Is the new Enterprise a dark ship or a bright one? Is it like a liner or more complicated?

It�s very much more like a submarine, with the efficient use of space that you would find on a naval vessel today. Rick and Brannon and I went aboard a sub and used a lot of the ideas that we saw there as a springboard to define the kind of things we want to see on the Enterprise. It was very valuable, a field trip worth taking.

So it makes the Next Generation Enterprise look like a luxury liner.

Yes, you could see it that way. This is a leaner, meaner machine, a more hands-on machine for the crew. It�s got buttons and levers and dials and cranks and things that the actor can actually relate to, other than just tapping buttons on a console.

The computers aren�t always reliable, there is dead reckoning, there is a lot of advanced science, but there�s also a lot of by-the-seat-of-your-pants, there's gut instinct. Quite a lot of the kind of thing that Kirk did, because Kirk was kind of a space cowboy, taking chances. Our new Enterprise has some of that element of adventure for adventure�s sake and the need to see what�s over the next horizon, to find out what�s out there.