Author Topic: Favorite Spaceships from Science Fiction? (Read 30397 times)

sanman · « **on:** 12/11/2017 05:49 am »

So I don't know if this has been asked before - but what are people's picks for favorite spaceships from science fiction?
And what are the reasons behind the choices?

Lar · « **Reply #1 on:** 12/11/2017 06:21 am »

Gay Deceiver from "The Number of the Beast" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Number_of_the_Beast_(novel) because someday my Model 3 (if and when) will grow up into a car/spaceship computer as smart as Gay.... The book itself, kinda meh these days (not RAH's best work) ...

RobW · « **Reply #2 on:** 12/11/2017 07:32 pm »

The Eagle Transporter from Space:1999.

The show itself was a bit trippy for my taste, but the Eagles were beautiful, and semi-realistic* near-term moon-based cis-lunar utility vehicles.

Runner-up: The Hermes, from The Martian. Sadly I can't imagine NASA ever building anything like it - too big, and too complex with the artificial gravity ring.

__________
* If we had the courage to build and operate high-Isp nuclear thermal rocket engines.

AS_501 · « **Reply #3 on:** 12/11/2017 08:04 pm »

The original Starship Enterprise because it looks like it was designed by engineers. No offense, but the "D" and "E" models (plus Voyager) look like they were designed by fashion designers.

Note: Another favorite, the spaceship Discovery in "2001", was supposed to have large heat dissipation panels attached to the engines. But Clarke and Kubrick realized they might look like wings to the general public, so off they came.

ncb1397 · « **Reply #4 on:** 12/11/2017 08:06 pm »

Quote from: RobW on 12/11/2017 07:32 pm

Runner-up: The Hermes, from The Martian. Sadly I can't imagine NASA ever building anything like it - too big, and too complex with the artificial gravity ring.

According to the link below, the fictional Hermes is only 110 metric tonnes. Much lighter than the ISS. So, I wouldn't consider it too big for NASA. Looking at the movie renderings of it, it looks smaller as well. I agree though that the artificial gravity ring would be dropped.

https://www.insidescience.org/news/inside-spaceflight-martian

edit: Apparently, to accelerate a craft of 110 mT at the desired 2 mm/s^2, you need 220 Newtons of force. So, 40 5.4 Newton 100 KW X3 thrusters and 4 megawatts of power.

mme · « **Reply #5 on:** 12/11/2017 08:06 pm »

Discovery One from 2001. Mostly because I was young and impressionable when I saw the movie and I hoped that something like that could happen in my lifetime.

AlesH · « **Reply #6 on:** 12/11/2017 08:19 pm »

Nubian Royal Starship from Star Wars Episode I.

Beautiful, fast, elegant.

Coastal Ron · « **Reply #7 on:** 12/11/2017 08:51 pm »

While some science fiction spaceships clearly defy the laws of physics (or logic), I like the ones that try to adhere to the laws of physics. Two of my favs are:

1. The Babylon 5 Starfury

2. The Moonbus in the film "2001: A Space Odyssey"

Arb · « **Reply #8 on:** 12/11/2017 10:06 pm »

#1 Discovery One, from the business end
#2 Tintin's with its hyper V2 curves

MATTBLAK · « **Reply #9 on:** 12/11/2017 10:12 pm »

2001's 'Discovery' for me. Tintin's - or more accurately Professor Calculus's - ship was inspiring as a kid. And the Eagle from Space: 1999.

faadaadaa · « **Reply #10 on:** 12/11/2017 10:31 pm »

Drake Heavy-Lift Utility Combat Shuttle-Gunship from Alient: Covenant

Arb · « **Reply #11 on:** 12/11/2017 10:33 pm »

Quote from: Arb on 12/11/2017 10:06 pm

#1 Discovery One, from the business end

And the music to go with it...

Ixian77 · « **Reply #12 on:** 12/11/2017 10:35 pm »

Tholian ships from OST.

Discovery from 2001.

