What Are The Pods? New Orleans Class Starship

The New Orleans Class Starship is one of those vessels constructed for the Borg's battle of Wolf 359 and never really seen in all its glory on screen. Despite this, there is a good amount of lore and background on this vessel so let's take a look!
Chapters
00:00 Real Origins
01:28 Starfleet Origins
03:07 The Pods
03:59 Specifications
05:49 Summary
Star Trek Online developed by Cryptic Studios and Perfect World.
Star Trek Picard/Strange New Worlds/Lower Decks/Enterprise/Voyager/Deep Space Nine/Discovery and The Next Generation are all owned by Paramount Pictures/CBS and distributed by CBS.
This Video is for critical purposes with commentary.

[@stormycatmink]

What you outlined is basically the definition of a Frigate: Do all the basics well. Handle things that are a waste of resources for a Cruiser. Nice overview! Keep them coming!

[@kaitlyn__L]

This is part of why I’ve been following the development and build of the City-class frigates, they do a little off all the basics but focus on speed, comms, and upgradability. There’s just something so satisfying about a relatively-small all-rounder. They carry a helicopter and boat (or two) for rescue operations and have basic but decent defences; have a wide suite of aerials, information warfare/defence systems, and stuff like distributed solid-state radar emitters; but are otherwise focused on being a nimble patrol ship that can call on its bigger brothers if something serious happens. And a lot like various Starfleet ships, this is one of the first Commonwealth ship designs to be built with sensor and communication modularity built in. They’re tired of spending so much on computer retrofits every few decades, so the City-class is designed to be swapped-out quick and easy. We’ll see how well it works in 15 years, I guess, but it’s nice to see something forward-thinking.

[@Staarfury]

The additional sensor pods enabled the New Orleana to highlight any threat in the vicinity!

[@maube8007]

"These are Speed Pods. They make the ship go faster." "Oh yeah! Speed Pods!"

[@chill_will9816]

Nice Simpson's reference

[@joshuahadams]

It’d work if they were massive honking impulse engines

[@billbolton7108]

Says Tom Paris

[@HylianFox3]

New Orleans is easily my favorite of all the kitbash ships. It looks like the Galaxy but is juuuust different enough to be interesting. I remember seeing pictures of this ship in the old Star Trek Encyclopedia and being fascinated by it, because I never saw it in any of the shows. Turns out it was a background wreck in the Wolf 359 scene. The pictures were taken behind-the-scenes before the model was damaged. The only thing that doesn't make sense about the design is the lower pod obscures the two phaser strips, which renders them useless...

[@DrewLSsix]

The other thing that stands out to me is the shuttle bay doors. It would make for a tight fit at best with typical shuttles, likely not fit a stock runabout at all, certainly not some of the variants, or the windows must be massive with cavernous internal deck spacing. I'd extend the door down into the rear of the saucer another deck level just to make things more practical.

[@kaitlyn__L]

Those nacelle struts look better than the Galaxy-class ones imo

[@SnowmanTF2]

@@DrewLSsix The Galaxy main bay was roughly twice the height of standard shuttles, the secondary shuttle bays shown on screen had relatively little overhead clearance on standard shuttles, so little spare clearance was not exactly something Starfleet seemed worried about and it is one of the easier dimensions to change the deck level to meet standards. With the New Orleans saucer seeming scaled around half the size of Galaxy saucers that seems about right for most shuttles. Plus during the whole run of TNG on TV the crew barely seemed to used runabouts and used various other shuttles constantly, so it is not crazy in the era ship would be made, Runabout/Argo sized craft were not exactly a priority. Plus with the more basic missions and probably operating deeper in Federation space than Galaxy/Nebula, there probably was less need for them on it.

[@gothpunkboy89]

That design would be a pretty good battleship design. Those pods being used to rapid fire those cluster torpedoes from Lower Decks. A ship based shotgun that just deletes anything in front of it.

[@jaegerolfa]

You must be a country boy..we do like our shotguns, don’t we?

[@leohalivan861]

I would think of it more as multipurpose fleet support ship. The pods practically beg to be modular components allowing the ship to fulfill multiple roles. They could be used for storage and maintenance of Marine equipment and specialized landing craft to deploy troops to the ground in the event of transporter jamming. She's also still decently enough armed that she can work as a screening element in a fleet engagement. Switch the pods out for variants dedicated to torpedo launch or phaser arrays. Hell, maybe they even turn her into a pocket carrier and they install variant pods that serve as fighter bays.

