Type 6 shuttlecraft

Type 6 shuttlecraft

The type-6 shuttlecraft was a short-range Starfleet auxiliary vehicle carried aboard Federation starships and space stations during the 24th century. (TNG: "Parallels")

Service history

The type 6 shuttlecraft was introduced sometime prior to 2364. (TNG: "All Good Things...") They were part of the standard shuttlecraft inventory aboard Template:ShipClass, (TNG: "Darmok") Template:ShipClass, (VOY: "Caretaker", "Parallax") and Template:ShipClass (Star Trek Generations; DS9: "Waltz") starships. Space stations such as Relay Station 47 also supported type 6 shuttlecraft, as did facilities on Earth. (TNG: "Aquiel"; VOY: "Pathfinder")

Although the type-6 did not make its debut until the fifth season episode "Darmok," the type-6 shuttle Galileo was seen during the past scenes of "All Good Things...," establishing that this shuttle type was an unseen part of the USS Enterprise-D's inventory for four years. The type-6 also appears on the master systems displays of the Template:ShipClass USS Enterprise-E, the Template:ShipClass USS Prometheus, and the Template:ShipClass USS Equinox, possibly indicating this shuttle is carried aboard those vessels as well. Additionally, the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Technical Manual claims several type-6 shuttles are assigned to Deep Space 9, although there is no on-screen evidence to support this.

Technical data

Cross sections of a type 6 shuttlecraft

For propulsion, the type-6 was equipped with two 1250 millicochrane warp nacelles and microfusion thrusters. It was furthermore equipped with an RCS thruster quad, an atmospheric airscoop for atmospheric flight, and hover field antigravs. There was no standard armament, but the shuttlecraft could be equipped with two type 4 phaser emitters for special purposes. The shuttle also featured a navigational deflector and redundant graviton polarity source generators. (TNG: "The Outcast")

A transporter assembly was also not standard, but the shuttle could be fitted with a portable array. The control systems were intuitive, and a non-Federation pilot could quickly learn to fly the craft. (TNG: "The Outcast") Type-6 shuttles were easily configurable for testing of a variety of technologies. (TNG: "Suspicions")

Entry to the shuttle was through a large hatch in the rear of the vessel. The hatch could be opened via a control pad next to the impulse engines. There were benches for passenger seating in the aft section, and ample room for cargo. A separate systems display was also found in the aft area, as were storage bins. (TNG: "The Outcast", "Suspicions")

By 2374, deflector shields, phaser arrays, and transporter arrays were standard equipment on board type-6 shuttles. (VOY: "The Raven", "Coda")

List of type 6 shuttlecraft

USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)

• #03 - Justman (TNG: "Suspicions", "Gambit, Part II")
• #03 - Curie (TNG: "Parallels", "Lower Decks")
• #07 - Galileo (TNG: "All Good Things...")
• #09 - Fermi True Q
• #15 - Magellan (TNG: "Darmok", "The Outcast")
• #15 - Goddard (TNG: "The Next Phase", "Relics")
• #16 - Fermi (TNG: "True Q", "Rascals")
• Berman (TNG: "Cause and Effect")
• Piller (TNG: "Cause and Effect")
• Unknown (TNG: "Genesis")
  • Taken by Picard and Data to retrieve a lost photon torpedo

According to the Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion, this shuttle was to have been named Hypatia.

• Unknown (several) (Star Trek Generations)
  • Helped evacuate Enterprise crew from the crashed saucer section

USS Farragut (NCC-60597)

• Unknown (several) (Star Trek Generations)
  • Helped evacuate Enterprise crew from the crashed saucer section

USS Honshu (NCC-60205)

• Unknown (DS9: "Waltz", "Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night", "Tears of the Prophets")
  • Taken from the Honshu by Dukat and Sisko before the starship's destruction following an attack by Cardassian destroyers. The shuttle was taken to a planetoid and later stolen by Dukat.

USS Voyager (NCC-74656)

• #05 - Sacajawea (VOY: "Coda")
• Unnamed (VOY: "Caretaker")
• Unknown (VOY: "Innocence")
  • Flown by Tuvok and Bennet; crashed on Drayan moon but repaired and recovered
• Unknown (VOY: "The Raven")
  • Stolen by Seven of Nine and taken to the remains of the USS Raven on a planet in B'omar space; possibly recovered
• Unknown (VOY: "Hope and Fear")
  • Used by Tom Paris and Neelix to visit a trade colony, transport Arturis to Voyager.
• Unknown (VOY: "Gravity")
  • Flown by Tuvok, Tom Paris, and The Doctor in 2375. This shuttle was sucked into a subspace sinkhole and crashed on a desert planet inside.

NCC-71325

Shuttle attached to NCC-71325

• Unknown (VOY: "Caretaker")

Relay Station 47

• Verne (TNG: "Aquiel")

Starfleet Command

• Unknown (VOY: "Author, Author")

Template:Type6Shuttlecraft

Background

The type-6 shuttle is a modification of one of the full-size shuttles built for Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. The changes were designed by Rick Sternbach, and mostly involved shortening the length of the shuttle and adding new warp engines. The distinctive front end of the shuttle as well as the aft hatch and impulse engines were retained. A new miniature was built under the supervision of Greg Jein. The designation was established in dialog in TNG: "Parallels".

File:Shuttlecraft Curry, TNG Season 6 bonus material.jpg

Shuttlecraft "Curry"

This was the last complete full sized Starfleet shuttlecraft built for a Star Trek series, replacing the inaccurate type 7 shuttlecraft exterior created for TNG: "Unnatural Selection" and supplementing the tiny type 15 shuttlepod built for TNG: "Time Squared".

The special features of the TNG Season 6 DVD depicts a studio model of a Type 6 shuttlecraft labeled with the name "Curry" (versus "Curie"), named after Dan Curry. It is unclear if this studio model was ever used in any on-screen sequence.

On The Next Generation, reuse of stock shots of the type-7 were often incorrectly paired with the interior and sometimes exterior of the type-6. A similar phenomenon happened on Star Trek: Voyager, where the type-6 interior was shared with the type 8 shuttlecraft introduced in VOY: "Parallax", although the situation display to the left of the pilot always showed a diagram of the type-8. The type-6 was even rendered as a computer generated model, but after the introduction of the class 2 shuttle and later the Delta Flyer, both the type-6 and type-8 fell into disuse. The full-sized shuttle exterior was eventually recycled to become Alice from VOY: "Alice".