Star Trek: 10 Secrets Of The USS Shenzhou You Need To Know

As mentioned earlier (and in many, many other listicles such as this), Star Trek's sets are famous for doubling as more than one starship, starbase, or whatever spacey location the producers need in a pinch. And while the Shenzhou's bridge was constructed solely to represent the Walker-class vessel in Star Trek: Discovery's first season, its future would see it configured to serve in two capacities that, quite frankly, you may not have even noticed.

So here we are to ruin the illusion again.

For Star Trek: Discovery season two, the bridge of the USS Shenzou was heavily revamped and expanded by new production designer Tamara Deverell, transforming it into the bridge of the Section 31 stealth ship. According to Deverell:

We revamped those great bones from the Shenzhou set. The bottom of the bridge had been glass, allowing the crew to look out into space and it was all green screen in that area. There was a bunch of space down there, so I thought "let's take away the glass floor, clean out the green, and make this a two-tiered ship with ladders going up and down."

While the Section 31 ship made numerous appearances throughout the show's second season, it would not be following the USS Discovery as she made the jump to the 32nd century, so another use was found for the former Shenzhou bridge.

In season three of Star Trek: Discovery, the Shenzhou's bridge was once again reworked and repainted to now serve as the 32nd century's Starfleet Headquarters. And while most of what remained of the original Shenzhou set has been removed and replaced, the dome in the center of Starfleet HQ (which was at the center of the bridge of the Section 31 ship too) is the very same element that was present aboard the USS Shenzhou on day one of Star Trek: Discovery.