Thruster suit model The thruster suit was envisioned as a variation of an environmental suit , that could be equipped with a detachable thruster pack for use to travel short distances , and has been seen in use in by , among others , Starfleet personnel at the Epsilon IX station as well as the drydock were the upgraded was refurbished . Equipped with the thruster pack , Spock utilized such a suit when entering and exploring the " V ' ger " entity in the early 2270s , whereas James T . Kirk subsequently used a thruster suit to retrieve Spock . The design of the suit was re - utilized in . Though full - scale suits were manufactured for the actors to interact with in " The Motion Picture " , they themselves soldiering on in " The Wrath of Khan " , the construction of a miniature was deemed necessary for " The Motion Picture " . Design . An extravehicular activity had already been envisioned in a final draft of the " In Thy Image " pilot episode of the " " television project . After " Phase II " was upgraded to a major movie production in November 1977 , it was Paramount Pictures themselves who started with the design and partial construction of a full scale suit , which was reminiscent of the one seen in . Deemed unsuitable , notorious for nearly suffocating Spock performer Leonard Nimoy , Brick Price Movie Miniatures took over the re - design work for the suit in the summer of 1978 . ( " Enterprise Incidents ; special edition on the technical side " , pp . 38 - 42 ) In the autumn of 1978 the design work was handed over to Production Illustrator Andrew Probert of Astra Image Corporation , the art department subsidiary of Robert Abel & Associates ( RA & A ) who were to produce the visual effects for the " Motion Picture " , who submitted some preliminary designs for the environmental suit in October 1978 . Unfortunately for him , due to the , RA & A was pulled from the project on 22 February 1979 . Succeeded by Douglas Trumbull ' s Future General Corporation , it was decided to fine tune the spacesuit design at John Dykstra ' s Apogee , Inc . , when that company was brought in to ease the workload , since a first appearance of the suit was envisioned in a sequence Apogee was responsible for , to wit , the Epsilon IX station footage . At Apogee , Production Illustrator Jack Johnson took over the task of designing the suit as well as that of the thruster pack that could be optionally attached to it . Details on the suit were designed by Animation and Graphics Artist Greg Wilzbach . It was their envisioned versions that were predominantly featured in " The Motion Picture " . Johnson was also the one who designed the thruster pack unit . ( " The Art of Star Trek " , pp . 180 - 181 ) Andrew Probert sold off his preliminary designs as Lot 76 in the Propworx , Inc . ' s " STAR TREK auction III " of 24 March 2012 for US $ 150 , having had an estimate of US $ 100 – $ 200 . Studio model . Apart from having full scale suits made for the actors to interact with , a scaled miniature was deemed necessary for the long shots . That miniature was also constructed at Apogee , and Dykstra has elaborated , " Another thing we did for the Epsilon 9 sequence was build a two - foot tall scale model spaceman that we had zipping around this way and that . Doug used it also in the drydock sequence and in the Spock spacewalk . David Sosalla did the sculpting , including the faces of Spock and the others who would be inside the suit ; and John Ramsay worked out the mechanics for articulating the arms and legs . It was shot using motion control , and then we went back in with animation and added little blips of energy from the thrusters . " There were a couple nice shots that didn ' t get into the film , where the puppets are being chased by the destruction in a different way than we ' ve got them appearing now . But we ran out of time , and weren ' t able to get them to go together right . " ( " Cinefex " , issue 2 , pp . 