A shuttlecraft, also known as a shuttle spacecraft, shuttle ship, drop shuttle, drop spacecraft, or dropship, is a type of
spacecraft
A spacecraft is a vehicle that is designed spaceflight, to fly and operate in outer space. Spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including Telecommunications, communications, Earth observation satellite, Earth observation, Weather s ...
described in theory and
science fiction
Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
. Serving the same purpose as a
ship's tender
A ship's tender, usually referred to as a tender, is a boat or ship used to service or support other boats or ships. This is generally done by transporting people or supplies to and from shore or another ship.
A second and distinctly different ...
, it is a smaller vessel that is launched from a
mother ship
A mother ship, mothership or mother-ship is a large vehicle that leads, serves, or carries other smaller vehicles. A mother ship may be a maritime ship, aircraft, or spacecraft.
Examples include bomber aircraft, bombers converted to carry exp ...
, and has the ability to transport people or cargo between ships, or to and from a planet's surface without being damaged or destroyed. It has a secondary purpose as an evacuation ship if the mother ship is destroyed. While the
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable launch system, reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. ...
was envisioned to make this type of craft a reality and reduce the cost of going into space, it ultimately
failed in its goal and
expendable launch systems remained a more cost-effective option.
Examples
The idea of a shuttle craft used for space travel first appeared in ''
The Great Romance'' (1881), where it was called the ''Midge'' and was used to explore
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...
.
These types of craft later became a mainstay of science fiction.
The use of the word "shuttle" was taken from nautical terminology.
The idea was later used in ''
Star Trek
''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...
'', where they are called
shuttlecraft. Similar craft are also used by the
Visitors in ''
V'', and a more military-styled version known as the UD-4 ''Cheyenne''-class dropship was used in ''
Aliens'' (1986), popularizing the use of the term to refer to shuttles that serve the same purpose as
military transport aircraft
A military transport aircraft, military cargo aircraft or airlifter is a military aircraft, military-owned transport aircraft used to support military operations by airlifting troops and military equipment. Transport aircraft are crucial to m ...
.
Usage in
video games
A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...
includes the drop shuttles from ''
Mass Effect
''Mass Effect'' is a military science fiction media franchise created by Casey Hudson. The franchise depicts a distant future where humanity and several alien civilizations have colonized the galaxy using technology left behind by Elder race, a ...
'' and the Pelicans and dropships from ''
Halo
HALO, halo, halos or haloes may refer to:
Most common meanings
* Halo (optical phenomenon)
* Halo (religious iconography), a ring of light around the image of a head
* ''Halo'' (franchise), a sci-fi video game series (2001–2021)
Arts and en ...
'', as well as the Terran dropship unit in the ''
StarCraft'' series.
Shuttlecraft have seen widespread use by all the major factions in the
Star Wars
''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...
franchise. There are numerous variations on the concept within the Star Wars
Expanded Universe, but the main uses include use as: drop-ships, boarding craft,
assault landing craft, and as non-combat personnel transports.
Hypothetical usage
The use of shuttle ships was proposed as a means for economical transport to Mars.
People would ride a shuttle to a mother ship in orbit around the
Sun
The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...
, which would not need to slow down. This would increase the speed of travel from Earth to Mars, being able to transport hundreds of people at regular intervals.
See also
*
''Lambda''-class shuttle
References
{{Reflist
Fictional spacecraft by type
Hypothetical spacecraft