[@RonJohn63]

"Torpedo pods" would make the N.O. class destroyers, not battleships.

[@mgill9505]

I hope they have a lot of highlighters in stocks

[@psychoaftershok]

beat me to it 🤣

[@zazaranger5]

The U.S.S. Highlighter

[@mgill9505]

@@zazaranger5 U.S.S. Stablio

[@DanBen07]

Yeah I've always used those highlighters since since the 90s I've got loads of them at home. I used to pretend that they were Star Trek phasers cos I never had a real one. Lol.

[@zazaranger5]

@@mgill9505 U.S.S. Sharpie

[@markmarano913]

I adore the New Orleans class - my favorite of the Wolf 359 kitbashes, and in my top 5 favorite overall Federation designs!

[@NCC-72545A]

In Apocalypse, USS Rutledge was a New Orleans class starship (frigate) I thought during the Cardassian War, Starfleet saw that the New Orleans' two single fire torpedo launchers weren't enough. So they added, replaced, retrofitted, or refitted the pods to be three torpedo moguls, capable of carrying a magazine of 100 photon torpedos witch were capable of forward and affiring firing and after the war Starfleet replaced the ventral pod with a sensor pod and reduced the topedo compliment for more probes for peace time.

[@DanBen07]

Yeah I also thought this class of ship was in the 1st Cardassian war with torpedo pods.

[@TobyDeshane]

I feel like that bottom pod is one too many. And I love that we're describing it as "planetary" focused when you can just orient the ship upside down with the planet above it just as easily. ;) I greatly enjoy how you pull all these great details from so little, Ric. 🍻

[@GiantRobotHobbies]

I like to think the New Orleans was earlier than the Galaxy, a smaller test bed for some of the tech, part of a line of ships which would culminate in the Galaxy-class. Which would line up with O'Brien serving aboard one in the cardassian border war.

[@FLAME4564]

If memory serves such a vessel of that same class was mentioned which Miles O'Brian served aboard as tactical officer along with the now Captian Ben Maxwell of the Nebula Class USS Phoenix which he and O'brian served aboard the New Orleans class USS Ruthlage.

[@NightOwlModeler]

I figure the New Orleans class was circa 2345, just after the Enterprise-C and would fit with the cannon statements in TNG of O'Brian and Maxwell serving on the USS Rutledge of the New Orleans class. About 10 years before TNG episodes. That would make Rutledge a newer ship and suitable for the front lines. The alternative would be that Rutledge was destroyed during the war or before TNG, but O'Brian never makes reference to the ship being lost. The other option is the Rutledge was an old ship, maybe old Excelsior class or even Constellation class, and was due to replace by 2363 as you theorize. A Constellation seems too old to so easily handle the Cetlic III fighting.

[@mb2000]

Came here to say this. The Rutledge is also mentioned in “Nor The Battle To The Strong” as still being around, and 30 years doesn’t seem overly long a service life for a ship like this.

[@DanBen07]

Yeah I must have read something when I was younger cos I've always thought this ship was in the first cardashian war and the pods were extra torpedoes.

[@3Rayfire]

That works well, the Galaxy class project was twenty years of development and they started building ships out of the results of it before the actual Galaxy class ships launched.

[@falkwulf3842]

The Rutledge is still around during the DS9/Dominion War Era. The Rutledge and the USS Tecumseh led Starfleet forces during a counter-attack on the Archanis sector. DS9 episode: "Nor the Battle to the Strong" In the first draft script of DS9: "For the Uniform", the Rutledge was sent to track and capture Michael Eddington. You are correct that the Rutledge Is from the 2340's era as the Massacre on Setlik III happened in 2347.

[@gmradio2436]

I had some of those marker pens. There were awesome.

[@GSBarlev]

My elementary and middle school self legitimately enjoyed turning them into spaceships. I had no idea I could have done that _professionally_

[@gmradio2436]

@@GSBarlevMight as well give it a shot.

[@sfxF314sabretoothraptor]

Some versions of the New Orleans class have the pods actually be torpedo launchers.

[@xheralt]

Plenty of other ships fill that role. Redundant and overkill.