58 - 59 ) For their appearances , Sosalla sculpted several 3½ inch heads out of resin for representation of whomever was supposed to be in the suit . The models themselves were equipped with servo motors and electronics for articulation . One of Sosalla ' s sculptures of Spock ' s head later turned up at Profiles in History ' s " Hollywood Auction 43 " of 18 December 2010 as Lot 1000 , were it was sold , having had an estimate of US $ 1 , 000 - $ 1 , 500 . Painted with orange highlights , the miniature was first used to shoot the sequences of the unfortunate Starfleet member caught in the digitizing of the Epsilon IX station and Spock ' s spacewalk in " V ' ger " . Subsequently , the highlights were repainted brown / beige for the sequences in the drydock and Kirk ' s EV scenes . The miniature made an almost undiscernible re - appearance in as a display model in the Starfleet Officer ' s Lounge entry room , in the scene where Admiral Kirk and company leave . After its use in " The Search for Spock " , the miniature was stored away on the Paramount Pictures lot and largely forgotten about , until Probert and Rick Sternbach rediscovered it . As the latter remembered , " " If I recall correctly , when Andy was painting the head to look like himself , the rest of the suit hardshell was the orange color ( early 1987 ? ) . I think we found the thing in a box in a storage room in the art department shortly after Andy and I commandeered the room over Stages 8 / 9 . We had originally done some work in another office on the west side of the lot , but since the room over 8 / 9 was empty , we basically took it over . Anyhow , I ’ m wondering if the motor hardware was they way it was because the appendage moves had to be repeatable to within a very small tolerance , and the stepper motors I ’ ve seen are rather brutish to begin with . Steppers aren ’ t like " normal " spinning electric motors , for folks who aren ’ t familiar with them ; the shafts are commanded to move in precise steps by motion control computers . " " Afterwards , the miniature ended up in Doug Drexler ' s possession for a number of years . Having had ample time to study the miniature in detail , Drexler has noted on his , " Anyone who has watched TMP remembers the little space guy who goes ass - over - tea kettle at Epsilon 9 . If you run that back you will see the puppet articulate a tad as it is hit by the Vger wave . That ’ s probably all the range it had . A post mortem reveals why . Most of you know that I was an effects makeup artist for ten years . In them time I built my share of puppets and change - o heads . If I had been there when this fabricated , I might have saved them a lot of grief . When you take it apart you find an impressive dual cylinder piston driven motor , which probably could have driven a mini bike . All of that horsepower was to no avail . The rubber that the suit was cast from was much too rigid for an articulated puppet . Even with all of that power behind it . I ’ m sure one of you guys will know the answer to this , but my guess would be that it was built by a physical effects house that may not have had a lot of puppet building experience . " All due respects to my physical effects brothers , but most of them are all about raw power . I ’ m guessing they were fairly certain that even though the cast was semi rigid they thought they could jam enough hp in there to make it work . I had a phys effects buddy who used to live by the adage , “ don ’ t force it ! get a bigger hammer ! ” By the time they found that the bigger hammer wouldn ’ t do it , it was too late to go back . If a makeup artist had built this rig , the appendages would have been made out of a fine cellular foam latex . if it had been me , I would have used the same foam latex we use for facial appliances . Extremly soft , malleable , great memory , and supremely paintable . If foam latex had been used you could have thrown all that expensive horsepower away . Just go to your local bicycle shop and pick up some el cheapo cables and levers , and this thing would ’ ve been able to dance like one of the . " The pictures Drexler showcased on his blog entry revealed that some of the second paint layer had chipped off over time , revealing in some places the original orange paint layer . This may have led to Sternbach ' s partially erroneous recollection in regard to the color of the miniature . Drexler eventually auctioned off his miniature , " sans " thruster pack , measuring 11×25 inches , as Lot 11 in the Propworx ' s " The official STAR TREK prop and costume auction " of 8 August 2010 , estimated at US $ 8 , 000 - $ 10 , 000 , where it sold for US $ 8 , 000 . According to the auction description it was the miniature that represented Admiral James T . Kirk when he retrieved Spock in the movie . Coincidentally , Spock ' s thruster pack miniature , constructed out of fiberglass , metal and resin and measuring 15½ inches long , had been shortly before offered up at Profiles in History ' s 8 - 9 October 2009 " Hollywood Auction 37 " as Lot 611 . Having been estimated at US $ 6 , 000 – 8 , 000 . 00 , it sold for US $ 4 , 000 ( exclusive buyer ' s premium ) on 9 October 2009 to noted American collector Adam Schneider . ( " FanAddicts ! " , Season 1 , Episode 3 : Star Trek )