Talk:Serenity (Firefly vessel)

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This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the Serenity (Firefly vessel) article.

Contents

[edit] Serenity Pronoun Reference

I changed all the pronoun references to Serenity on this page, changing them away from "it", in keeping with the spirit of the show that Serenity is always reffered to as "she" and is granted a great deal of personification. -- 03:49, 24 September 2005 (UTC) KenoSarawa

[edit] Crybaby mimicry

I generalized the recently added info about the "crybaby" mimicking Serenity because it was used to simulate a distressed personnel carrier in the pilot. Also, if we get into too much detail about what it actually does imitate, we might need to put it after the spoiler message. ~ Jeff Q (talk) 08:16, 11 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Alterations for Serenity (parts that have been removed or changed)

Just a few points about things that've been removed from this part of the article.

Firstly, the cargo area in the nose of the ship. Yes, it was there in the series, but it was covered by a floor grating - hence my statement, 'the bridge has seen few changes, but the forward flooring section has been entirely removed, exposing an extra cargo-storage section in the nose of the ship.' Key word being 'exposing', not 'creating'. So I don't see why this has been removed, since, as far as I can see, it is true and relevant to the article.

Second, the paint job issue. Firstly, a good shot of the paint job of the front of the film Serenity can be found here - firefly.ytmnd.com. That's just when Serenity is going off to barn-swallow the Mule. Now, the model used in the series, from the front, looks like this - www.fireflywiki.org/img/serenity_front.jpg. As is fairly obvious, it's different. Take the cargo bay door, for example. Series version is in browns and greys; film version is blues and silvers. The personnel door in the cargo ramp stands out more in the film version, as well. So IMHO, that part is right, as well, and is relevant to the article.

And about the ship being triple-tiered like an insect... IIRC, 'tier' is similar to 'level', or 'storey'. So having a triple-tiered insect would make no sense. You may be thinking of the head-thorax-abdomen arrangment on an insect. Or I may be wrong about what a tier is. Whichever.

I'm not sure about the galley storage space issue, I'll rewatch Heart of Gold tonight (got the series on DVD). Berle 13:39, 4 November 2005 (UTC)

Well, I've reinserted the deleted material (the parts of which I am sure are correct, anyway - I haven't checked HoG yet)... I didn't realise you got rid of the bit about the new landing legs, either, and as such am seriously wondering if you saw the show's Firefly. :P The landing legs were very, very struttish, with pads at their ends, not full-blown claws with toes. They didn't look in the least bit organic, either, unlike the film's version. Add to that the fact that the film Serenity is blue and silver, not the series' bronze, and so on... anyway. Berle 19:54, 7 November 2005 (UTC)

Can it be explained whether the alterations were simply because of improved production values in a higher-budget film than the TV series permitted, or whether the differences are explained by the storyline? Bovineone 05:41, 29 November 2005 (UTC)

I'm assuming that the changes were purely the result of improved production values. No such radical overhaul was mentioned in the film; however, this does not disprove the notion that the ship may have refitted in 'the canon'. Berle 19:19, 2 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Changes made between Serenity (episode) and Bushwacked.

See www.fireflyfans.net/sunroomitem.asp?i=1665. The top image is the model used in the episode "Serenity", and sometimes in "The Train Job". From "Bushwhacked" onwards the model in the 2nd image is used. -- Jeandré, 2006-07-16t12:32z

[edit] Speed

Can someone clarify whether Serenity is a sub-lightspeed vessel, or can go faster than light (FTL)? If specifics are known for its top speed that would also be nice.

I know the colony ships were slower than lightspeed, but I don't know if they've developed it since. The reason I ask is to figure out if the story's self consistent - they would have to have FTL in order to get between the core and outer planets in a matter of days or even months. In our Solar System with a measly 9 planets (give or take a couple), it's some 40 light years from Pluto to Mercury.

--zandperl 05:37, 2 January 2006 (UTC)

Pluto is about 0.0005 light years from the sun; maximum possible distance from Pluto to Mercury would be only fractionally longer than that.70.178.29.175 17:22, 2 January 2006 (UTC)
Just saw notes on the Firefly page. I'll stick something in about that. --zandperl 05:39, 2 January 2006 (UTC)
Oh duh, and I was thinking AU, not ly. --zandperl 05:46, 2 January 2006 (UTC)
If we could manage constant acceleration at 1g (which we can't today, we can't carry enough fuel) the Earth/Mars trip would take around 3 days (on average). Earth/Pluto would average around 3 weeks. Earth to Alpha Centauri would only take around 6 years if we could burn at 1g all the way (it'd seem less to the crew due to time dialation). --soto 00:07, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Dimensions

I've encountered some specifications for Serenity (and as far as I can tell, the height/width/length are just about right for Mal to fit through the bridge door). Grain of salt required. lwg3d forums RoadKillian 04:12, 7 February 2006 (UTC)

I just removed a "Size" section that someone added because it had only the meta-statement "This area is in need of content." Standard Wikipedia practice recommends against both empty sections and such meta-statements in articles. If and when someone has something to say, they should add it at that time. The proper way to request content is to bring it up on the talk page. ~ Jeff Q (talk) 06:52, 7 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Ship stats

I removed the following text because it was incorrectly credited as coming from an Internet posting by Emile Edwin Smith of Zoic Studios, but was really from a fan posting to the "Lightwave Group" forum, citing a supposed posting but failing to provide a source. (The LWG forum itself provides no hint of what its own purpose is, and few of the usual about-links shed any light, no pun intended. One is broken, and the only semi-informative one is clicking on the logo — no words to indicate function. Very anti-least astonishment.)

