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Galactic Exploration Corps - Starships Leviathan and LeGuin |
| Exploration Corps Universe The Exploration Corps universe consists of five fictional eras that range from the late 21st century to the 25th century. In this fictional environment, our galaxy has only a few sentient alien species with star-faring technology. The first era begins in the late 21st century with the formation of the international Interplanetary Exploration Corps. During the 22nd century, a federation of democratic continental governments emerge bringing world peace and prosperity. By the end of this century, faster-than-light vessels appear and the Interplanetary Exploration Corps becomes the Interstellar Exploration Corps. Over the next 150 years, the Human presence in local interstellar space expands. In the mid-24th century, major improvements in faster-than-light drive result in Human space exploration efforts ranging much deeperinto the galaxy. The Interstellar Exploration Corps grows in size and capability to become the Galactic Exploration Corps. This fictional environment is inspired by the science fiction Arthur C. Clarke and Jack McDevitt. I consider it my most sober portrayal of Humanity equipped with maturing faster-than-light technology combined with equally maturing societal development. Concept Starship Leviathan is meant to be a more rational vision of possible future faster-than-light capable starship than those portrayed in Star Trek and Star Wars. While it is conceived as an alternate to the well known USS Enterprise of the original Star Trek TV series, it has more in common with the capital ship Vespasian from the Sector General
series of science fiction novels by James White. As a sober starship
concept, it has a hull shape evolved from modern submarines. The rounded
forms are obviously more for style than for function but perhaps real
future starships will include aesthetic considerations along with
functional ones. Starship Leviathan was launched from Star Station 9 on 28 October 2357 AD. This vessel was the largest tech level 6 exploration ship ever built by the Galactic Exploration Corps. It could accommodate up to seven LeGuin class scoutships and usually operated with at least four. Personal Commentary The Leviathan is a very special design for me. The amount of thought and level of detail I put into the various versions of this vessel are equaled by few others in my speculative spaceship design work. I even created a self-published book in 1996, A Visitor's Guide to Starship Leviathan, where I spent as much effort describing the society onboard the ship as I did depicting the vessel itself. I used the Baha'i model of social structure and personal interaction that emphasizes such things as integrating human diversity in a positive way, consultative group decision making, and combining the scientific and religious methods of comprehending reality when seeking a fuller understudying of truth. The Leviathan has a shipboard society more like a small town than a military vessel. However, the small town in my vision is not one from a homogenous culture of our past, but one from the more diverse yet unified culture that I believe will emerge in our future. The occupants of the Leviathan include children as well as adults. A sentient computer oversees the vast mechanical complexity of the vessel and consults as an equal with the human crew. Non-sentient robots controlled by the human crew and the sentient computer provide the necessary labor for particularly mundane or dangerous jobs. The society onboard the Leviathan symbolizes for me the hope I have in my heart that when our descendants go out to explore the stars, they will represent a progressive and compassionate culture worthy of expanding itself beyond the borders of our small planet. Thus, it is as much what the Leviathan represents for me on the human level, as for its artistic aspects, that makes it one of my favorite starship designs. It also has been the favorite design of visitors to my website since I began posting my work on the Internet in 2001. When I began designing the Leviathan in the early 1990's, the initial challenge was to decide upon a rough size for the vessel. I wanted a large vessel, but not so large as to be overwhelming when I got around to figuring out what was on each deck. Also, I felt that I needed a well-known fictional vehicle to use as a rough yardstick for people to compare my vessel to. I decided to use the USS Enterprise 1701-D from the TV show Star Trek: The Next Generation as my starting point for general size. Thus, the Leviathan has roughly the same mass and internal volume as the USS Enterprise-D. Like that vessel, the Leviathan is a deep space exploration vessel capable of long-term missions and equipped with the most advanced scientific technology available to Humanity for its time period. While the two vessels perform similar roles in their respective fictional environments, the Leviathan has star-faring technology closer to that of the original USS Enterprise from the classic Star Trek series. In
the internal layout for the Leviathan, the direction of the decks
is based on what is convenient for the design, not on a strict "all
levels face the same direction" paradigm. With gravity control technology
similar to that on Star Trek, there is no need for all the
decks to stack in the same direction. Also, I am making a reference to
the work of science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke in which advanced
technology allows the creation of artificial environments where the direction
that is supposed to be down is an arbitrary one. As a teenager I saw a novel about a British aircraft carrier named the Leviathan and from the start I felt this would be a good name for a gigantic exploratory ship. Later I discovered the biblical and nautical implications of the word Leviathan and this only added to my desire to use it as a name for one of my designs. Over the years, I have noticed numerous speculative spaceship designs named Leviathan. Primary Design Influences 1. Modern military submarines 2. Mon Calarmari Cruisers from the science fantasy film Star Wars: Return of the Jedi |
