Re-Used Shuttle Interiors
by Jörg Hillebrand and Bernd Schneider
Runabout InteriorsOther Shuttle Cockpits
Many sets used in Star Trek were later modified or even recycled without changes to represent a different starship or building. Here are several examples of shuttle sets. Please note that everything should be taken with a grain of salt. Certainly we are not supposed to watch closely enough to see that the interiors of two different shuttles look the same.
Runabout Interiors
Runabout cockpit
The Danube-class runabout cockpit was originally built for DS9: "Emissary". It appeared in a large number of DS9 episodes in its original role, as well as in TNG: "Timescape". Over the course of the seven years of DS9 there were several slight modifications to the set and hence to the cockpit of the "real" Danube class. However, the set was also repeatedly used for vessels other than the runabouts, for which it was accordingly redressed.
For VOY: "Caretaker" the cockpit set was modified to act as the bridge of Chakotay's Maquis raider. The LCARS displays were swapped with 23rd century-style computer controls and supplemented with occasional coffin-shaped structures to separate two consoles. The doors and the wall at the cockpit rear end were given a new, partially ribbed surface, encompassing the former transporter platform. In addition, the characteristic oval port and starboard windows were closed and were covered with more computer displays.
However, while the two new displays are still in place of the windows early in the episode, they disappear towards the end when Chakotay battles the huge Kazon vessel. We can see that on the starboard side, behind his head, there is no panel but a window with stars (although these are out of focus and accordingly blurred).
The Danube runabout set was naturally used without being redressed for the Yellowstone variant in VOY: "Non Sequitur", considering that the two are identical on the outside.
The next re-use in a different role is as the cockpit of a Terran rebel raider (the same Bajoran-type vessel that utilizes the Defiant's transporter, see Re-Used Starship Interiors). Here the illumination is dimmed, the struts are decorated with lots of black tape, and the 24th century LCARS panels are replaced with 23rd century movie-style controls once again.
The rebel bridge appears once again in DS9: "Shattered Mirror".
During the summer break between the 6th and the 7th season of DS9 the runabout cockpit was rebuilt for the shooting of "Star Trek: Insurrection". Here the set served as the cockpit of the unnamed Enterprise-E shuttle that Picard and Worf used to stop Data's amok run. The window frames were removed and were replaced with a display panel in a similar fashion as already for "Caretaker". There is now a transporter in the place of the access to the aft compartment. The LCARS consoles on either side of the aft wall are still there, although they look different. The rest remained much the same, except that the whole cockpit was painted in much darker brownish colors.
Runabout aft section
The only time we see the aft section of the runabout is in TNG: "Timescape". It never appears in any DS9 episode. However, the set was remodeled to serve as the interior of the USS Prometheus in DS9: "Second Sight". More precisely, it stands in for no less than three different rooms aboard the guest ship. In order to let the set appear different and let it look like it is located on a starship, rather than a narrow runabout, the side walls were moved in a way that the former starboard wall of the runabout is now all windows and the port wall is completely solid. The aft part with the rear windows was covered with a new wall and two doors. In the first scene (the dining room) we mostly look at the side with the windows, whereas in the third appearance (as Nidell's room) the solid wall is mostly visible, hence establishing that these are two different locations, although the set was not rebuilt during the episode except for moving furniture and decoration.
Runabout "wings"
The Danube-class runabout possesses a small wing on either side of the hull, below the window that is aft of the door. We can see this wing on the miniature in many episodes. For DS9: "Battle Lines" a full-scale set of the port side of the runabout exterior was constructed, including the wing. While the nacelle was the wrong type, otherwise this full-scale set correctly reproduced the look of the miniature. The set showed up once again in "Hippocratic Oath", but this time the wing could be found on the left side of the port door (or was it ripped off, considering that it appears to lie on the soil?). Anyway, the same wing can be seen in a different function in DS9: "Indiscretion", here as a part of the crashed Cardassian ship Ravinok.
Other Shuttle Cockpits
TNG alien shuttle cockpit
A set that presumably first appeared as the Ferengi cockpit in "The Price" debuted as a mock-up that could also be filmed from outside as the Zibalian shuttle in TNG: "The Most Toys". It was re-used so often that it warrants an extensive article of its own: Redresses of TNG's Alien Shuttle Cockpit.
Type-9 shuttle cockpit
The cockpit of Voyager's Type-9 shuttle could be seen as other Starfleet shuttle interiors but was also used for small alien ships. See all variations of the set in a separate article: Redresses of the Type-9 Shuttle Cockpit.
VOY small shuttle cockpit
In the course of four seasons, three small shuttle cockpits appear on Voyager's screen which are obviously the same set, only slightly redressed each time: the cockpit Braxton's timeship Aeon, weapon dealer Kovin's cockpit and finally the cockpit of old Kes's shuttle.
Phoenix cockpit
The cockpit of Zefram Cochrane's warp ship Phoenix was redressed several times for Star Trek Enterprise. Besides the obvious re-uses as the inspection pod and the NX prototype cockpit, we could see it as an alien set a couple of times. Read the whole story in a separate article: Redresses of the Phoenix Cockpit.
Escape pod
The Retellian and the Klingon escape pods are amazingly alike, although they look quite different from the outside (Klingon, Retellian). The full-scale set is the same, only that the Klingon interior was filmed in a way to look darker and less inviting, and without the manual controls of the Retellian version.
See Also
Variations of the Runabout Interior - a detailed look at the changes to this regular DS9 set over the years
Redresses of the Type-9 Shuttle Cockpit - its various re-uses for Starfleet and alien shuttles
Redresses of TNG's Alien Shuttle Cockpit - history of the cockpit set that appeared in many TNG episodes
Redresses of the Phoenix Cockpit - how the set from "First Contact" got a second life on Enterprise
Galleries - Starfleet Bridge Illustrations