[@jacara1981]

I like how its basically the 9 to 5 worker of Starfleet. One of those things that don't make the news, don't get remembered for in history, but seems like civilization would collapse if the ships just vanished.

[@still_guns]

It's the Cerritos before the Cerritos.

[@EnderMalcolm]

If I were to Captain a Starship, it would be something like this. Good at getting stuff done, but not the "main character" of the fleet. Making a difference, but without the incredible weight of an Enterprise on the shoulders.

[@berthulf]

I've always loved this design and it always made sense (to me) that ships as massive as the Galaxy and Nebula would have a smaller sister design in their lineage, the frigates to the larger capital ships. This is the first I've heard of her carrying drones though, only ever heard of those pods being for sensor equipment, though I suppose you could say a probe is just a remote sensor platform, but still... I always liked the cheyenne for a similar reason, but this girl fits the aesthetic better, a full contemporary, as opposed to a slightly older test vehicle status for the cheyenne. The Challenger is another contemporary I hope you get to. My headcanon was always that Cheyenne launched around 2348, followed by Challenger around 2353, New Orleans around 2357 and Nebula around 2359. I'd have put Niagra around 2352, with Springfield and Freedom in 2356... a packed period for ship development, all spurred on by project Galaxy and the need for test vehicles.

[@obsidian179]

The New Orleans might be one of those ships that came about while the Galaxy was still in development. According to the Star Trek Encyclopedia, the USS Rutledge (aka the ship that Miles O’Brien served on just before and during the Cardassian Border Wars) was one such ship. That makes me wonder if they didn’t originally have weapons pods, with the sensor pods coming about after hostilities wound down. As for the Rutledge itself, the DS9 episode “Nor the Battle to the Strong” had it and the Tecumseh lead the Starfleet counterattack into the Archanis sector (offscreen, naturally), so it was still active as of 2373. Not sure about after that…

[@MechZilla]

One of my favorite "small" craft in STO. Decently speedy, nimble yet still able to pack a wallop. While it's not the best, it still can make for a fun time. I think I still have a few Stabilo Boss highlighters around the house somewhere.

[@vasileiosmela309]

I've always assumed they were additional torpedo launchers in the same way the module on the Nebula is a often set up for torpedo launcher. Giving a considerable firepower increase to the ship which only has a fore and aft launcher like the Galaxy class does.

[@thegreenmanofnorwich]

If the Rutl3dge was New Orleans class, which it's listed as being, then it would have been in service in 2347 for Setlik iii. I would have preferred a 2350s origin, but I'm not sure about either 2332 or 2364 as options.

[@samronin1141]

I've always had a soft spot for the New Orleans since seeing the photo in the old Star Trek Encyclopedia. I always thought they were additional torpedo launchers in a same vein as the pods on a Nebula could be. But I do like the drone swarm pod idea posited here. And the "Dominion War" refit allows for my version as well. This was an instant buy when they added them into STO for me.

[@michaelernst3731]

One of my UTMOST Fav ships of ALL time !

[@ffnbbq]

If anybody is wondering, the Yamaguchi name and registry (belonging to a Ambassador class) appears on a New Orleans class in the video is a result of a bug in Star Trek Online's Wolf 359 where the Melbourne, Saratoga, Yamaguchi and Bellarophon (the first 4 ships to engage Locutus's Borg cube) all appearing as New Orleans classes during the mission briefing.

[@FLAME4564]

correct wait wasent the Belleraphon name also a second Nebula class as well were as the USS Melbourne also one of those other Nebula classes with those other 2 Micro Nacelles on its module section? since the Excelsior Class that was intended to have the name Melbourne was re chrisoned to another name according to cannon were as one of the featured New Orleans Classes also featured the USS Kyushu

[@TheHulk1934]

love these video rick! awesome work!

[@Paleorunner2]

I never thought of it as a post Galaxy design. I always saw it as a stepping stone to test new system that would be going into the Galaxy. However it does make a lot of sense to have a smaller ship with only the most important systems.

[@VkmSpouge]

For a kitbash the New Orleans looks such a cohesive design. I really love the look of the ship with the swept back nacelle pylons. A junior Galaxy, I could see Starfleet ordering a lot of these and them being very useful in the Dominion War.

