So I’ve posted before about Harry Lange’s “dragonfly” design for 2001′s Discovery XD-1 (image 1),
It’s my favourite alternate design of the ship. Kubrick must have liked it too, he went as far as to get a rough miniature built for lighting tests (image 2),
Most attempts to recreate the dragonfly Discovery assume that the engine sits behind the radiation shield at the end of the spine - like in this model by The Great Canadian Model Builder (image 3)
But here’s what I think: I think the conical structure at the end of the spine in this iteration of the Discovery is a nuclear reactor based on the SNAP-10 design (image 4).
I think the engines are the four smaller cylinders at the rear of the main fuel tanks. The ship tows the nuclear reactor behind it to keep it at a safe distance from the crew. You can even see the exhaust plume from the engines in one piece of concept art (image 5).
Which means I should probably go back and rework my CGI dragonfly Discovery (image 6).
Thank you for listening, internet.