Khadgars · « **Reply #13 on:** 12/11/2017 10:54 pm »

Has to Enterprise NCC-1701-D! Grew up on her

GreenShrike · « **Reply #14 on:** 12/11/2017 11:04 pm »

I've a few favourites, so I'll hope you forgive me if I instead pick them from different sources.

First, one of the first on-screen space superiority fighters designed for true Newtonian flight: Babylon 5's StarFury. Star fighters should not fly like WW2 aircraft. I'm also fond of the first fully-CGI on-screen fighter: The Last Starfighter's GunStar.

Second is the TriOptimum* corporate research vessel Von Braun, of the video game System Shock 2. Creeping through her corridors with just a spanner and a decrepit pistol containing maybe three rounds while The Many hunt me are some of my favourite gaming experiences -- for me, way scarier than Dead Space's USG Ishimura.

David Weber's Honor Harrington military SF series has a lot of cool ships, but I'm going to have to give the nod to the HMS Fearless, in its second incarnation as a Star Knight-class heavy cruiser, in the novel The Honor of the Queen. As much as I like the HMS Nike, the GNS Terrible, the HMAMC Wayfarer and all the subsequent ships Harrington served on, it's re-reading Fearless' solo death ride straight into the broadside of the twice-as-large battlecruiser Thunder of God that really gives me chills. (All right, that and Fourth Yeltsin.)

Oh, and I need to mention one from anime. Hmm... This being NSF, I think I'm going to have to pick the rocket -- unnamed, as far as I know -- from Wings of Honneamise (aka The Royal Space Force). The plot has to do with the nascent space program on an alternate Earth, and a broken man who, while only trying avoid real military service, instead joins the complete laughingstock of a "Space Force" and, in doing so, finds something to believe in. At the end of the movie, his lonely message of hope broadcast from his rickety capsule to an uncaring planet below on the verge of all-out war, guts me every time I see it. Spectacular -- worth a couple of hours if the thought of a fictionalized Project Mercury-type program appeals.

* Yes, like my avatar. ;-)

Poole Amateur · « **Reply #15 on:** 12/11/2017 11:08 pm »

The Constitution Class Enterprise(s) from the first six movies. She is so beautiful.

MATTBLAK · « **Reply #16 on:** 12/11/2017 11:23 pm »

Yeah - I always thought the Galaxy-Class Enterprise D was a bit 'squashy' looking.

Electric Paint · « **Reply #17 on:** 12/11/2017 11:32 pm »

Both of my picks are the namesakes for the stories they appear in. The USCSS Prometheus, and the XGP-15A-II Outlaw Star.
The Prometheus has a sexy dual-level cockpit design, and very practical four-engine fusion propulsion system that doubles as a landing assembly. The Outlaw Star is very close to my heart, as I adore that series, and it also sports a four-engine sublight plasma drive, with an FTL prop device called the Münchhausen drive. Its robotic manipulators are sturdy enough for close range combat with pesky space pirates, too.

strangequark · « **Reply #18 on:** 12/11/2017 11:49 pm »

However you feel about the show, you’ve got to admit that MacFarlane’s starship aesthetics are on point with the Orville.

nacnud · « **Reply #19 on:** 12/12/2017 12:07 am »

I love me a Starfury but the Rocinante has to take the biscuit at the mo.

Just look at her go...

Nomadd · « **Reply #20 on:** 12/12/2017 12:31 am »

Depends on how much I've had to drink.

Tomness · « **Reply #21 on:** 12/12/2017 01:23 am »

BC-304 from Stargate

the_other_Doug · « **Reply #22 on:** 12/12/2017 01:41 am »

The Starduster, from "Scott McCloud: SPACE ANGEL!"

Rocket Science · « **Reply #23 on:** 12/12/2017 01:42 am »

Some of my favorites have already been mentioned so I'll add the XRV from Marooned...

Darkseraph · « **Reply #24 on:** 12/12/2017 01:45 am »

ISV Venture Star from Avatar

Jeff Lerner · « **Reply #25 on:** 12/12/2017 01:52 am »

Battlestar Galactica....

