Best Spaceship?

[jolldan]

Space: the final frontier and where no one can here you scream. The only way to traverse through this seemingly infinite blackness is with a spaceship and throughout the years there have been many iconic interpretations which have helped to boldly go where no man has gone before! But which is the best or just your personal favourite?

***Going to change it up a little as a lot of the more iconic ships are from a few particular franchises will be allowing a max of three from each franchise***

Millennium Falcon

This list wouldn't be complete without the most famous ship in Star Wars. And after seeing the first two new Star Wars movie it looks like a toss up between the ship and Chewie for who has aged the best out of the franchise. The ship that made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs will always be a fan favourite.

The USS Enterprise

It has seen different variations, tweaks and changes over the years but the shape and overall design of this iconic machine. It was a different look at space travel while many ships were small capacity machines this took it to a whole new level of a small city travelling through space.

Fhloston Paradise Hotel

This is a frigging, cruise ship that travels through space. Sure things would get a lot more dicey if you missed the boat after stopping but the sheer design alone was awesome. We are just going to scratch over the fact that it is blown up in the end. Launch the life boats! I mean ships, whatever.

The Milano

The blue & orange colour scheme turns this is to even more delight to look at. Paired with the three blades at either side gives it a almost animal look. (Similar to a Stormbird from Horizon)

The Protector II

A parody movie of Star Trek so good it transcended parody, that's right Galaxy Quest got voted the 7th best Star Trek movie ever by Star Trek fans despite the fact you know its not a Star Trek movie. The movie itself would not be possible without the teams ship the Protector II which looks similar enough so can you see what the SS Enterprise but different enough that it stands out itself.

Independence Day: The Mothership

There are few more iconic images in cinema in terms of spaceships than when the mothership blew up the white house. While there are a lot of massive spaceships the fact that this was just floating a few thousand feet above gave you a true sense of the just how vast this thing was.

Close Encounters Of The Third Kind: Mothership

This might just be the visual king of spaceships in movie's it still looks stunning to this day. If you are doing a circular spaceship you'd better hope you can make yours look as original as this one so it stands the test of time.

Jupiter 2

The famous home of the Robinson family, I think what made this one stand out to me was I remember having the toy as kid so its always stuck with me.

The Avalon

Not going to lie I haven't even seen the movie but when I saw this in the trailer I was instantly drawn to it. The design definitely stands out as one of the more original spaceship designs.

As usual I know I won't have covered everybody's favourite (more so than usual as sci-fi is one of my weaker genres) spaceship so if your is not on the list please name it in the comments below and I will add it to the poll.

 

[Filmfreak]

1) Galactica BSG-75
2) Serenity
3) TARDIS

 

[Broseph44]

My favorites (in no particular order) are the Millenium Falcon, Slave 1, USS Enterprise, The Milano, The Nostromo, the ship from the end of E.T.

Also gonna throw in 2 ships from video games.

The Normandy from Mass Effect
USG Ishimura from Dead Space

 

[Monsieur Xavier]

Some of my fav :

• Super Star Destroyer and Eclipse class
• From Ulysse 31 : The Odysseus
• USS Sulacco
• The Event Horizon
• Captain Harlock's Arcadia ( in French it is called Atlantis )

 

[KillerMcQueen]

The Tardis

 

[Broseph44]

Some of my fav :

• Super Star Destroyer and Eclipse class
• From Ulysse 31 : The Odysseus
• USS Sulacco
• The Event Horizon
• Captain Harlock's Arcadia ( in French it is called Atlantis )

Love the Super Star Destroyer and Event Horizon

 

[Hunter Rider]

I'd do a top 5 like I did in the movie cars thread but it would break the rules as they'd all be from Star Wars lol, so I'll just name by far my #1........

 

[Immortalfire]

1. USS Enterprise-A
2. Millennium Falcon
3. X-Wing fighter
4. Klingon Bird of Prey
5. USS Defiant

 

[jolldan]

My personal favourite ship from the star wars series is the N-1 Naboo Starfighter



Always had a spaceship meets Airstream looking design that I just loved.

 

[Batmannerism]

Some strong contenders....

Serenity
Battlestar Galactica
Star Destroyer (1977)
Klingon Bird of Prey

But my #1 would have to be the Argo/Yamato (Space Battleship Yamato). Three words folks "Wave Motion Gun"!

 

[Dr.]

As a science nerd , I’m partial to scientifically accurate/plausible spaceship designs. Alas, there aren’t too many of those. Two that come to mind are Discovery (from 2001) and the Hermes (from The Martian). In terms of the poll options offered, the Avalon (from Passengers) - though it assumes much more advanced tech - is quasi-realistic.

With harder sci-fi, there tends to be a commonality with ship designs - because there are only a limited number of ways to create functionality. (For instance, artificial gravity dictates a centrifugal force/spinning component.)

In contrast, fantastical sci-fi allows for a design approach that’s based more on aesthetics.

 

[3rdstone]

I loved the Eagle Transporter in SPACE: 1999 as a kid. Yeah, of course I had the model kit.

Another classic that needs to be here is the Yellow Submarine. I tormented my poor parents "singing" that tune in made up English, after it was shown on the telly once. That wonderfully trippy flick certainly impressed a six year old.

