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Remembering our favorite spaceships before SYFY's series ‘The Ark’ adds a new one
From the Enterprise to the Falcon, these ships have got it where it counts. Where will Ark One from SYFY's new series fit in.
There’s about to be a new spaceship in your fleet. The Ark is coming to SYFY courtesy of Dean Devlin, and it has one heck of a ship coming with it. The crew of “Ark One” sound like they are in for a tough time (survival and colonization aren’t easy) but hopefully they can rely on the vessel that carries them.
RELATED: How to watch Dean Devlin's new SYFY series, The Ark
To celebrate the coming of Ark One, we’re looking at some of our favorite spaceships from sci-fi movies, television, and games. We have no doubt that Ark One will find a comfortable place within their ranks.
Millennium Falcon (Star Wars)
Don’t worry, Han Solo has made some special modifications himself. There’s no question that this Corellian YT-1300 light freighter is one of our favorite ships of all time. It may be on the small side compared to some of the other ships on this list, but she’s fast. She packs a punch. She has saved Han, Chewie, Lando, Luke, Leia, Rey, and everyone else more than a few times.
She’s the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy, as Lando once said. She also has no need for all of the gaudy accessories that Lando equipped her with in Solo: A Star Wars Story. We love Lando, but if we’re flying on the Falcon, we’re gonna want Han and Chewie piloting her. If not Han, then certainly Rey.
We’ll take good care of her. She won’t get a scratch.
SSV Normandy/Normandy SR-2 (The Mass Effect series)
No matter where your choices lead you when playing Mass Effect, the SSV Normandy is your home base. With Joker at the helm, Commander Shepard always gets the mission done. If they don’t, then you die and you'll have to start again.
The ship in the first game is only matched by the Normandy that takes its place in the sequels. With heavy alterations, the Normandy of Mass Effect 2 and 3 is even more comfortable (complete with the AI assistance of EDI, played by Tricia Helfer) and more formidable. It’s nice having your own quarters, complete with fish tank and model displays.
Few things in any game are more satisfying than seeing the Normandy fly into battle or leading a giant fleet. Not even the Reapers can stop her… and if they do, you can try, try again. Don’t forget to feed your fish.
USS Enterprise, NCC-1701-D (Star Trek: Next Generation)
Some iteration of the Enterprise was going to be on this list. It was only a matter of which Enterprise, and that’s a tough call. We love them all. How can anyone choose?
The refitted Enterprise/Enterprise A from the first six Trek movies is a strong contender because there’s something about that design that just gets us right where we live. If we’re going with our hearts, though, we have to give the edge to the floating hotel captained by Jean-Luc Picard. The 1701-D has it all; it can protect, and it looks darn comfortable.
Families are allowed on board. There’s an arboretum. There’s a bar where you can get advice from Whoopi Goldberg. The bridge has a million chairs. If the Borg attack, the 1701-D can fend them off. Even though a single Klingon Bird of Prey took it down in Star Trek: Generations, this ship always makes us feel like we’re wrapped up in a blanket made of dreams.
Spaceball One (Spaceballs)
You want a big ship? Look no further. This ship is hilariously enormous and that’s the point. It’s full of all kinds of things that a giant warship doesn’t necessarily need to have, such as a mall, a circus, and a zoo. Sounds like fun to us.
“Ludicrous Speed” can get you anywhere (in plaid), and it’ll do it fast. Want to steal a planet’s air? Prepare for metamorphosis and transform the ship into “Mega Maid.” Ready, Kafka?
As long as you ensure that she never goes from suck to blow, Spaceball One is a comically powerful ship. She breaks for no one.
Galactica (Battlestar Galactica)
If it wasn’t for this grand old lady, then the human race would not have survived past the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica miniseries. She may be something of a literal museum piece (complete with displays and velvet ropes inside), but she snaps back to service very quickly.
William Adama prefers things the old-fashioned way, and that’s why Galactica survives when all of her sister ships get blown away. She takes a serious pounding over the course of four seasons, but her back never breaks. With a full complement of both Raptor and Vipers, Galactica can (and has) faced horrible odds and lived to face them down again. And again. And again!
She’s the heart, soul, and fist of the human fleet. She kept humanity safe until her job was complete.
USS Defiant (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)
Any version of the Enterprise is great, and we love the USS Voyager too. If we’re going to personally venture out into the unknown? We want a ship with teeth. We don’t really need science labs and we don’t need a school. No families on this tough little ship, oh no. The Defiant is all firepower, no waiting. It is also the only Federation ship with a cloaking device, so that’s handy. The Romulans were supposed to be supervising that, but they just... stopped caring? That’s fine.
It might be crazy to claim that one ship single-handedly won the Dominion War for the Federation, but screw it, we’re gonna say it. Under the command of Captain Benjamin Lafayette Sisko, the USS Defiant used deft maneuvering and quantum torpedoes to blast the Alpha Quadrant to victory. She’s defiant to the end, too, as even when she loses the day towards the end of the series, she gets immediately replaced.
The Borg couldn’t finish her off, and the Jem’Hadar couldn’t stop her either. Let's not talk about the Breen, if you don't mind. Blow her up, they’ll just give Sisko a new one and let him change the name. The Defiant will never stop kicking a** with style and punch. Space is disease and danger wrapped in darkness and silence, but if we’re on this ship under the command of the Emissary, we’ll be safe. Tough little ship? Damn right.
TARDIS (Doctor Who)
Time And Relative Dimension In Space. Does it count as a ship? Yes, the First Doctor calls it that on multiple occasions. It’s not just a ship, because this conveyance is an entire dimension enclosed in a box that can travel in both space and time.
It can go anywhere and do anything. You can wander around inside of it forever and you’ll never get bored. A library and a swimming pool are just the start. It can re-arrange itself whenever it likes, because it is alive. It may never always get The Doctor where they want to go, but it always gets them where they need to go. When they get there, it can disguise itself as anything... as long as that anything is a police call box from1960's Earth.
If you doubt that a Time Lord space vessel can have a soul, then we recommend watching the Season 6 (11th Doctor) episode “The Doctor’s Wife.” The TARDIS is the wife that the title is referring to, and we see the true relationship between The Doctor and the TARDIS thanks to the soul of the TARDIS being put into a body. The Doctor has had quite the array of companions and friends since the series began, but you could say that their most important relationship has always been with the TARDIS itself. In “The Doctor’s Wife” they get to say hello to each other, and it is beautiful.
The TARDIS is also the most dangerous entry on this list. Doom descends whenever it falls into the wrong hands, and intergalactic cataclysm is always a risk. We shouldn’t ever be given control of it, because the neighborhood would instantly be toast. We’d love to say hello, though.
The Ark premieres on Feb. 1 at 10/9c on SYFY, with episodes streaming next day on Peacock.