Zed_Noir · « **Reply #26 on:** 12/12/2017 01:57 am »

The Babylon 5 White Star

Inspiring today's analog, The Tesla "White Star", otherwise known as the Californian 5 Door Liftback Sedan dragster in ludicrous mode.

Rocket Science · « **Reply #27 on:** 12/12/2017 02:00 am »

Cavorite Sphere from H.G. Wells First Men in the Moon spaceship...

Cherokee43v6 · « **Reply #28 on:** 12/12/2017 02:13 am »

Quote from: Jeff Lerner on 12/12/2017 01:52 am

Battlestar Galactica....

Okay, is that a promo still or is that someone's artwork?

Cause there's a Firefly just left of the triple saucer!

Edit... nevermind... it's artwork.

Seems that the ARGO/YAMATO is further left!

KelvinZero · « **Reply #29 on:** 12/12/2017 04:57 am »

The Millennium Falcon. It was just so ugly that it looked convincing. like something an engineer was forced to produce by what he had to work with, rather than something that any SF modeller would ever put their name to.

..though it also slipped in a nice WW2 feel, reminiscent of a Lancaster cockpit and turret, or some other unspecific ww2 aircraft.

I also like various vehicles with spin gravity, such as the Leanov from 2010, and early Babylon 5 earth ships.

Lars-J · « **Reply #30 on:** 12/12/2017 05:02 pm »

Old-school B5 fan here... Hyperion and Omega class:

Endeavour_01 · « **Reply #31 on:** 12/12/2017 05:26 pm »

Like Tomness my favorite spaceship has to be the DSC-304 (or BC-304) from Stargate.

I even put it on my Physics Tests.

Edited to add: I actually have several "spaceship problems" (as my students call them) with different sci-fi craft (lest my students forget how much of a nerd I am). The 304 appears far more regularly though.

Ben the Space Brit · « **Reply #32 on:** 12/12/2017 08:45 pm »

My list definitely includes the Lockheed-Martin CM-88 Bison multi-purpose cargo tug from the Alien universe.

There's just something about the Nostromo and the Torrens that I just can't help loving. I think it's the way Charley Henley made the class look and feel like a real working ship - A bit battered around the edges and with luxuries kept to a minimum because the owners want to focus on payload and revenue, not crew comfort.

She's hardly a visual looker, but there's no doubt that this is a ship you'd choose if you want to actually do something like haul a few million tonnes of ore or a thousand colonists in cryo plus all the parts to start a settlement.

Oersted · « **Reply #33 on:** 12/13/2017 12:21 pm »

Quote from: Ben the Space Brit on 12/12/2017 08:45 pm

There's just something about the Nostromo and the Torrens that I just can't help loving. I think it's the way Charley Henley made the class look and feel like a real working ship - A bit battered around the edges and with luxuries kept to a minimum because the owners want to focus on payload and revenue, not crew comfort.
She's hardly a visual looker, but there's no doubt that this is a ship you'd choose if you want to actually do something like haul a few million tonnes of ore or a thousand colonists in cryo plus all the parts to start a settlement.

Thanks, Ben, for putting into words why you like the ship. When people just post a picture of their favourite ship it is not that interesting.

I have a soft spot for the Moon ship in Fritz Lang's "Frau im Mond." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woman_in_the_Moon)

For a movie made in 1929 (!) it really got so many things right. Even a water-sound suppression system at launch! The ship itself has an iconic bullet shape, with four boxy side-mounted propulsion rockets sporting huge air intakes. It is not too different from a Soyuz, if you squint your eyes really hard... :-)

"Frau im Mond" was the first truly scientifically based hard sci-fi movie, and even though much of it is taken up by stupid intrigues, it definitely made space flight much more believable, as a target that could eventually be attained. It certainly inspired v. Braun and others hugely.

If you haven't seen the launch sequence you really owe it to yourself:

Part 1 (with English intertitles):

Part 2:

Part 3:

Part 4 (launch):

jtrame · « **Reply #34 on:** 12/14/2017 10:40 am »

Cygnus from the Black Hole.

jgoldader · « **Reply #35 on:** 12/14/2017 02:13 pm »

There's the Enterprise Refit (ST:TMP), then there's just... other ships.

