Big Star Trek starships in real life

After more than half a century of inspiring trekkies world-wide, Star Trek has left a mark on the world. Sometimes more literally than you might imagine; all over the world you can find Star Trek starships, on displays, in parades, as corporate headquarters, and even in dentist offices. I thought it would be fun to try and track down the big Star Trek starships there are out there; I was surprised how many I came up with! Continue below to check them out.

The REALLY big ones

First I thought we should look at the seriously huge ones; I'm talking several times the size of human, or even full-sized recreations. These are rare, and their fidelity to the original designs vary, but some are very impressive.

Perhaps the most screen accurate of the big Star Trek ships in real life was the Borg Sphere that formed the thematic heart of the old Borg Assimilator roller coaster at the Carowinds Amusement Park in North Carolina. Alas Paramount sold the park in 2006, and soon after the Star Trek theming for the ride was striped off. And so, as seemed to be the habit of Borg Spheres crashed on Earth, this ship is lost to time.

A Star Trek concert and virtual roller coaster, care of the Movie Park

Here's a nice musical treat, in the vein of many an online arts streaming event in these days of quarantine, the Movie Park Germany theme park have released a 24-minute video of the recording of the music for their Operation Enterprise roller coaster. Opened a few years ago, this is currently the world's only Star Trek roller coaster, and also includes a tour through set recreations, all accompanied by specially recorded music; a mix of classic Trek themes, and brand new music composed just for the ride. You can check out the music, which is pretty rousing, right here:

Red Sea Astrarium Star Trek ride concept art

Remember back in 2011 when they announced that Star Trek would be a key attraction in the planned Red Sea Astrarium resort in Aqaba, Jordan? Well as far as I can tell that never quite got built. But work was still going on for it as late as 2014, when it was reported Bad Robot were working on an innovative 4D film/ride as part of the attraction. Concept artist Bruno Werneck was part of the team working on that, eventually becoming the art director for the project. He has recently shared some work from the ride on his ArtStation portfolio. Continue below to check it out:

Here we have some familiar Starfleet elements, plus a new shuttlecraft that I would imagine to be setting of the ride from what we see in the artwork here:

Star Trek roller coaster gets its own soundtrack!

Well here's a somewhat unexpected Star Trek music release, the Star Trek roller coaster launched this year at Movie Park Germany had brand new music recorded to enhance the ride experience, and now they've released a soundtrack so you can enjoy that new Star Trek music at home too!

Put together by IMA Score Audio Experience, who have also produced music for other attractions, the soundtrack features a mix of new recordings of classic Trek themes, plus several new themes created for the ride. Here's the cover:

Movie Park's Star Trek roller coaster launches

After a year of teasing its construction, Movie Park Germany's Star Trek roller coaster, Operation Enterprise, has now opened! The TNG themed ride is the only Star Trek theme park attraction in the world right now (with the old Borg Assimilator closed, and other planned attractions not making it to reality yet), and there's more on offer than the ride, with a section of the park now Star Trek themed, including some really fun features. Let's check them out:

Revealed in photos celebrating the launch of the ride, and perhaps more exciting than the roller coaster itself, the Operation Enterprise experience includes the chance to walk through a full sized recreation of the USS Enterprise-D bridge! Complete with active Borg attack on the viewscreen.

First look at the new Star Trek roller-coaster

Last summer I reported news that the Movie Park theme park in Germany had begun work on a Star Trek roller-coaster; and now Movie Park have released the first promotional images of the forthcoming ride, which is due to open this spring.

The TNG inspired ride will see "cadets" boarding shuttles to help rescue the Enterprise-D from impending Borg assimilation. Here's the story behind the ride (English language version via StarTrek.com):

Speed is of the essence. There’s no time to think. Every maneuver has to be perfectly executed. There’s only one attempt. Starfleet's enemy the Borg have the U.S.S. Enterprise locked in their tractor beam. The ship and its crew have been captured. The bridge of the Enterprise is deserted. The only hope of rescue is to send Starfleet cadets on a bold rescue mission.

This rescue mission isn’t going to be easy. The Borg ship’s deflector shields will have to be breached so that its main systems can be destroyed. It’s the only way to save the crew of the Enterprise. Despite an incredible adrenalin rush, the cadets have to fully focus on the task at hand. That’s the new mission in deep space for Movie Park Germany’s guests.

