Planet Express ship
| Secondary character | |||||||
| Planet Express ship | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Species | Space ship | ||||||
| First appearance | "Space Pilot 3000" (1ACV01)  | ||||||
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The Planet Express ship, named Bessie in 3013 (7ACV15), is an intergalactic spaceship designed and built by Prof. Farnsworth (1ACV01). Its color is said to be Electric Mucus (BG). The ship is capable of traveling at 99% light speed (4ACV09), which is a lot faster than traditional light speed, since the speed of light was increased in 2208, but in fact it does not move at all. Instead, its engines move the universe around it. This is made possible in part by its incredible dark matter reactor equipped with afterburners providing 200% fuel efficiency (2ACV10), and the ship needs about 63 balls of dark matter to be full. However, due to dark matter becoming ineffective as fuel (BG), it now runs on whale oil (ItWGY). The ship has the LX package, but the only noted upgrade is a gold hood ornament which was stolen by a punk in a rough space neighbourhood (BG).
The ship is surprisingly comfortable inside. It carries two Hover Dollies to help move heavy cargo around (2ACV02). The ship can also be used in combat (with a top turret as well as two torpedo tubes, which can double as the 'primary lasers') and has fought against the Robot Mafia, the Space Pirates, and the Omicronians during their first invasion of Earth. It is so effective in battle that it fought in the defense of Earth with the DOOP forces.
The ship's computer is sentient. For a while, it was involved in a romantic relationship with Bender (4ACV03). When things turned sour, they had to wipe the ship's memory to regain control.
In 3013, the ship was converted into a speed racer by the professor and was replaced by a safer ship by Leela (7ACV15). Eventually, the upgrade must have been undone. In this year, Fry also sold the ship for two giant beans (7ACV22). The ship was later re-acquired (7ACV23).
It is joked about in the DVD commentary for The Beast with a Billion Backs that the Planet Express ship seems to have numerous different systems, many of which are redundant. Specifically, jokes were made about how using a crane to load dark matter was that film's method of doing so. While it is obvious that the redundant systems are mistakes on the part of the writers, an in-universe explanation for this could be Prof. Farnsworth's senility causing him to create more mechanisms to perform a task that would never be necessary. It can also be explained by the numerous times that the ship needs to be rebuilt that it necessitates that a new system be devised.
Like all leading characters in the show, the ship has an overbite.
Parts of the ship
- The Bridge
- Leela's cabin
- Fry and Bender's cabin
- A Lounge
- A Sauna
- Audio Control Room
- Production Control Room
- A full kitchen
- A full bathroom (the shower is soundproof)
- A laundry room (at a pinch, can also double-up as a brig)
- The cargo bay
- The Med-bay
- A Cage (complete with lion)
- Brain Room
- Emergency Supply Room
- Engine Room
- Jungle Room (appears in comics only)
- Military Strategy Room (appears in comics only)
- Morgue (appears in comics only)
- Vending Room (appears in comics only)
- Turret
- Satellite dish
- Basement (which doubles as a storm shelter)
- Panic room (7ACV24)
- Chart Room (S9, E12, "Viva Mars Vegas")
The autopilot
In addition, the ship carries a separate AI: the autopilot, who is rarely seen on-screen. The auto-pilot first appears in "Bendless Love" and makes another appearance in "Love and Rocket". The ship and the autopilot may not be separate entities: its voice is the same in both of its appearances and in "Love and Rocket", the ship handled autopilot duties.
Bender and the autopilot have had drinking contests, and Leela has referred to the autopilot as a drunk (although it is apparently standard protocol to carry a full compliment of olives with which to make martinis). The autopilot is also known to find certain art offensive, particularly art with explicit nudity.
Holo-pilot
In "Robot Santa's Little Helpers", Leela is shown to have designed a "Holopilot", with the appearance of a fat, ugly Amy.
Alternate appearances/modifications
- Modified to move underwater (2ACV12).
- Temporarily renamed as the Poppler Express Ship, when Bender paints over the company logo. (2ACV15)
- Miniature Planet Express ship is shown (3ACV02).
- Painted red to suit the new business Awesome Express (3ACV12).
- Has its engines lost and Star Trek-style warp nacelles mounted to it (4ACV11).
- Old Planet Express ship is shown (4ACV12).
- Drawn in a similar style to Steamboat Willie (TBwaBB).
- Resembling the Yellow Submarine from the movie Yellow Submarine (BG).
- Pulled along by dozens of Nibblonians due to dark matter being useless (BG).
- Painted pink by the Feministas (ItWGY).
- Its engines are converted to burn Whale Oil (ItWGY).
- Deconstructed and rebuilt by Antarians in the Third World of the Antares system (6ACV03).
- Entirely eaten up by Trilobots on the Robo-Planetoid (6ACV09).
- Painted a different shade of green and renamed Omicronian Express under the rule of Lrrr (6ACV11).
- Attached to a large drill in Robanukah 3010 (6ACV13).
- With solar sails (6ACV15).
- The First Planet Express ship is shown (6ACV15).
- Dressed as an airplane (6ACV20).
- Reconceived in the animation styles of classic black-and-white ("C") and old-school videogames ("FC3") and turned into a tank ("ADF") (6ACV26).Disputed canon
- Destroyed then converted into a racecar that features a 4D-intake manifold, allowing the ship to perform dimensional drifts (7ACV15).
- Painted gold by the Professor's fermion-barrier heat-exclusion spray and then later converted into a fire apparatus (7ACV18).
- Reconceived as a hovering van in the style of the Mystery Machine from Scooby-Doo (7ACV19).
- Given ambulance sirens (7ACV25).
- A steampunk-inspired version of the ship is seen. (US#057)
Image gallery
6ACV26
6ACV26
7ACV18
Additional Info
Trivia
- In "A Clockwork Origin", Farnsworth calls the Planet Express ship the Science-mobile.
- The ship is featured on the package for The Complete Series.
Non-Appearances
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- Technically, the Planet Express ship appears in all episodes, as it is featured in the opening sequence, as well as in most comics. But it also appears in almost every episode outside of the opening sequence. Therefore, this list only deals with media where the ship is not seen.