Edit: I mean, come on...

the_other_Doug · « **Reply #36 on:** 12/14/2017 08:42 pm »

Quote from: Jonevv on 12/14/2017 10:03 am

The enterprise design was really revolutionary at the time. My TOP1 favourite...

Just recall, up until *really* late in the pre-production phase for the first Star Trek pilot, that iconic and progressive shape for the Enterprise was going to be exactly upside-down from what we ended up with. As I understand it, they had a pretty good rough of the ship in sketches, when Matt Jeffries just started looking at them from a bunch of different angles, and decided that saucer-up looked better than saucer-down...

rcoppola · « **Reply #37 on:** 12/14/2017 09:01 pm »

Close Encounters...

Endeavour_01 · « **Reply #38 on:** 12/15/2017 03:10 am »

Quote from: Oersted on 12/13/2017 12:21 pm

When people just post a picture of their favourite ship it is not that interesting.

Challenge accepted. Prepare for a lot of nerdy verbiage.

There are many reasons why the 304 is my favorite sci-fi ship.

1. Practicality

You can point to almost any part of a 304 and immediately recognize its purpose. The forward dorsal section of the neck houses the VLS missile launchers, the small spherical domes are railgun emplacements, the large bays on either side carry fighters, and so on. It is clearly a military vessel.

Now don't get me wrong. I like sci-fi ships that don't have obvious explanations for everything on them. Still, it is fun to easily see the reasons why a particular part is on the ship.

2. Ruggedness

The 304 is a tough little ship. Earth in the Stargate universe doesn't have the resources to match the massive fleets of its enemies so it creates (with help) a nimble, multipurpose battlecruiser that can complete a wide array of mission types.

Even though the 304 has advanced alien tech its size is puny next to the opponents it faces and in many engagements it is outgunned and forced to take on multiple opponents. You gotta respect a ship that can take a beating on a regular basis and keep on going.

3. Nods to real life

One of the reasons I really like the 304 and Stargate in general is that it is set in the modern day. You can see elements of real life ship design on the 304. Take the conning tower at the rear or the aforementioned VLS missile tubes.

4. Emotional attachment

In Star Trek the Enterprise is as much of a character as the crew and the audience became emotionally attached to it as well. This isn't as overt in Stargate but certain 304s (the Daedalus in SGA and the Odyssey in SG-1) play extremely important roles in the show. You know that you really like a ship when you are crossing your fingers during a battle hoping that it doesn't get destroyed.

Quote from: Lars-J on 12/12/2017 05:02 pm

Old-school B5 fan here... Hyperion and Omega class:

I'm a big fan of the Omega as well. The spin gravity and the functionality of the vessel really appeal.

JAFO · « **Reply #39 on:** 12/15/2017 08:44 pm »

X-Wing. If you need to ask why, you'll never get it.

Electric Paint · « **Reply #40 on:** 12/22/2017 05:06 am »

Quote from: Cherokee43v6 on 12/12/2017 02:13 am

Quote from: Jeff Lerner on 12/12/2017 01:52 am
Battlestar Galactica....

Okay, is that a promo still or is that someone's artwork?

Cause there's a Firefly just left of the triple saucer!

Edit... nevermind... it's artwork. Seems that the ARGO/YAMATO is further left!

I also spy the White Base from Mobile Suit Gundam, the tiny one in the left background!

Wonger · « **Reply #41 on:** 12/22/2017 05:40 am »

There are trick questions and there are trick answers.

Justice of Toren from Anne Leckie's Ancillary trilogy would be my current favorite spaceship.

This falls in the category of trick answer because Justice of Toren stretched the concept of "spaceship" to such an extreme that it warranted a Hugo and a Nebula.

Ben the Space Brit · « **Reply #42 on:** 12/22/2017 07:15 am »

Quote from: Cherokee43v6 on 12/12/2017 02:13 am

Quote from: Jeff Lerner on 12/12/2017 01:52 am
Battlestar Galactica....

Okay, is that a promo still or is that someone's artwork?

Cause there's a Firefly just left of the triple saucer!