The following was posted on the internet by a memebr of the films special effects shop. [1]

The, “Serenity” is a Firefly Class interplanetary ship. Originally conceived and built as a medium range cargo ship.

Dimensions and Weights: She is comparable to that of Boeing 747. She is 63 meters long, 40 meters wide and 18 meters tall. Her gross empty weight is 575,000 lbs and her maximum takeoff weight is 945,000 lbs.

Performance and Powerplants: Primarily powered by two wing mounted Smith & Davis SD-2595 (95,000 lb) turbofan and solar induction engines, she can achieve a maximum airspeed of mach 2 (1484 mph) at 1000 Meters EBSL (Earth Based Sea Level,) and mach 30 (22270 mph) at 100,000 Meters (62 miles) EBSL. During the transitional phase from atmospheric to orbital flight the fan blades rotate to collect photons emitted by a solar source to feed the engines keeping the relative thrust ratio comparable to its atmospheric rating. The “Firefly” engine, a Smith & Davis SD-4631 photon reaction drive, was developed on the same principles that drive fusion in a star, (4 1H + 2 oe– → 4He + 2 νc + 6 γ) The reaction produces enough thrust to propel the ship to 643,738 kph (400,000 mph) taking it approximately 16 days to travel 1 AU. (The Astronomical Unit is the distance from the Earth to the Sun, 149,597,871 kilometers.) Although very reliable, this reaction produces large volumes of plasma as hot as the surface of a star. Thermal panels on the outside of the engine dissipate the plasma and heat that builds up during the process typically glowing in a yellowish hue as they cool down.

Handling: The maneuvering of the ship is handled in two different ways. In atmosphere she has flaps and ailerons that in conjunction with the pitch of the side engines control her direction. In space she uses an RCS, (Reaction Control System,) consisting of Hydrazine fueled thrusters that work in a countered measure. For example if she were to turn nose up, thrusters on the back rear of the ship would fire upwards and thrusters of the front nose would fire downwards pushing the tail down and the nose up. Variations on this, tied into the side engines pitch, produce all her movement in space. For landing her side engines rotate vertical and vents on the front of the engine open to allow the engine the “breathe” as she hovers.

Gravity: The Firefly class ships gravity comes from a rotating ring just aft of the ships midsection. It produces a gravity field using the “Peristere Principal,” that also acts as a momentum dampener to allow passengers more freedom of movement during all aspects of flight.

Emile Edwin Smith
Visual Effects Supervisor
Zoic Studios

I tried to Google some key phrases to find the supposed source, but found nothing but the LWG posting. If someone can provide the actual posting that we could verify came from an authoritative source, we could use this information. Even so, however, we shouldn't just paste it wholesale into the article, no more than we would take a page out of someone's book to be part of any Wikipedia article. (Besides, the text as presented is riddled with punctuation and capitalization problems by any English standard, and needs more tweaking to WP standards.) ~ Jeff Q (talk) 06:03, 11 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Union Jack Door?

Thought I'd mention this; I've only seen three or four episodes of Firefly, but I just happened to catch sight of a Union Jack worked into the decor; at the end of Shindig, it's clearly visible as the pattern on a door behind Mal and Inara in their final scene. It's not just a superposition of vertical and diagonal crosses; the diagonal "St. Patrick's Cross" part of the design is off-symmetry, as per the flag. Do any of you more, ah, enthusiastic types have more info on this odd detail?

- Astatine 23:51, 27 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Serenity as a character

I think it's appropriate to add [[Category:Firefly characters|Serenity]] and place Serenity into the characters list for Firefly. However I didn't want to make this change without posting here and getting opinions.

From my POV the ship is treated as a character, and for that matter in the DVD's extra features there is a secion on Serenity as a character, this indicates she should be listed along with the others.

That's an interesting question. I would suggest not adding the category but I do think this would make an interesting addition to the article. As you suggest Whedon does indeed treat the ship as a character - he makes this point explicitly in the Firefly DVD commentaries. Its a real feature of the show and film. However the category scheme is part of the Wikipedia structure and I believe we should keep within the standard definition of "character" when using it. Gwernol 00:25, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] New crewmembers?

" As of 2518-19 Mal has acquire two new crew members, a former Browncoat (Corporal or Lieutenant) & a workshop machinist"

Okay, where's that coming from? It's not in the movie, not in the series, and (Though I haven't read it yet) I'm pretty sure that it's not in the comics either. What other source is there? JBK405 02:21, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

It's just somebody vandalising. Just gotta revert and ignore. JQF 15:21, 5 June 2006 (UTC)
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