Pictured: My favourite spaceship (posted on NeuroDojo blog 2012-01-12)

A while ago, I shared a little video about seeing the original Enterprise model. But the Enterprise isn’t my favourite spaceship.

Regular readers might know my massive love for Doctor Who, and think, “Ah! It’s the TARDIS.” Nope.

It’s the Eagles from Space: 1999.

The reason? The Eagles looked real to me: practical, achievable machines. They looked like a logical progression from the spaceships of the day; you could see design elements from the Apollo lunar excursion modules. They were clearly meant to run on liquid fuel, rather than some imaginary power source. I particularly loved the small steering rockets on the sides of the landing pads, which would be necessary to position a spaceship in airless space. (Sadly, the Eagles were usually filmed swooping through space like airplanes. Realistic depictions of maneuvering would have to wait.)

My quest to see original model spaceships makes me a bit sad for the nearly complete transition of special effects from model making to computer generated imagery. With computer images, there’s no actual object that a fan can ever go see. Alas.