Edit... nevermind... it's artwork. Seems that the ARGO/YAMATO is further left!

You do see Firefly-class transports in a few shots of the big cities, pre-war in BSG2003. I don't know if they just decided to reuse the Firefly asset to save creating a new CGI model or if it was a deliberate shout-out.

Stan-1967 · « **Reply #43 on:** 12/22/2017 08:18 am »

Anyone remember the LEXX? A living spaceship, & the most powerful force of destruction in the two Universes.

tyrred · « **Reply #44 on:** 12/22/2017 07:31 pm »

Holy hand grenade of Antioch, which two universes was LEXX from? That looks... dreadful.

KelvinZero · « **Reply #45 on:** 12/22/2017 09:58 pm »

Gloriously dreadful, for at least a moment. I suspect the entire thing is on Youtube now.

To give an idea of the humour, yes, im pretty sure that the producers were 100% aware that from some angles the craft looks just like a giant festering willy.

Barrie · « **Reply #46 on:** 12/22/2017 10:21 pm »

Quote from: KelvinZero on 12/22/2017 09:58 pm

Gloriously dreadful, for at least a moment. I suspect the entire thing is on Youtube now.

To give an idea of the humour, yes, im pretty sure that the producers were 100% aware that from some angles the craft looks just like a giant festering willy.

It is indeed on YouTube. Ships large and small were aiming for an insect-like look, I think. I lost interest when Eva Habermann left.

the_other_Doug · « **Reply #47 on:** 12/22/2017 11:54 pm »

I always conflated what LEXX was trying to do with what Tripping the Rift was trying to do. Each was a vast compilation of bad and/or gross sexual/scatological references.

Space opera for 12-year-old boys who think fart jokes are the apex of humor.

Bob Shaw · « **Reply #48 on:** 12/23/2017 12:06 am »

Fireball XL5. A nod to the 1950s, and even to the Apollo era - with dreadful misogyny and racism thrown into the mix! Also, Oxygen Pills, which all good spaceships should carry - and a belter of a theme song!

tyrred · « **Reply #49 on:** 12/23/2017 06:46 am »

Because, you know, it's been to hell and back... and it's haunted

mike robel · « **Reply #50 on:** 12/23/2017 02:14 pm »

2001 Discovery
Ares IV from Star Trek Voyager
Mission to Mars

Lar · « **Reply #51 on:** 12/23/2017 09:08 pm »

Mission to Mars isn't science fiction.. .is it?

KelvinZero · « **Reply #52 on:** 12/23/2017 11:20 pm »

Nice HardSF ships.

I don't think anyone has included the 2010 Leonov yet. (I mean, not any imagery of it. I mentioned it earlier in my favorites)

leovinus · « **Reply #53 on:** 12/24/2017 12:39 am »

Here is a different one. Enjoyed their stories about space discovery and exploration for a decade.
The authors kept surprising me for their novelity idea's, humanity and explorations.
http://www.pr-materiequelle.de/riss/risszeichnung/r421.htm
Runner up, the Millenium Falcon.

ThereIWas3 · « **Reply #54 on:** 12/24/2017 03:38 am »

The interstellar ships in C.J. Cherryh's stories that manage to combine simple centrifugal artificial gravity, and FTL, and space-opera intership battles at sub-light, and the inconveniences abord a ship docked to a city-sized station that also has centrifugal artificial gravity so the ship's own spinning has to stop with the result that most of the habitable ship spaces are now upside down.

(Plus, most of the major characters are female.)

obi-wan · « **Reply #55 on:** 12/24/2017 06:43 am »

The star cruiser Polaris from the Tom Corbett: Space Cadet books - literally the first books I remember reading. The visual alternative would be the Orbit Jet from Rocky Jones, Space Ranger. (Yes, showing my age...)

Hog · « **Reply #56 on:** 12/24/2017 01:54 pm »

Of course the most utilitarian space vehicle, and my favourite is "Mega-Maid" from the 1987 space classic "Spaceballs". When she goes from "Suck to Blow" and gives your own planet a well needed refreshment of its atmosphere.

