Star Trek Theory Explains Why Kirk's Enterprise Looks Smaller Than Pike's

The starship Enterprise in Strange New World appears to be larger and roomier, and one theory suggests what happened before Pike gave it to Kirk.

A Star Trek fan theory offers a logical explanation for why the Enterprise in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds looks bigger than the Enterprise in Star Trek: The Original Series. Strange New Worlds was a prequel about 6-7 years before TOS. Strange New Worlds season 2 will even feature Lieutenant James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley) aboard, and Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) encountering future versions of the After Captain Kirk, he may be groomed to replace him as Captain Enterprise in the New World season 1 finale.

The Starship Enterprise in Strange New Worlds is the same Constitution-class ship that Captain Kirk (William Shatner) would command in Star Trek: The Original Series. The most famous version of the Enterprise, the NCC-1701 starship, was originally launched in 2245 under the command of Captain Robert April (Adrian Holmes). After five years of successful missions, April turned the Enterprise over to his first mate Christopher Pike, who became its next captain. Of course, Kirk would inherit the Enterprise from Pike, who knew he was destined to be severely disfigured in a delta ray accident. Strange New Worlds also repurposed the Enterprise as the flagship of the United Federation Planet of the 23rd century.

A Logical Theory Explains Why Kirk's Enterprise Seems Smaller Than Pike's

The logic of Joseph Leneman, author of the Shadow of Time series, suggests that the Enterprise will be refitted before Pike hands it over to Captain Kirk. In Strange New World, the Enterprise's crew numbered 203, but ballooned to 430 under Kirk's leadership. Reinemann's theory is that the Enterprise's interior was redesigned to accommodate double the number of people. That meant eliminating excess space on the Pike starship Enterprise to create more and smaller rooms to accommodate hundreds of newcomers. And that means Captain Pike's luxurious cabin has also been refitted to create more room for more crew.

Sometime in 2265, it makes sense that the USS Enterprise was refitted before Captain Kirk took command, which also explains the external changes to the ship. There are some cosmetic differences between the Enterprise and the TOS in Strange New World, including the shape and sweep of the rear nacelle. The mod will bring the Enterprise in line with how it appears in the TOS. In 2265, Enterprise also turned 20 years old, and the flagship will be refurbished That's logical, especially since Kirk has been assigned to lead it on another historic five-year mission to explore deep space.

Kirk Is Used To Smaller Quarters Throughout Star Trek

Captain Kirk will never have his own luxurious stateroom, complete with a huge kitchen, dining and living area, and even a fireplace that Captain Pike is proud of in Strange New World. Kirk spent most of his time at TOS either on the bridge or leading the landing party himself, so he didn't have much to relax in his relatively small captain's quarters. Even so, Kirk's personal space is shockingly small compared to Pike's, but maybe Jim prefers that in order to communicate solidarity with his crew.

Kirk's quarters are slightly larger after the Starship Enterprise was refitted prior to Star Trek: The Movie, but still nowhere near Pike's size. In Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Realms, Kirk's quarters aboard the USS Enterprise-A are more austere. Interestingly, there is a light shining down from his bed, just like his old bunk at TOS. So, despite two potential refits and a brand new ship, Captain Kirk is no win compared to the quarters Captain Pike lives in in Strange New Worlds, but he Might have gotten used to the tighter interior of his Starship Enterprise.

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