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The Type 6 shuttlecraft was a short-range Starfleet auxiliary vehicle carried aboard Federation starships and space stations during the 24th century. (TNG: "The Outcast", "Aquiel", "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 Galaxy-class, (TNG: "Darmok") Intrepid-class, (VOY: "Caretaker", "Parallax") and Nebula-class starships. (Star Trek Generations; DS9: "Waltz") 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 appeared on the master systems displays of the Sovereign-class USS Enterprise-E, the Prometheus-class USS Prometheus, and the Nova-class USS Equinox, possibly indicating this shuttle was carried aboard those vessels as well. Additionally, the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Technical Manual claimed several Type 6 shuttles were assigned to Deep Space 9, although there was no on-screen evidence to support this.

Technical data[]

Type 6 shuttlecraft cross section

Cross sections of a Type 6 shuttlecraft

For propulsion, the Type 6 was equipped with two 1,250 millicochrane warp nacelles and microfusion thrusters. The craft was powered by a fusion reactor core and a starboard and port power supply. It was furthermore equipped with an RCS thruster quad and an atmospheric ramscoop for atmospheric flight. A flight avionics unit aided the pilot with flying the craft. 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 forward navigational deflector, a forward sensor array, a forward emitter array, a primary emitter, and a graviton polarity source generator. (TNG-R: "The Outcast")

For the remastered episode, several components were relabeled. These were the atmospheric airscoop (to atmospheric ramscoop), hover field antigravs (to forward sensor array), deuterium exchanger (to flight avionics unit), and secondary graviton polarity source (to forward navigational deflector).
According to the Star Trek: Voyager Technical Manual (p. 20), the "maximum speed of these craft was Warp 3."

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")

Type 6 cockpit

The cockpit of a Type 6

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")

According to the Star Trek: Voyager Technical Manual (p. 20), these "standard shuttlecraft are used for transport of up to 12 people on short trips within a solar system." In the Technical Manual's technical primer (p. 5), it was stated that they were "capable of carrying about six to eight people." Typically, on screen, they have never been shown carrying any more than four at one time (i.e. TNG: "The Outcast", "Rascals").

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

Shuttles of the class[]

Appendices[]

Appearances[]

Background information[]

The Type 6 shuttle was a modification of one of the full-size Galileo-type 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 and windows. 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 dialogue in "Parallels". The Star Trek Encyclopedia (4th ed., vol. 2, p. 10) listed Richard James, Nilo Rodis, Herman Zimmerman, and Andy Neskoromny as additional designers of this shuttle Type.

Shuttlecraft Curry

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 "Unnatural Selection" and supplementing the smaller Type 15 shuttlepod built for "Time Squared".

The special feature "Departmental Briefing Year Six - Profile: Dan Curry" of the TNG Season 6 DVD depicted a studio model of a Type 6 shuttlecraft labeled with the name "Curry" (versus "Curie"), named after Dan Curry. Models of Type 6 shuttles bearing the names of TNG visual effects staff were distributed as gifts during the run of the series. [2] It was unclear if these studio models were 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 "Parallax", although the situation display to the left of the pilot always showed a diagram of the Type 8.

^ Seven's shuttle appearing in "The Raven" appeared with both new Type 6 shuttle footage (escaping from Voyager, confronting other ships, and planetary approach) mixed with recycled Type 8 footage (generic flight through space).

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 for "Alice".

Star Trek Official Starships Collection Shuttle Issue 02

Shuttle issue #02

According to Shuttle Issue #02 of the Star Trek: The Official Starships Collection, the type 6 shuttlecraft was approximately 6 meters in length. Designed as a short-range, warp-capable vessel, the Type 6 could maintain warp 1.2 for 48 hours or warp 2 for 36 hours. With further modification, the Type 6 could maintain warp 5 for 14 days. The standard Type 6 was powered by two 1,250 millicochrane fusion reactors. These reactors could be swapped out with ones that generated 2,100 millicochranes, giving the type extended range. The type 6 shuttlecraft had twelve DeFl 3234 microfusion RCS thrusters for maneuvering.

Merchandise[]

The Type 6 shuttle Goddard was produced in three separate scales by Playmates Toys during the 1990s:

  • Stock number 6101, scaled to fit with the five-inch action figure line.
  • Stock number 6176, a smaller scale shuttle for mini-figures of the Innerspace line.
  • A mini-shuttle was included with the Innerspace version of the USS Enterprise-D (stock number 6131), which fitted inside a shuttlebay on the Enterprise.

Galoob released a Type 6 shuttle labeled Berman as part of the Micro Machines line.

Eaglemoss Collections included the Goddard in the first shuttle collection produced as part of Star Trek: The Official Starships Collection.

In the 1990s, a CD holder [3] and alarm clock [4] both labeled Magellan were produced.

External link[]

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