Oersted · « **Reply #57 on:** 12/24/2017 09:37 pm »

The XB982 of Valerian and Laureline, my all-time favourite sci-fi comic books. The series totally that shaped my youthful ideas of what space adventures "should look like"...

Oersted · « **Reply #58 on:** 12/24/2017 09:39 pm »

...And here is a read about the influence Valerian and Laureline had on Star Wars:

http://www.forcematerial.com/home/2016/10/3/six-ways-valerian-might-have-influenced-star-wars

Ronpur50 · « **Reply #59 on:** 12/25/2017 02:51 am »

I think I would have to say the original USS Enterprise, which I have build a big model of. Close second is Discovery from 2001, which I will soon build a model of!

tea monster · « **Reply #60 on:** 12/28/2017 07:02 am »

My choices are going to be the previously mentioned Millennium Falcon and the Discovery.

One of my other favorites, which isn't mentioned here, is the Michael, from Niven and Pournelle's novel 'Footfall'. A giant, nuclear-pulse powered battleship that takes the fight for Earth straight back to the Aliens (no borrowed alien tech or USB drive required!

)

Image by William Black, https://www.deviantart.com/william-black/gallery

Veronica · « **Reply #61 on:** 12/28/2017 08:14 am »

Voyager from Star Trey Voyager or Enterprise from the 2009 movie and the latest Star Trek movies. I just hate it when the ships get damaged or blown up though. Like "you destroyed that beauty?! Nooo!"

wh1988 · « **Reply #62 on:** 12/28/2017 04:01 pm »

I'll go with the pride of the Royal Manticoran Navy: HMS Nike

Oersted · « **Reply #63 on:** 12/28/2017 08:02 pm »

Quote from: tea monster on 12/28/2017 07:02 am

One of my other favorites, which isn't mentioned here, is the Michael, from Niven and Pournelle's novel 'Footfall'. A giant, nuclear-pulse powered battleship that takes the fight for Earth straight back to the Aliens (no borrowed alien tech or USB drive required! )

Never saw illustrations of Michael, thanks for posting. - I was very intrigued by the design of that beast when I read the book. Popping a-bombs out of the back and detonating them to provide propulsion is quite the concept!

RotoSequence · « **Reply #64 on:** 12/28/2017 08:07 pm »

Quote from: Oersted on 12/28/2017 08:02 pm

Popping a-bombs out of the back and detonating them to provide propulsion is quite the concept!

One that was seriously explored back in the 1950s.

wh1988 · « **Reply #65 on:** 12/28/2017 08:25 pm »

Quote from: Oersted on 12/28/2017 08:02 pm

Quote from: tea monster on 12/28/2017 07:02 am
One of my other favorites, which isn't mentioned here, is the Michael, from Niven and Pournelle's novel 'Footfall'. A giant, nuclear-pulse powered battleship that takes the fight for Earth straight back to the Aliens (no borrowed alien tech or USB drive required! )

Never saw illustrations of Michael, thanks for posting. - I was very intrigued by the design of that beast when I read the book. Popping a-bombs out of the back and detonating them to provide propulsion is quite the concept!

I really like how they used the pulse units for the main drive to do double-duty in pumping X-ray lasers for the main heavy weapons on that ship.

mme · « **Reply #66 on:** 12/28/2017 08:36 pm »

Quote from: tea monster on 12/28/2017 07:02 am

My choices are going to be the previously mentioned Millennium Falcon and the Discovery.

One of my other favorites, which isn't mentioned here, is the Michael, from Niven and Pournelle's novel 'Footfall'. A giant, nuclear-pulse powered battleship that takes the fight for Earth straight back to the Aliens (no borrowed alien tech or USB drive required! )

I was going to pick Orion but did not remember it had been used in a sci-fi story (even though I read and enjoyed Footfall back in my college days. Memory never was my strong suit.) The non-fiction book about Project Orion is great fun: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21243.Project_Orion

virnin · « **Reply #67 on:** 12/28/2017 08:54 pm »

Probably no pictures of this one but "New York" from "Cities in Flight" by James Blish.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cities_in_Flight

Second place, Rama from "Rendezvous with Rama" by Arthur C Clarke.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rendezvous_with_Rama

I just like spaceships with some room to roam!

