1033 lines
64 KiB
Plaintext
1033 lines
64 KiB
Plaintext
Subject: Treknology Rationalization (part 2 of 3)
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Later studies of the "breakaway maneuver" and its associated
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parameters revealed that had this early incident not involved such
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extreme conditions, the time traveling starship would have remained
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"linked" to the net gravitational influence of the star used as the
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initiator mass. This would have caused the celestial body itself to
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assume the role of adjusting its own impact on the expansion of the
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universe to compensate for sending a vessel back in time, and would
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permit such voyages thru time while retaining the ability to target
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spatial destinations as well. This type of controled temporal
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translation was successfully demonstrated by the Enterprise via Sol
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during the mission Kirk's log describes as "Assignment: Earth", and
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was later employed from a captured Klingon cruiser to solve the
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"Whalesinger" crisis.
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Given the operational parameters of starship reactor systems, the
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time it takes to build up power applied to generating the warp field
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effect normally requires an initiator mass the size of a star or greater
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to perform the breakaway maneuver. A planetary mass is just too small
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under most circumstances as the vessel will have already moved too far
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from the center of its gravitational field before attaining threshold
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power where the time dilation effects are manifested. This does not
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mean it isn't possible to use a planetary mass as the initiator, only
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that the ship in question would have to bring up its power output in an
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incredibly rapid surge to do so. The only known means of doing this is
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the all but suicidal technique of deliberate implosion to "cold-start"
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completely shut down power systems. Only one ship, NCC-1701, is known
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to have ever survived this procedure. Historians remained baffled as to
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why the crew dubbed the gambit an "Irishman's Chance".
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Were you to travel back in time without triggering some form of
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gravitational impact compensation for your mass, the continuum would
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soon destroy you via an effect strikingly similar to the manner in which
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a living creature's immune system destroys that which does not belong.
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The unfortunate time traveler would experience progressive
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disintegration as the particles of his/her body are randomly pushed back
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to their own correct time.
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An advanced form of such compensation was an integral part of the
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Atavachron, which functioned by actually forcing open "portals" between
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times. As Kirk, Spock, and McCoy went through the portal but bypassed
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the compensation stage, they were in grave danger and had but little
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time to return. Sarabeth could not return with them unless they could
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have learned to use the machine to compensate for her entry into their
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era, but alas there was no time for that before the star in that system
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went nova.
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Just as the 3rd-order Cochrane function is known as Tertiary Warp, the
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1st and 2nd orders represent Primary, and Secondary Warp. Primary Warp is
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the function consisting of the sum of the infinite series begining with X
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plus (X^2)/2 plus (X^3)/6 etc. As with the 3rd-order series, it may be
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calculated with the equivalent formula (e^W)-1. This was the first type of
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warp field effect propulsion system developed, and it is still in use on
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later vessels as the Impulse Drive sub-system.
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When Secondary Warp drive systems were developed, governed by the
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2nd-order Cochrane function consisting of the sum of the infinite series
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begining with X^2 + (X^3)/3 +(X^4)/12 etc., equivalent formula:
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2*((e^W)-(W+1)), it was learned that they, and all higher order warp fields,
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were dangerously unstable at low fractions of threshold power. This forced
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the retention of some form of Primary warp drive, though it need not handle
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enough power to go superluminal.
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All warp field effects are created via the use of superconducting
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Cochrane coils, which are wound according to the complex topological patterns
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defined by Impulsor Calculus, the branch of mathematics developed by Zephram
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Cochrane to express the new kinematics and mechanics resulting from his
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successful unification of gravity with the electro-strong-weak force of
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quantum physics. As this essay is intended for a 20th century audience,
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ethical constraints place severe limits on the range of comments that can be
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made on this subject, but the inference should be obvious that if theoretical
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physics has mastered the unification of the primal forces of nature, it
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becomes possible to use a force easily generated and controled, such as
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electromagnetism, to manipulate phenomena normally governed by another force,
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such as gravity.
