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

As the rest of the art department under production designer Mark Worthington worked to create the USS Discovery, veteran Trek illustrator John Eaves was tasked with finding a look for the Shenzhou. With the aforementioned directive to base the ship on Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan's USS Reliant, Eaves attempted to root the Shenzhou in Star Trek's established design lineage and easily communicate Star Trek: Discovery's place in the timeline.

According to Eaves:

You'll see some elements of the NX-01 from the past you'll see some elements of the Reliant from what's to come. I felt it was important to try to tie these timeframes together in detailed form to put the ship into context.

Eaves produced dozens of sketches of the Shenzhou in the mold of the USS Reliant, but with warp nacelles attached to the top of the ship's primary hull. However, it wasn't until Bryan Fuller and Mark Worthington departed the series, and the show's second production designer stepped into the fray, that Eaves was finally able to nail down the Shenzhou's ultimate look... or nail it upside down:

Todd Cherniaswky was the one that finally gave good direction on it. I did one sketch he liked and we flipped it over and then angled the nacelles.