The design of the starship USS Enterprise is iconic, but it’s also about as practical for interstellar voyages as a London Police Box is for jumping through time. At least, that’s the case being made by some folks at io9. While clearly fans of the show, the site’s writers have some valid criticisms of Captain Kirk’s ride (at least his original one).
Some of io9’s Top 10 Biggest Design Flaws in the USS Enterprise include:
- No Seatbelts. Seriously, how much low-shield jostling is going to happen before somebody in a yellow shirt gets hurt?
- Lack of engineered redundancies. These include the lone route to the bridge, and a single transporter room. When multiple story-lines can be chalked up to a basic design flaw, it’s time to fire your naval engineer.
- Dilithium crystals are poorly protected. Apparently you can waltz right into Engineering and help yourself. Didn’t these things melt Spock’s face in The Wrath Of Khan? They should be insulated behind something less porous than chicken wire.
- The bridge is highly exposed. Situated equivalent to a nautical crow’s nest, a top-down view of the saucer actually frames the bridge like a bullseye. It’s practically begging for a photon torpedo.
These are all engineering decisions that true Trek fans can, and likely will, staunchly defend, except for lack of seatbelts. There’s simply no excuse for that, especially without pilot-side airbags.
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