[@JRL3001]

Yesss! Been waiting for you to do the New Orleans! My favorite TNG era ship! I've run one in tabletop and email games for some years and have been lucky enough to get a 3d model printed of her when STO offered it. I wish we had seen more of these on screen in trek

[@dakrum2455]

I Just saw the pods as the same as a jet fighter wings mounts to swap out with equipment for the mission.

[@cryptohivemind205]

My man from another nan, well done Rico another good vid my fellow spaceman

[@glennlaroche1524]

I've always liked the New Orleans class, and designating the 'markers' as sensor pods is brilliant, but try as I might I cannot get 18 decks by counting viewport rows, or spaces where they should be--closest I got was 15.

[@ScottysSide]

This is definitely my favorite ship.

[@maybetoby]

One of those few kitbashes to get an STO 25th century update

[@stormycatmink]

They have one, actually.. just came out in Star Trek Online. Do a quick search for the Lafayette-class.

[@maybetoby]

@@stormycatmink I know, that's what I was referring too lol

[@sillypuppy5940]

Thank you for highlighting this class of starship. They certainly made a mark.

[@Evohunter7]

One of my favourites to fly in STO. I named her the USS Staedler.

[@bloodrave9578]

Mine's named U.S.S. Cossack, named for a WW2 Tribal class DD

[@TheRiddle1981]

I can't unsee those pods as highlighter pens now you have pointed them out!

[@bjrnfrederiksson2505]

I just love these videos about the different types of Galaxy classes. Especially the One legged, three legged and flat Galaxy 🤣🤣

[@rubaiyat300]

One of the passable 359 kitbash designs. Though I have always disliked the lone bottom pod. Fell it would look much better as a design without it or have it shifted over and paired with another

[@OperativeD]

I hope someday you cover the Andromeda class Exploration Cruiser. The first ship I played with in Star Trek Online. I'm sure there's not much info due to it being an in game only concept, but I'm sure you'd be able to flesh things out. Keep up the amazing work you've been doing.

[@deanlawson6880]

A fine looking ship! I always thought the 3 add-on pods were big torpedo launching bays, but I guess it makes sense that they would be multi-purpose research drone pods, that makes sense. Good video - Thanks for this Rick!

[@nobodyyouknow1065]

Nawlins’ Class

[@HylianFox3]

Big Easy Class

[@kaitlyn__L]

When you mentioned jettisoning the sample pods, I immediately imagined an undocking sequence just like removing the cap from those pens. The nib removed and replaced with an airlock docking connector, with the sloped inner part also painted silver with black shuttle-esque detailing.

[@jamesabernethy7896]

I've said this before, I love ships that have a common design language like Project Galaxy. It would have been amazing to see a more detailed model on screen. A nice-looking ship that fits well into the Star Trek universe.

[@AeronHale]

One of my favorite ships to fly in STO. It's not the strongest sure, but it gets the job done and is just generally fun.

[@Eons381]

Hi Rick love your breakdown videos they're awesome

[@CertifiablyIngame]

Thank you!

[@TheMelbournelad]

I love how you Highlighted the marker pens 😜

[@CrazyNights1015]

Wasn't entirely off screen. The start of the battle was shown during the opening scene of DS9. This class was one that had to grow on me. The mission pods look so out of place 😄

[@sirjanin]

I always loved the new orleans class desing. Its a beatiful ship. I like to see it here. Next one you should do one about the Springfield class. Its an interesting 2 neck ship

[@chrisfraser5088]

I kinda love this ship. Marker pens in space??? Yes please! 😂

[@davidponseigo8811]

The pods will always be torpedo launchers in my head canon.

[@kaijumaster8367]

There was a wonderful photo of this ship in the encyclopedia around 94 and so I've always been assessed with this thing. And I always assumed that those things were massive. Torpedo. Launchers and no one can change my mind

[@johnlewis1830]

Helmsman: "It's the Borg Captain, what are our orders?" Capt: "Hit em with the highlighters....... All three. That way the rest of the fleet will know we were here."

[@kadindarklord]

2332 plays into the idea that it was designated the class for the USS Rutledge. Maxwell's ship in the Cardassian Wars. Star Trek Adventures is... difficult to quantify as compatible with other sources.

[@CelticCubby]

The New Orleans is one of my favorite ships in spite of the highlighters. Would have been nice to see them instead of all of the Excelsiors and Mirandas.

