddit
Isn't there a pretty early episode where someone says they only have like 20 torpedoes?
UrguthaForka@reddit
In the pilot episode, "Caretaker," Chakotay tells Janeway "We have a complement of 38 photon torpedoes at our disposal Captain." Janeway replies, "And no way to replace them after they're gone."
Then throughout the show they fire 123 torpedoes.
Some guy counted them all:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIGxMENwq1k
patty_OFurniture306@reddit
After a bit I'm sure the find a way to build them. Prolly about the time they find more antimatter.
Has anybody count d how many crew they lose I always wondered if it's a large part of the total crew
Glunark2@reddit
7 of 9 probably made more from borg nanaprobes
TJLanza@reddit
Nanaprobes? You leave Seven's grandmother out of this!
Glunark2@reddit
I meant nano, nanaprobes is probably more a Beverly sort of thing.
BadBoyJH@reddit
38 is just such a bonkers low number. This is a vessel designed for long term missions.
I think it's more likely that Chakotay was wrong.
dplafoll@reddit
Intrepids are not super large, mostly designed for exploration and science (more storage for probes is less room for torpedoes), and Voy was sent out on a short-term mission that wasn’t likely to require a lot of combat. So they probably don’t have a huge torpedo capacity, and might have even been running light.
BadBoyJH@reddit
Ah yes, I misremembered the line; I remembered it as "full complement of 38 torpedos", so it's entirely possible they're capable of carrying more, but for a short term mission they didn't carry everything.
dplafoll@reddit
TBF we don’t know, and it’s still a mistake in the show. My question is “why aren’t they replaceable?” What’s unique about them? Surely the casings and electronics can be replicated or built. Is it the antimatter? Maybe they didn’t believe they’d be able to generate more for weapons?
UrguthaForka@reddit
In the grand scheme of things I don't care if they just make up the numbers on the spot (which is what they apparently do), but I'm not gonna NOT laugh when someone points out how unrealistic is it. I'll still love the show, but I'll laugh at how "galaxy quest" it is. As it should be
ijuinkun@reddit
I read it as that they could not construct more with the shipboard resources that they had at the time. At that point in the story, the only people other than the Caretaker whom they had encountered were of lower tech than Voyager, and so they didn’t know when they might encounter someone advanced enough to build replacement torpedoes for them. Later in the series they do encounter worlds advanced enough to resupply them, and likely did commission the necessary components from them.
Malnurtured_Snay@reddit
Obviously they found some in the attic...
Kyloben4848@reddit
The giant replicator pad that you mention is present in Prodigy, but it’s unknown if other, less advanced ships have one.
cybercuzco@reddit
Use the big replicators to replicate the parts and bolt them together.
3-I@reddit
In Prodigy, they show the ship replicating one. I have to assume that's what they all do. It just takes a while.
27803@reddit
The Enterprise is operating in the heart of the Federation, beyond that the Galaxy class main shuttle bay is giant, but if they need a new a shuttle I’m sure it’s just as easy as requisitioning one from the next star base or planet side depot they’ll be anywhere nearby and picking it up.
No different than going down to West Marine and picking up a new dinghy if you lost one in the real world
wrosmer@reddit
just going by voyager, it's apparently possible to build shuttles on board considering that they never ran out regardless of how many they lost and they constructed an entire new class of small crewed ship (the delta flyer) on board. and the enterprise wouldn't have been facing the logistical issues voyager was since it was able to hit up starbases on the regular.
AnswerLopsided2361@reddit
If Voyager is able to build new shuttles while cut off from the resources of the Federation, presumably, the Enterprise could as well. That being said, they in all likelihood simply requisition a new shuttle and pick one up from the next starbase they dock at, especially if it's one of those Spacedock-type stations. Those probably have an allotment of various shuttle types in storage for the express purpose of replacing ones lost by Starfleet vessels on missions.
Darkling183@reddit
Starfleet probably has facilities for mass construction of smaller utility craft like that. I'd imagine they keep a small stock of them ready for resupply / replacement. As you said, one could be dispatched to meet with the Enterprise, or they could pick one up at a Federation base.