The deck plans for Deep Space Explorer Aquarius are still a work in progress after three years of effort. I have posted the work-in-progress images of the remaining deck plans to be completed. I hope to return to this project sometime in the middle of 2010.

CONCEPT

Deep Space Explorer Aquarius is the flagship for the Deep Space Exploration Group, a space fleet more akin to the United States Coast Guard than the United States Navy. The Aquarius is set in a fictional era a few centuries from the present. That fictional era is somewhat like that portrayed in the original Star Trek TV series from the 1960's but differs in that is has much fewer star-faring sentient species and has more peaceful interstellar relations. While equally capable of exploration, defense, and search and rescue missions, Aquarius class Deep Space Explorers spend most of their time serving on long-term exploration assignments.  As such, they have some living accommodations for families and visiting scientists in addition to regular Deep Space Exploration Group personnel.

The design for the Deep Space Explorer Aquarius is based on a Star Trek inspired ship I did as a teenager around the time of Star Trek: The Motion Picture.  It is meant to reflect the optimistic, non-militaristic view of the Star Trek universe depicted in that movie. Deep Space Explorer Aquarius is a precursor of Deep Space Explorer Inspiration with both designs existing in the same fictional universe. While the Aquarius has only about an eighth of the internal volume of the Inspiration, it is still larger than a modern United States Navy aircraft carrier with plenty of room for an extensive recreational complex.

The conceptual inspiration for Deep Space Explorer Aquarius is the USS Enterprise from the original Star Trek TV series. I see both vessels as romanticized versions of future human starships. The style of the deck plans I have created for Deep Space Explorer Aquarius is based on that used by Franz Joseph for his Star Trek Blueprints: General Plans Constitution Class U.S.S. Enterprise from 1975. The star-faring technology presented in my deck plans is roughly analogous to that of the original USS Enterprise and thus represents a late 20th century rather than an early 21st century conception of such technology.

Modeling - Rhino 4 and TrueSpace 6.6
Rendering - Flamingo 2 and TrueSpace 6.6
Textures - FTL panel band texture by PBourke.
Backgrounds - Custom Photoshop 7 brushes Photoshop plug-in Lunarcell
Running Lights and Engine Glows - Universe Image Creator
Deck Plans - AutoCAD and CorelDRAW
Miscellaneous - CorelDRAW, Corel Photo-Paint and Adobe Photoshop

PRIMARY DESIGN INFLUENCES

1. Spaceship Discovery from the science-fiction film 2001: A Space Odyssey