Visit the TOS sets, remade in Ticonderoga, New York

Last month a cool new Star Trek attraction opened in Ticonderoga, New York: Star Trek: Original Series Set Tour. Based around recreations of the TOS sets perfectly rebuilt by James Cawley and associates, using blueprints and reference stills, the tour allows visitors to immerse themselves in world of Star Trek. Included is the full bridge, corridors, transporter room, and engineering. Continue below to check out the sets:

Amazing video of the Smithsonian's USS Enterprise restoration process

Star Trek visual effects artist Bill Geogre just posted this amazing video chronicling the restoration and reconstruction of the original USS Enterprise filming miniature, before she went back on display at the heart of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum new look Milestones of Flight Hall (as recently reported).

The ship was taken apart by the conservators at the Smithsonian's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy facility, with almost the Entire ship painted anew, save for the top of the saucer, the only place where the original paint had been preserved. This video shows that process in detail, and it makes me tense just watching it - Can imagine the sense of responsibility handling that half century icon?

New Star Trek roller coaster! And other theme park updates

Behold, a future Star Trek adventure in the making! That building site pictured is the site of Star Trek: Operation Enterprise, a new Star Trek themed roller coaster which will open in Movie Park Germany next year.

The roller coaster will be the second highest in the movie and TV themed park, and according to the press release will offer visitors a unique ride:

The new coaster will be what is known as a launch coaster, with which the guests will begin the experience with an accelerated catapulting and not first drawn over a hill with a respective drop. 

While no imagery of what the final construction will look like has yet been revealed, a time lapse of that construction site has (with rather dramatic music for digging and pouring concrete!), as has this splendid little video simply celebrating Star Trek:



As the press release also mentions, this will be a unique attraction in the world, the only Star Trek theme park ride. It is not the first however, for some years there was another Star Trek roller coaster in the US, the Borg Assimilator, which flew riders around the wreckage of a crashed Borg Sphere (image via Flickr, and many more on Theme Park Review).

USS Enterprise takes its place as one of the Milestones of Flight

Almost two years ago the original studio model of the USS Enterprise left it's home in the gift shop of the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum to spend some time in spacedock for a major overall. After months of repairs, reinforcements, new lighting installations, and a fresh coat of paint, the Enterprise has now returned, to a new place of honour in the new look Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall.

The model sits aside other significant artefacts from the history of flight and space exploration, including Sputnik, an Apollo lunar module, and SpaceShipOne.

Lots of Star Trek events for the 50th anniversary

It might not come as too much of a surprise to learn that CBS have big plans for this year, what with it being the 50th anniversary of Star Trek n'all. Details of several of the latest events planned for this year have been revealed in the last few days; there should be lots to keep us entertained and help us celebrate this golden year.

Art

The highlight of the planned events in my mind, is the 50 Artists. 50 Years. project which USA Today have now revealed will be a worldwide travelling exhibition of Star Trek inspired art, in many forms, including illustration, photography, and graphic design.

This exhibit will first open at the San Diego Comic Con in July, before moving on to other venues. We've already had our first glimpse at this thanks to early previews for a calendar using some of the artwork - I find it hard to imagine we won't see what will surely be a rich source of Star Trek imagery turn up in other places and products down the line too. USA Today have confirmed the exhibit will include work by Leonard Nimoy, and the credits for the calendar suggest other contributors will include Tom Whalen, Nick Walker, Johnson Tsang, Derek Charm, and Susan Beatrice.

Original USS Enterprise model ready for restoration

As you might be aware, the original USS Enterprise filming miniature is in the possession of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Later this year it will find a new home within the museum, in the redesigned Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall, claiming it's rightful place as one of the most important vehicles in the (future) history of human flight.

Before moving to her new home, the Smithsonian team are busy working to restore the Enterprise to her former glory, making repairs after years of display a model made for shorter term use in television production was never designed for. They are also reversing some of the not entirely faithful previous restorations. The plan is to return the model to how it appeared in The Trouble with Tribbles, when the last alterations were made during the production of the series. The Smithsonian have just posted a blog with an update on their work, revealing right now, the Enterprise is in pieces!

New starship lands in China, comes with T-Rex and X-Wing Fighter!

China has developed a bit of a reputation in recent building-boom-years, of creating some pretty, unique, buildings; some gloriously creative expressions of modern architecture, some just plain weird. There's lots of blobitecture, all sorts of quirky skyscrappers, and novelty buildings including giant gods, a big glass violin, and a huge stargate! That wondrous collection now includes a starship too, reportedly officially licensed by CBS no less!