[@luphone2781]

Oh sweet, a new Certifiable Ingame ship vid- "Marker pens, you'll never unsee" ... godammit

[@Euripides_Panz]

Of course, the pods highlight the friagte's versatility. It can make its mark with swappable sensor pods to serve as eyes of the fleet, while another New Orleans with special weapons pods go to work on an enemy threat. The modular nature can keep the fast and agile ships relevant for decades. I've been interested in this since the term "frigate" was mentioned as one of the ships in orbit with the heavy cruiser Horatio. I didn't get a model of the ship until after a certain company went under and saw an acceptable price for the model and magazine. For a small ship background, it's made a big splash.

[@jacobfoster9185]

I think that it's beautiful and I'd love to see a show built around it.

[@feralprocessor9853]

Right off the bat, a Borg cube and a Federation Vessel.

[@TrentonBennett]

My favorite Wolf 359 ship. I've got Starcrafts wonderful kit for this and it's awesome. I left off the bottom "pod" because I always thought it made the ship look off... there weren't any phaser strips on the ships nacelles at least for the physical model...so that must be just something Star Trek Online did. Also the Yamaguchi was an Ambassador class refit. The ship in this video it even has the Ambassador's Yamaguchi registry number. Unless that was something you did yourself for STO. There were also no phaser strips aft of the saucer on the original model. Again probably something STO added...

[@Dan19870]

I used to believe that the three pylons were part of a post production combat refit, with each pod equipped with a fore and aft torpedo tube as well as munitions storage. With the re-emergence of the Romulan Star Empire and the encounter with the Borg, rearming Starfleet wouldn't have been a bad idea.

[@benjamingrams333]

Size and Mission Profile as you explained makes this ship a predecessor of the intrepid class in my mind. Would be cool if someone would render the Voyager Intro with a New Orleans instead

[@Aettaro]

I always had a soft spot for the New Orleans. It just has a certain charm to it.

[@malguskerensky]

Thank you for… highlighting this ship! 😂

[@elviakerlick1163]

I read somewhere that the unseen starships which rendezvoused with the Enterprise-D in "Conspiracy" were New Orleans Class vessels. I think they were the Thomas Paine and the Renegade. The Horatio was an Ambassador Class ship.

[@hawkmeteor7781]

I can imagine a Terran empire version of the ship could be pretty cool, like an attack drone carrier, or a swarm drone carrier that can carry thousands of small drones with photon torpedo paylodes that can be used to overwhelm enemy anti missile defenses, or it could simply be a ship used by the terran empire to monitor entire system for disident activity with scout drones.

[@markfergerson2145]

Yeah, I can think of many situations in the shows and movies in which this would have been the preferred ship over a Galaxy Class. The nacelles on the Galaxy Class Enterprise were also markers on the models shown to the producers for TNG except they were Sharpies.

[@warwolf88]

this was a really awesome ship😊

[@davitto01]

The pod labs make a lot of sense if you think about it. If they're transporting hazardous materials that cannot use transporter technology from station to station, or experimenting on samples, then the pod can be jettisoned in an emergency. But also just transferred entirely to the station, so the experiment isn't disturbed.

[@walterlyzohub8112]

My two cents these pods were actually force field enhancers against Borg tractor and slicers beams. This makes a lot of sense to me. Unfortunately they got Locutus for information. You don’t need sensor enhancers when you have automated probes that can do a close up studies. And the sensors on the ship are already effective.

[@cipherzero1115]

I like this idea from Armada 3 mod for Sins of a Solar Empire. Those pods were turned into long range torpedo lobbers giving the New Orleans the ability to fire at extreme range but could still phasor fight if it got pulled closer into a fight

[@cjadams7434]

yeah love the look of this one!

[@princecharon]

"... unless they are tackling something extreme, they're a very reliable and good ship to have." *shows vessel facing off with a Borg Cube*

[@Eulemunin]

Well all those probes would make a useful detection network.

[@markluckins]

the strip placement is just from the kit bash, but if planning to go into battle it could dump the pods at the stageing area to free up weight, power requirements and the firing arcs

[@kelseyastra9607]

I once did a Play by email as a crew member of a New Orleans vessel. These are the ships that send out the distress signals the Galaxy and Nebula classes respond to.

[@dennisdean7366]

Fun fact: this class starship got its name from the American city in Louisiana which its located on the Mississippi delta and the future birthplace of Ben Sisko.