 

[Jochimus]

There are some solid choices here, but my heart will always belong to the Fastest Hunk o'Junk in the Galaxy.

 

[RetrogradeOrbit]

Enterprise, specifically the refit from ST:TMP
Very closely followed by the Falcon.

 

[Monsieur Xavier]

I loved the Eagle Transporter in SPACE: 1999 as a kid. Yeah, of course I had the model kit.

Good thinking ! The various Eagle crafts are great, they are so retro ( even when I was a kid ).
Side note : again, there were figures of them but I didn't pre order, now they are out of stock ;(

 

[3rdstone]

Good thinking ! The various Eagle crafts are great, they are so retro ( even when I was a kid ).
Side note : again, there were figures of them but I didn't pre order, now they are out of stock ;(

I still like that the Eagle design were more "practical" than fantasy sci-fi streamlined, except for that awesome cockpit shape that gave it a cool character. Quite timeless design if you ask me (well, it's supposed to be 19 years old by now, if we once decided to put our nuclear crap on the moon..).

I was only aware of the toy ships and the model kits (from which I built one, and painted the details quite awful, lol) back in the 70s, must've missed out of the figures (or they wasn't available over here).

 

[Monsieur Xavier]

The designs were realistic indeed, it was not space opera like SW.
The figures I was talking about are recent ( 2018 pre order, some are still available directly from the manufacturer in UK, PM me if you want more details ).

Check this out :
Edit : even the box is retro, so cool.

 

[3rdstone]

Aha, it's cool that stuff from that show has been available in more modern time. That's an awesome display btw, that little lunar "buggy vehicle" was also often used in the show.

 

[Monsieur Xavier]

Aha, it's cool that stuff from that show has been available in more modern time. That's an awesome display btw, that little lunar "buggy vehicle" was also often used in the show.

You have no idea
Scify figures collector dude like me craves from these things, it's just a matter of money and ordering in time especially for peculiar shows/movies such as Space 1999.

Edit : apologize for hijacking the thread.

 

[Dr.]

The designs were realistic indeed...

Well… realistic as a site-to-site transport vehicle for the lunar surface. But it was also used as a long-range craft for planetary landings - where a streamlined/aerodynamic design would make much more sense.

 

[Monsieur Xavier]

I just meant it was not some sort of fantastical space crafts such as the ones in SW or ST.

To play the picky type "streamlined/aerodynamic" is fine but when there is not atmosphere on a planet it does not really matter.
Edit : even with an atmosphere, landing on a planet a moon etc, for a space ship, it is more a matter of sustaining retro combustion or thrust to slow down its descent than aerodynamics.

 

[Dr.]

To play the picky type "streamlined/aerodynamic" is fine but when there is no[...] atmosphere on a planet it does not really matter.
Edit : even with an atmosphere, landing on a planet a moon etc, for a space ship, it is more a matter of sustaining retro combustion or thrust to slow down its descent than aerodynamics.

Regarding landings, you are correct. Unless there’s a runway (a natural one - though unlikely - would do), ships would have to perform a fully powered vertical descent. And with this method, an aerodynamic shape is of limited value. But before that happens, the ship still has to decelerate from its orbital (horizontal) velocity. So why not use a heat-shielded aerodynamic shape to do this? I.e., let friction do most of the work of slowing down rather than using precious fuel.

Admittedly, most spaceships in sci-fi movies/TV just ignore the question of fuel. Or, it’s assumed that future science has developed highly advanced engines powered by an exotic energy source. So typically, the ship in question can easily land on a planet and then take off afterwards. Fuel is a non-issue.

In the case of multi-purpose spaceships, an aerodynamic design should, it seems to me, be the default. In the vacuum of space, shape doesn’t matter; but it does matter for atmospheric landings and takeoffs.

Yes, I'm being nerdy nitpicky too.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

Gotta be the Millenium Falcon, but Serenity runs it close and should be on the poll.

 

[Monsieur Xavier]

Regarding landings, you are correct. Unless there’s a runway (a natural one - though unlikely - would do), ships would have to perform a fully powered vertical descent. And with this method, an aerodynamic shape is of limited value. But before that happens, the ship still has to decelerate from its orbital (horizontal) velocity. So why not use a heat-shielded aerodynamic shape to do this? I.e., let friction do most of the work of slowing down rather than using precious fuel.

Admittedly, most spaceships in sci-fi movies/TV just ignore the question of fuel. Or, it’s assumed that future science has developed highly advanced engines powered by an exotic energy source. So typically, the ship in question can easily land on a planet and then take off afterwards. Fuel is a non-issue.

In the case of multi-purpose spaceships, an aerodynamic design should, it seems to me, be the default. In the vacuum of space, shape doesn’t matter; but it does matter for atmospheric landings and takeoffs.

Yes, I'm being nerdy nitpicky too.

Bold part : because if/when there is no atmosphere there will be no friction. I could be wrong though. Note that the context of my replies was about the Eagle which mostly fly on the moon or space.

 

[Aximili86]

Yeah, Falcon takes it in an iconic sense, but man, if we're counting TV goddamn I've always loved the Serenity. Such an odd design, somehow really "classic" and yet it's just so out-of-left-field, smoosh a cockroach and an eagle together, bing bang boom. Just awesome.