Completed last year, but only just discovered by the western parts of the internet (thanks to Mashable), the new headquarters of NetDragon Websoft is modelled on a Star Trek starship. This is due to the company's chairman, Liu DeJian, being a huge Trekkie, and being in a position to indulge in this multi-million dollar extravagance!

It appears to be based on the Enterprise-E (as you'll see in the concept art below), but I'd say it's ended up with a bit of a Voyager feel too. As you can see from this drone video, the enterprising shape only really becomes obvious from above:



This building is just one of many being built by NetDragon Websoft on their campus site in Fuzhou, continue below for a look at the building in situ, and how its design evolution.

Original USS Enteprise in spacedock

The original miniature model of the USS Enterprise is currently being readied for display in its new home in the revamped Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. At the moment it can be found at the Udvar-Hazy Center, where it is being examined, while the restoration team decides what to do, considering both it's place in history as a an artefact from television production, and icon of space design.

The Udvar-Hazy Center recently had an open day, so several people got to check out the Enterprise model in her restoration lab setting. Most of the photos in this post come from a great gallery by Dan Johnson, who got loads of shots showing both the model in situ, and details - Check out the full gallery.

The restoration team have been scrutinising the model, including looking at how both original details have held up, and how well efforts from previous rounds of restoration are working. The image here comes from a recent Smithsonian blog from the restoration team. Shown here is the saucer paint under ultraviolet light. The paint on the top side of the saucer is the original, and is cracking due to shrinkage over time. The smoother looking finish on the bridge area is from previous restoration work.

To guide the restoration team, a crack team of Star Trek experts has been assembled, including some of the most important names in starship design and Star Trek production; Doug Drexler, John Goodson, Gary Kerr, Mike and Denise Okuda, Andrew Probert, Adam Schneider, and Rick Sternbach, joined by CBS consumer products' John Van Citters, and the museum's curator of space history, Margaret Weitekamp. All are pictured here, video conferencing to discuss the Enterprise.

Continue after the jump for a few more highlights from Dan Johnson's great gallery, check out the Smithsonian blog for more details on the restoration, and see my previous report for information about the display the Enterprise will end up in when all this work is done.

First look at Paramount London's Star Trek attraction

Paramount are busy working on several attractions around the world, with many to include Star Trek components. One of those is in the UK; Paramount London (actually located some way to the east of London), which is currently going through a consultation phase before work really gets going, towards a target of a 2020 opening. This is mostly for the benefit of people locally effected, with details of how the theme park will effect local life, infrastructure, employment, public spaces and such. But the latest presentations also include some new concept art for the park, including the Star Trek themed Starfleet Command zone:

Continue after a jump for a look at the concept art from other areas of the park:

Original USS Enterprise departs for refit

The original miniature of the USS Enterprise seen in Star Trek: The Original Series has been on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum since the 70s, but a few days ago was taken out of it's home in the museum gift shop (where it has resided since 2000). Fear not though, it will be returning, in time for the fiftieth anniversary of Star Trek, and fortieth anniversary of the museum, as part of a revamped displayed in the museum's centerpiece Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall.

While waiting for the new display area to be readied, the model will undergo conservation work. The Smithsonian laid out their approach to that in their blog about the move:

The Museum’s general approach emphasizes conservation over preservation and preservation over restoration. Restoration is bringing an object back to its appearance and condition at a determined point in time in the past. With a restoration approach, there is less concern for preserving original materials and more focus on returning to the original specification, often through the addition of non-original materials. Preservation is an overall philosophy that favors keeping original material over creating an ideal physical appearance, while keeping the artifact from deteriorating any more. Conservation follows the preservation philosophy and is minimally invasive, utilizing scientific investigation and techniques to maintain original materials, preserving the object’s physical history of ownership and use.

It will be interesting how much they stick to the conservation over restoration, as previous work by the museum did in fact give the ship quite an overhaul. As you can see in some of the images below, the model currently features rather strong grid-lines that weren't present on it before the last time it had conservation work.

The new look Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall.

When the Enterprise does return, it will sit alongside other historical artefacts depicting the history of flight and space exploration (like an up-scaled version of Admiral Marcus' office), including the Spirit of St. Louis, Bell X-1, and an Apollo Lunar Module. It has yet to be revealed how the Enterprise will be displayed in the new hall - The case it was just moved out of was created for it after X-Rays at the last move revealed the model was being stressed from its previous hanging displays.

