Starbase 6 model The dialogue from the episode simply refers to the starbase as " the space station , " however , based on information obtained from Michael Okuda , the CGI model of the was labeled as " Starbase 6 " , but that was not entirely visible on screen . It is unclear why this base number was chosen when it was previously associated with an unnamed planet in . Design . In the original airing of " The Ultimate Computer " , stock footage of Deep Space Station K - 7 from was re - utilized to represent the station . In the remastered edition of that episode , the design was revised based upon Masao Okazaki ' s design for Starbase 47 in the " " series of novels from Pocket Books ( though scaled down in size ) . Okazaki on his design : " Editor Marco Palmieri ( . . . ) contacted me in the fall of 2004 asking me if I could design a space station for an upcoming series of paperback novels . He had seen my stubby " J - class " TOS - era space station design at my " Star Trek " Museum website and thought it could be adapted as the Vanguard space station . Although meeting the 1 - month deadline was complicated by my full - time job as a editor and lecturer at a medical school , Marco ' s offer was one I could not refuse . " Marco envisioned Vanguard as a 1 - km - diameter station similar in function to the Earth Spacedock from but clearly reflecting the TOS aesthetic . It was to have an internal dock for 4 starships , living space for 1 , 000 people , cargo - handling areas , a power plant , life - support machinery , fabrication areas , and a communications array . I took my " J - class " design and doubled it in size to about 1 . 2 km in diameter . I flattened the " mushroom cap " for the internal dock , lengthened the stem , and added a large bulb at the end for engineering spaces and the subspace antenna . " Both Marco and I liked my first pass , but he asked for a few more variants just to make sure ; we ended up going with my first pass . With the exterior designed , I began blocking out the interior . I soon discovered that this station , although much smaller than Spacedock , still had a lot more space than we knew what to do with . Borrowing an idea from Franz Joseph , I suggested that the upper half of the mushroom cap be make into a park - like habitat , which was dubbed the terrestrial enclosure . Even with the mushroom cap mostly hollow , we still had too much space . I had visions of endless rooms and empty hallways , like the Overlook Hotel from " The Shining " . The cap originally had a 9 - deck - thick slice of rooms , which had a volume equal to 35 Empire State Buildings . I took out most of these decks , enlarged the terrestrial enclosure , and left a ring of decks at the edge for lifeboats . shuttle bays , and luxury - box - like spaces . " The spine of the station has various conduits for energy and life - support and a zero - gravity tube for cargo handling . As it passes through the terrestrial enclosure , I envisioned a gleaming , flood - lit Hugh Ferriss - style art - deco column ringed with upward blooming terraces and apartments . Marco told me , however , that the spine was always cloaked ( damn ! ) . Just before delivery , Marco still thought the station was too big , so I had to rush and shrink it a further 30 % . That necessitated a frantic rescaling and redrawing of all the decks , but I was able to send Marco the eps files on time . ( . . . ) " CGI models . Two CGI models were eventually built of the starbase design . Once given the go - ahead by Pocket Books , Doug Drexler built and rendered a CGI version that eventually adorned the covers of several novels in the " Vanguard " series . " " I dig Vanguard station because it looks appropriately old school , while embracing the design directions of the original feature films ! " " , Drexler commented . It was David Rossi of CBS Digital who hit upon the idea of using Okazaki ' s design for " TOS " remastered when he saw one of Drexler ' s covers . On Drexler ' s blog Okuda remembered : " It was David Rossi ' s idea to use Vanguard Station as the basis for the station in the remastered version of " The Ultimate Computer " . At one of our planning meetings , Dave showed us one of your [ " rem : Drexler ' s " ] beautiful book covers from one of the Vanguard novels . The next day , we got an OK from John Van Citters and Paula Block of CBS Consumer Products , and Margaret Clark and Marco Palmieri at Pocket Books to use the design . Masao Okazaki was also enthusiastically supportive . The actual digital model in the episode was built by a talented artist named Apollo Kim at CBS Digital , under the supervision of visual effects supervisor Niel Wray . They based it closely on your renderings , although it was somewhat simplified because we knew it would be relatively small in the frame . I was the one responsible for having the station re - scaled . For our particular shots in this episode , I didn ' t want the starbase to dwarf the and the . " In a later interview , Okuda went into more detail about the CBS version . He elaborated : " We had originally planned to re - use the K - 7 model for the " The Ultimate Computer " , just as in the original version of the episode . It was producer Dave Rossi who came in with one of Doug Drexler ' s book covers , showing Masao ' s wonderful design . We immediately contacted John Van Citters and Paula Block at CBS Consumer Products to ask for permission to use the design . Once they said " yes " ( which didn ' t take long ! ) , we asked Niel Wray , the visual effects supervisor at CBS Digital if it would be possible to add the new station at this relatively late point in the production cycle . Niel was excited about adding the station , but he was cautious because we really were coming down the wire in terms of schedule and budget , which were always tight anyway . " The CBS Digital version of Masao ' s station was modeled by a talented artist named Apollo Kim ( what a " great " name for someone working on " Trek " ! ) , and animated by Eric Ehemann and Chris Barsamian . Other talented members of the CBS Digital crew who worked on the model station were digital texture painter Sun Chung , lighting technical director Brian Vogt , and compositor James Holt . " They pretty much followed Doug ' s rendering of Masao ' s design , but I asked them to make a couple of tweaks . First , I asked them to reduce the overall scale of the station . In the original series , Gene was pretty clear that he wanted the " Enterprise " to be the biggest , most powerful ship in the fleet . Even though the station isn ' t a ship , I didn ' t want it to dwarf the " Enterprise " too much . The station just had to be big enough that you ' d believe it could absorb the 400 members of the " Enterprise " crew . " Also , I knew that we ' d only see it briefly with the " Lexington " docked . I didn ' t want the " Lexington " to disappear in that quick shot , so I wanted to make the ship as large as possible with relationship to the station . Finally , I asked them to tweak the station ' s arms so that the edge of the " Lexington " s saucer could dock directly with the station . Naturally , I was a little nervous about what Masao and Doug would think about what we ' d done with their station , but fortunately , both said they liked it ! " ( ) .