Aeroshuttle

From Memory Alpha, the free Star Trek reference.

The Aeroshuttle (or AeroWing) was a large shuttle attached to the underside of the primary hull of the Intrepid-class starships.

A graphic of the Aeroshuttle also appeared in Daniels' Temporal Observatory while it was being viewed by Captain Archer and T'Pol in 2152. (ENT: "Future Tense")

In 2376, Dala and Zar, posing as Captain Kathryn Janeway and Chakotay, showed Varn a schematic of the USS Voyager (or "the mothership", as they called it) which identified the "AeroWing Dropship" on a master systems display-like diagram. (VOY: "Live Fast and Prosper")

[edit] Background

[edit] History and Specifications

The AeroWing name, as well as many of the above references were derived from the VOY writer's guidebook, Star Trek: Voyager Technical Guide Version 1.0.

According to this source, when detached, the Aeroshuttle was capable of atmospheric flight as well as interstellar travel at speeds up to warp 3. The Aeroshuttle cockpit is designed for a crew of four.

Rick Sternbach's Star Trek: The Magazine article, "Intrepid-Class Lineage" noted that "The Aeroshuttle was the only upgraded component to the Intrepid-class that remained in the development cycle long after the other major systems had been frozen and released for fabrication and assembly."

"Based on the existing Starfleet runabout platform, the Aeroshuttle was given a 450 percent increase in atmospheric flight and hover endurance over standard shuttlecraft. This was accomplished through the use of hybrid microfusion and EM driven airflow coil engines."

"Although the Aeroshuttle spaceframe and basic systems were completed by Stardate 46875.3, final outfitting of mission-specific hardware was delayed until simulations and flight testing with the USS Intrepid could be completed."

[edit] Model

According to Rob Bonchune, who eventually created a full rendering of the AeroShuttle, "In a nutshell, back at Foundation, we got into our heads that it would be cool to see the "captain's yacht" of the Voyager, that being the AeroShuttle. Rick Sternbach gratuitously did a prelim design and I used part of that and designed the ship you see here. Mojo and I did a whole launch sequence, on spec, meaning "free" and then had it shown to Rick Berman. The response: Mr Berman thought it was nice, but didn't want to trump the captain's yacht launch sequence from the upcoming film Star Trek: Insurrection. As you remember that was a VERY dramatic, epic and cool launch sequence." [1]

With regards to the design, Bonchune stated, "Well, I remember Rick Sternbach saying that the four protruding rectangles represent landing pads. Seems silly as in scale they are way oversized. But, for the big Voyager miniature, I guess it was added detail." [2]

As for what happened to the initial project, Bonchune stated that "if we had aired the ship, I was going to refine the wings to be a little less "blunt trauma" to the aerodynamics. But when we got nixed, we moved on... so, it stands as is." [3]

Bonchune's render of the AeroShuttle was featured in the 2007 Star Trek: Ships of the Line calendar for the month of April, titled Deployed.