Continue after the jump for a look at the Enterprise's history at the museum.

Star Trek attractions updates

There are currently several attractions around the world in development, that are set to include Star Trek rides and exhibitions. Theme parks in Jordan, Spain, and the UK were all announced some time ago, and while news has been limited as they go through planning stages, they are gradually getting closer to realisation.

Paramount's Mike Bartok, who deals with the licensing of Paramount properties at visitor attractions, recently spoke to Blooloop about the various Paramount attractions in the works, and highlighted how Star Trek in particular is a rewarding challenge for Paramount to develop:

The Star Trek universe has been created on both film and TV, so for the attractions that we’ve done every inch has been viewed and has to be authentic. Some of the other IPs can be a little lighter but for the Star Trek World, it really requires full commitment creatively and financially to pull it off.

Construction is due to start later this year on the Red Sea Astrarium in Jordan (so says the Khaleej Times). The attraction seems to be presented almost like a history, with rides and architecture based on the regional cultural influences from ancient and colonial periods, right through to the Star Trek world of the future. Talking about the Astrarium, Bartok revealed work has already begun on the Star Trek elements:

...we’re fairly far along in terms of completing the film for the project in Jordan with Bad Robot which should be very exciting. That’s going to be a centrepiece attraction with incredible, state-of-the-art technology. It’s more than just a film, it will be the first attraction ever made to be 4D with actual freefall mechanisms in there. It should be fantastic and with Bad Robot involved we will have that authenticity.

Continue after the jump for a promo video for the entire Astrarium project, and updates from other Star Trek attractions:

New artwork for the Star Trek attraction at Paramount Park in Spain

As I first reported in 2011, there are plans afoot for a Paramount theme park in Murcia, Spain. Those plans include a sci-fi themed area, with a focus on Star Trek (and War of the Worlds). The "Plaza Futura" will include a retro futuristic square, leading into the "Starfleet Recruitment Center Spain", which will include a 3D simulator ride - From the artwork this appears to be a shuttle ride around the nuTrek Spacedock, possibly with an alien attack. There will also be the "Warp Speed ​​Coaster" a thirty meter tall roller coaster, six-hundred-and-fifty meter long, and one-hundred kilometer-per-hour roller coaster, which will also have an underground segment.

With the park still tentatively scheduled to open in 2015, work is still yet to really get going, with just landscaping started last year. However that's not stopped the backers of the Park in ramping up promotion recently, with a new brochure and images on their website. Which means we can get a better idea of the Star Treky goodness coming to Spain.

The most heavily Star Trek inspired part of the Park is definitely the Starfleet Recruitment Center, which will be getting nuTrek inspired interiors to wonder through on your way to the shuttle ride:

We can also get a glimpse of what to expect from that ride:

Continue after the jump for a look at the roller coaster, and exterior of the plaza:

Star Trek hotel!

...well, Star Trek hotel room at least. In one of the more extravagant Star Trek Into Darkness promotional efforts, Paramount have teamed up with a hotel in Brazil, to create a Star Trek suite, which will be available for the next month or so for just $670 a night (or $715 for a couple). The Sheraton Hotel in Sao Paulo features decoration and furniture based on Star Trek, including graphics of the Enterprise, more Starfleet deltas than you can shake a phaser at, and walls covered in space imagery. Those starry walls include some seven thousand crystals, and an array of LED lights which can be commanded to do a variety of effects via remote control in the room. Architect Pedro Luis Scalise's intention was apparently to make those staying in the room feel immersed in outer space

Visitors also get breakfast, access to the hotel's other facilities, and tickets to see Into Darkness thrown in too. Plus if they want a souvenir the hotel are offering some exclusive Star Trek merchandise: You can get a pair of, uh, expressive, Star Trek boots, which are offered for the bargain price of $1500. Or if you really want to show off, you can invest $10,000 in a white gold Federation/Starfleet ring, which features sapphires and diamonds in the starry face of the Federation emblem.

 

Another Star Trek attraction on the way!

Another Star Trek theme park is on the way; hot on the heels of developments in Jordan and Spain (pictured below), the Los Angeles Times now reports Paramount have signed a deal with London Resort Co. Holdings to build another new Paramount themed attraction in the UK, just outside of London.

The agreement will see the new attraction, aiming for a 2018 opening, host areas themed on Mission: Impossible, Paranormal Activity, and of course, Star Trek. The developers are also looking to sign up "major British brands" for the park.

Finally one of these places I might actually get round to visiting!