Could Star Trek TOS Movies Era Ships be Retrofitted to Land on Planets Like USS Voyager?

When considering the starship designs from the original Star Trek movie era, such as the Excelsior and Ambassador classes, can they be retrofitted to safely land on a planetary surface, similar to how USS Voyager performs? This article delves into these considerations based on the lore, practical aspects, and historical ship designs within the Star Trek universe.

Design Considerations and Lore

The focus of many starships, particularly those from the Star Trek Original Series (TOS) movie era and earlier, is on missions within space. Due to the nature of their missions, these ships were not traditionally designed to land on planetary surfaces. For example, the Defiant-class, despite its capability to land, this feature was never actually utilized in the series. Starships like the NCC 1701 merely entered Earth's atmosphere during the time travel scenario described in the episode, "Tomorrow is Yesterday," but were not designed with landing in mind.

A general rule within the Star Trek lore, and often within real-world engineering, is that redundancy is key. Given the availability and practicality of shuttlecraft and transporter technology, it is argued that outfitting an entire starship with landing capabilities seems unnecessary. Shorter trips to the planet surface can be managed with shuttlecraft or transporters, effectively reducing the need for the vessel to land.

Theoretical and Practical Aspects

While theoretically, a ship with saucer separation could land, such as on the Enterprise-D in Star Trek: Generations, this too seems more of an emergency measure rather than a regular operational procedure. On a more practical level, the stress and structural integrity needed for atmospheric re-entry and landing on a planetary surface are vastly different from those required for interstellar travel. This is why ships with landing capabilities, such as the USS Voyager, are typically from more recent and Intrepid-class designs.

The Intrepid-class, which includes the USS Voyager, marked a shift towards ships designed to operate in both space and on planetary surfaces. The additional stress of atmospheric entry and landing impacts the overall design and construction of the ship. The USS Voyager, for instance, would not have issues with landing since the entire ship was designed with these extreme conditions in mind, ensuring both safety and functionality.

Engineer-Designed Reality

Engineers like Doug Drexler, the designer of ships such as the Enterprise NX-01, have explicitly stated that starships in the TOS movie era could not be retrofitted to land on planetary surfaces. They lacked the necessary design features, such as landing struts, and their structural integrity was compromised by the stresses of atmospheric re-entry. The Enterprise NX-01 itself, described by Drexler in "Storm Front Part 2," barely managed its emergency atmospheric entry without significant damage, further reinforcing the idea that frequent atmospheric landings would be highly detrimental to their structural integrity.

The Enterprise NX-01 and similar ships from the Star Trek: Enterprise series, including the gas giant handling in the episode "Sleeping Dogs," further highlight the vulnerability of earlier designs to planetary atmospheric pressures. These designs were not intended for regular landings, especially not on gas giants, due to the extreme stress these environments would place on the vessel.

Conclusion

In summary, while it may seem beneficial to retrofit the larger starships from the TOS movie era for planetary landings, such as the Excelsior, Ambassador, and others, the practical and engineering challenges would be prohibitive. The designs of these earlier ships were not suitable for atmospheric re-entry, and retrofitting them would likely result in significant and possibly irreparable damage. The Intrepid-class, like the USS Voyager, was specifically designed to handle these situations, making them the logical choice for interplanetary operations within the Star Trek universe.

References

NX-01

_Front_(episode)

_Dogs_(episode)