| abstract | - In regard to his notion of the design being a Federation/Vulcan hybrid, Probert has later specified, "The back-story in my mind at the time was that the shuttlecraft itself was a Starfleet design, while the warp sled would be contributed through the efforts of the Vulcan Space Authorities." [4] At the time, Probert even envisioned the shuttle part coming in two different sizes. A design sketch of 3 May 1979 specified a smaller forty feet "Starfleet-Standard-Shuttle" and a nearly one and a half larger "Starfleet-Long range-Shuttle" as the one to be attached to the warp sled. [5] Probert explained, "When I was asked for ideas on the Enterprise cargo decks, part of those ideas included new hanger deck spaces where one would logically expect to see shuttlecraft. Since the larger long-range shuttle had already been designed, I thought it made sense to have the Enterprise shuttles look the same, although smaller, to fit the spaces below deck. Logically if we were updating the Enterprise, the shuttles should be updated as well. Someone disagreed with that, of course, providing us all with a totally empty area back there." [6] While designing the long range shuttle, Probert did not envision the craft having any secondary entrances or exits. He later noted, "I would change that today." The circular door on the rear of the craft had to be of the same proportions as the docking collar of the Enterprise, since that fitting was intended to be a universal connection. [7] Probert also made sure the docking collar matched up with the one seen on the travel pod, "In the case of the long-range shuttlecraft (Vulcan Shuttle), there is a small airlock adjoining it’s docking ring but the doors are the same as the Pod’s. LR Shuttles also have top & bottom emergency hatches.", in the process somewhat contradicting his earlier remark of the shuttle not having secondary entrances. [8](X) Probert referred to only the upper part of the craft's two sections as being the shuttle, calling the lower section the "warp sled"; he conceived the latter as having warp capability, equipped with both warp and impulse engines. However, this distinction is not made on screen and both portions of the craft are only ever shown traveling at slower than warp speeds (though the shuttle's name implies that the craft was capable of regularly sustaining warp to traverse long distances). Probert did not imagine the cabin section as having the ability to travel at warp or even near-light velocities, with that compartment's only intended method of travel being reaction control thrusters, which Probert included on the section's corners. Despite the slowness of the upper module, Probert envisioned it – in accordance with his wishes that the long range shuttle become the new standard shuttlecraft for Star Trek – as being capable of traveling between space and the surfaces of planets. To this end, the Surak's landing pads were marked with reddish coloring meant to be from Vulcan soil. "But when you're rushed through production to do stuff, you overlook a few things, and the problem there would have been how do you get it off the planet with only RCS thrusters...." explained Probert. "It's conceivable that it would have its own primary power system in addition to the RCS system, but I hadn't been able to think that far, and it was simply a proposal." [9] In regard to the shuttle's perceived absence of windows, Probert commented, "At the time, I was intrigued by the idea of total instrument flying. Certainly 200 ears from now such technology will be commonplace. And since the craft is designed to enter an atmosphere, I conceived a wedge nose to facilitate entry. The sled, incidentally, parks relative to the Enterprise and automatically keeps station with it." (Starlog, issue 32, pp. 29-30) Refining his thought processes Probert added years later, "It's true, there is only a heat shield on the front, but this shuttle has always had those side windows along with one on the back. The tall windows were designed that way in order for travelers of any eye-level height to see out. The same reasoning is behind the longer windows on the Enterprise-D, which followed years later." [10] Probert was the one who came up with the name of the only one seen long range shuttle in the franchise, Surak, "I remembered the name from an old Star Trek episode. Surak was the equivalent of our Abraham Lincoln in "The Savage Curtain" ." (Starlog, issue 32, p. 29) Probert also planned for long range shuttles to be included in a matte painting of the cargo bay, though this plan went unrealized, as shuttles were entirely excluded from the final painting as ultimately used. [11] Paramount Pictures applied for, and received two design patents from the US Patent and Trademark Office for the design. The first, D259889, tendered by the studio on 13 April 1979 and issued on 14 July 1981, concerned the entire assembly of shuttle and sled. The second, D263727, tendered on 7 May 1979 and issued on 6 April 1982, only concerned the shuttle part of the design. In both cases called a "toy spaceship" for purposes of the patent application, as they were not real spaceships, it seemed odd that two patents were issued for one design. This however, may have stemmed from the original intent of having two differently sized shuttles, considering the fact that the second patent was tendered only four days after Probert submitted his two sizes design. In both cases Probert was, discounting Taylor's input, mentioned as sole inventor. The patents, when issued, were valid for fourteen years. Probert has sold off some of his concepts and design drawings in Propworx' STAR TREK auction III of 4 June 2011.
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