[@ilikethathat2964]

I wish this ship would have been featured more on screen. With the look, and essentially being a scaled down Galaxy class, I think it would have worked well as a support frigate, and aesthetically fit in nicely. I would have rather seen these and the Cheyenne class as opposed to the Miranda class throughout TNG and DS9.

[@stormycatmink]

Oh, might look at the Lafayette-class, the 25th century visual overhaul that just released in Star Trek Online a few weeks back.

[@OllamhDrab]

(Heehee. The Cheyenne's nacelles were a different kind of highlighter pen we could spot cause we had a lot of em around at the time. :)

[@theincognitoburrito7967]

7:43 way to rub it in panning to the full view of the borg cube right when you said “unless they’re handling something extreme” 💀

[@Meritania]

I always imagine what if Janeway had one of these instead of an Intrepid-class. A Science vessel with more of punch with the probes to do the scouting ahead either avoiding trouble or flagging up sites of interest.

[@bigbadhodad3894]

They're huge holodecks that simulate parade routes for Mardi Gras so that tons of crew can celebrate it where ever they are.

[@arkayanon]

With this, and the Niagara recently, I'm hoping for a Springfield class, which is one of my favorites for reasons I don't fully understand, soon.

[@DelcoRanz93]

I love the New Orleans class, It's one of my favorite Non-Hero ship of the TNG era ships. If I could find or make one I would most definitely do so, especially if I were to have it accompany and defend Nova Class ships. The only thing I'd really change about it is the location of the nacelle pylons. I'd have them branching off of the horizontal center line of the secondary hull like the Galaxy Class. I'm not really a fan of the nacelle pylons branching off of the neck of the ship.

[@stevebotham2018]

That is another one of the ships I wish they would have used in battle scenes in DS9 with the torpedo pods

[@didledump2000]

I think the Pods could be used as a droppable torpedo turrut, if you needed to defend a planet, reasearch station etc you warp into system drop these pods off around the defense objective, patrol with the main ship, if a enemy attcks you have 4 points of fiepower at command. Could also be effective as an attck vessel with 3 bulk torpedo launchers on board. As a wepon of mass destruction ( take out space stations, shipyards etc) set all torpedos and its independent power core to detanated at the same time, the blast would knock out everything in a wide area.

[@oliknow]

Markerpen Ships are clearly to map and mark interesting locations in space. these make the map markers for all the others to explore later.

[@tenchraven]

Well, so much for everyone who thought the pods were stuffed with torpedo tubes. It's almost like they made a half scale Galaxy for... well, not aerodynamic testing, but the hyperspace equivalent. Then tried to turn it into a functional ship, so they fitted it with a roof rack and trailer.

[@richardstone5552]

Cool

[@jamiejones7730]

I am wandering if being posted to an Enterprise is met with 😱 more than 🤩.

[@pleappleappleap]

Uhh, the registry implies that the New Orleans came out before the Galaxy class. Indeed, a bit before the Renaissance class. Around the same time as the Ambassador class.

[@DissociatedWomenIncorporated]

So _essentially_ you’re saying these pods are exactly what I thought they were… tactical long range marshmelon dispensers.

[@dennisdean7366]

The New Orleans class starship is one of the starships has a spaceframe design to the Galaxy class starship.

[@valor1omega]

Nice highlight of a not so marker of a ship

[@oninoni]

Lower decks could honestly have used a new Orleans

[@sim.frischh9781]

There are a lot of designs that should have been shown in later conflicts in Deep Space 9 and such, shame really they missed such occations. Whole Dominion War could have been a perfect time to show off all those ships, but no, we got Galaxy, Miranda and Excelsior classes instead. I can´t even remember seeing any Steamrunner there, though i think i do remember at least one Akira and one or two Sabres.

[@R_C420]

I'd like to see an on screen story where a ship like that has to detach a pod to use it as a beacon or relay, and we find out that they are actually called "marker pods".

[@JeffBreyer]

One of my favourite kitbashes.

[@Phil-D83]

If those marker "pods" were actually torpedo launchers as per the Akira... it could be a little monster.

[@briankriens5645]

I own this ship in STO. Comes with an okay trait as well.

[@Searly255]

I wish you could kitbash it to remove the pods, so it looked like a mini galaxy, more so than the nebula, like a galaxy thats gone through the wash at too high of a setting