 It became apparent to ILM that The Search for Spock 's script required more design and model work than had been necessary for The Wrath of Khan . A merchant ship destroyed by Kruge early in the film was a kitbash — a design made of combined model pieces . Effects cameraman Don Dow reasoned that since the ship was destroyed so quickly it did not make sense to spend a large amount of time building it . The USS Grissom was named for astronaut Virgil " Gus " Grissom ; the same model would be used to depict other science vessels in the spinoff television series Star Trek : The Next Generation . 