Bynaus · « **Reply #68 on:** 12/28/2017 09:24 pm »

The Akira-class ships from Star Trek. This one is called USS Thunderchild.

mheney · « **Reply #69 on:** 12/28/2017 09:35 pm »

Quote from: virnin on 12/28/2017 08:54 pm

Probably no pictures of this one but "New York" from "Cities in Flight" by James Blish.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cities_in_Flight

Second place, Rama from "Rendezvous with Rama" by Arthur C Clarke.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rendezvous_with_Rama

I just like spaceships with some room to roam!

For "Cities in Flight" artwork, look at the covers of any early "Boston" album.

MattMason · « **Reply #70 on:** 12/28/2017 09:41 pm »

I have two.

The Vulture. And the Gunstar.

PahTo · « **Reply #71 on:** 12/29/2017 05:00 am »

I think this one is obvious, with all due respect to the past four pages...

"When Worlds Collide" had a fine rail launch system, and an awesome vehicle to be sure.
Indeed, I'm pretty sure the same vehicle was in 20 MILLION Miles to Earth, another Must-See sci-fi...

Zed_Noir · « **Reply #72 on:** 12/29/2017 05:35 am »

Quote from: PahTo on 12/29/2017 05:00 am

I think this one is obvious, with all due respect to the past four pages...

"When Worlds Collide" had a fine rail launch system, and an awesome vehicle to be sure.
Indeed, I'm pretty sure the same vehicle was in 20 MILLION Miles to Earth, another Must-See sci-fi...

Rip off of the Sänger Amerika Bomber IMO

vapour_nudge · « **Reply #73 on:** 12/29/2017 06:46 am »

I actually liked the simplicity of the Interceptors from the 70s series “ UFO”, along with the SkyDiver.(Look em up on Google images). One missile and they’re done. If nothing else, that series should get the thumbs up for the best theme song intro for a fantasy sci-fi series.

William Black · « **Reply #74 on:** 10/11/2020 03:13 am »

Quote from: wh1988 on 12/28/2017 08:25 pm

Quote from: Oersted on 12/28/2017 08:02 pm
Quote from: tea monster on 12/28/2017 07:02 am
One of my other favorites, which isn't mentioned here, is the Michael, from Niven and Pournelle's novel 'Footfall'. A giant, nuclear-pulse powered battleship that takes the fight for Earth straight back to the Aliens (no borrowed alien tech or USB drive required! )

Never saw illustrations of Michael, thanks for posting. - I was very intrigued by the design of that beast when I read the book. Popping a-bombs out of the back and detonating them to provide propulsion is quite the concept!

I really like how they used the pulse units for the main drive to do double-duty in pumping X-ray lasers for the main heavy weapons on that ship.

tea monster, I am William Black, the author of the artwork used in your post, I created the second (or lower) illustration of the battleship Michael from Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's novel Footfall. I am appreciative that you like the artwork, but I ask that you credit me as the artist and link to the artwork page in my online gallery here: https://www.deviantart.com/william-black/art/Michael-508661509 thanks.

JAFO · « **Reply #75 on:** 10/14/2020 07:47 pm »

The Orion III spaceplane from 2001. Pan Am DID make it to space.

BTW, an ILM artist has a hobby website, check out the Sci Fi Airshow. https://www.scifiairshow.com/

MickQ · « **Reply #76 on:** 10/16/2020 03:50 am »

Quote from: vapour_nudge on 12/29/2017 06:46 am

I actually liked the simplicity of the Interceptors from the 70s series “ UFO”, along with the SkyDiver.(Look em up on Google images). One missile and they’re done. If nothing else, that series should get the thumbs up for the best theme song intro for a fantasy sci-fi series.

Don't forget the uniforms. The girls on SkyDiver were certainly NOT hard to look at.

Oersted · « **Reply #77 on:** 10/16/2020 08:27 am »

If size matters to you...