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Cochrane's mechanics superceded Einstein's, as his in its time
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supplanted Newton's. Each is "true" or at least acceptably valid,
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within its range, and may be thought of as a special case approximation
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of its successor, which is itself regarded as a superset of its
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predecessor. The following clues to Cochrane's accomplishment,
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paraphrased from the preface to his own textbook, are deemed safe for
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20th century humans.
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The first is that while current attempts to build ever larger particle
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accelerators will lead to the unification of the strong nuclear force with
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the electro-weak force, this approach will not be successful with gravity.
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The reason is that while accelerators of sufficient power approximate the
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fantastic extremes of temperature and pressure found during the era
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immediately following the Big Bang, it was not these aspects of the early
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universe but rather the extreme curvature of space-time then in force which
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wedded gravity to the other forces. As space-time expanded, or flattened,
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gravity was the first force to de-couple from the others.
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The second clue is that while Newton's mechanics were based upon the
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Euclidean model of geometry, and Einstein's was grounded in 19th century
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alternatives such as that of Riemann, Cochrane found the mathematical tools
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he needed to join the probability functions of quantum physics to the
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structures defined by distortions of space-time in the "strange attractors"
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of Fractal Geometry's framework for the study of "chaos".
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The warp effect itself derives from Cochrane's advanced concepts of
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gravitation under which the interaction between the mass of a physical body
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and the surrounding space/time matrix defines a complex mathematical field
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known as a continuum profile. On a purely theoretical level, Cochrane was
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able to establish a new understanding of the term velocity by demonstrating
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an intriguing difference in the continuum profiles of moving objects versus
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those stationary relative to the observer. All objects having mass distort
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the space/time continuum around them, but when an object is in motion
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relative to the observer, the pattern of the this distortion, known as the
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continuum profile, becomes skewed along the direction of travel.
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Space/time is not infinitely malleable, it takes a minute but finite
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interval for gravitational distortions to be fully manifested upon newly
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encountered regions. Because of this propagation-time factor, the region of
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space/time in front of a moving object at a given instant is not as distorted
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as it would be had the object in question been excerting its gravitational
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influence on it for an arbitrarily long period, and the region behind the
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traveling body shows excess distortion because of the time it takes to flatten
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back to its undisturbed state. The concept of relative motion remains in
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force, for the skewing of the continuum profiles of all objects in the
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universe is measured from the vantage point of the observer's own comparably
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skewed line of travel. In measuring the velocity relative to himself, the
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observer is actually noting the degree of continuum profile skewing relative
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to his own, and an inertial frame of reference becomes one with a constant
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degree of skew.
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In astrophysics, this effect is largely muted by the ability of
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space/time to "remember" repeated transits, so that all cyclic motions, such
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as the orbits of planets, literally "groove" their paths into the very fabric
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of the continuum, diminishing the skewing effect to almost vanishing levels.
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Also, such circular motions involve the interaction of mutually influencing
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bodies, so that each experiences far more change in the direction of its
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skewing factor than in its absolute magnitude.
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But for non-cyclic motions, such as that of spacecraft executing huge
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linear translations thru the continuum, the effect is sufficiently pronounced
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to impact observations made from onboard instruments. Generations after
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Cochrane, the ability of the space/time continuum to store such
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information-laden "memories" would be used by Dr. Carol Marcus to establish
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the theoretical basis for the long suspected existence of morphogenetic
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fields, and would lead her to attempt the exploitation of this phenomena via
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the "Genesis" technology.
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In creating his unified field theory, Cochrane opened the door to
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full-scale interaction/exchange between the primal forces of nature. Using
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the analytic tools of his carefully derived Impulsor Calculus, he has able to
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map out complex yet stable forms of interwoven electro-magnetic fields which
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would cross "the line" by manifesting part of their effect in the form of
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gravitational phenomena. He was then able to follow the conceptual trail
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back to the actual design and contruction of field generating coils that
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could transform his theories into useful technology. In his first great
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practicle success, he proved that if his coil systems were used to
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reconfigure the continuum profile of a "stationary" object so that it
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acquired the relative "skew" of a moving one, it moved accordingly.
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This led first to the developement of the long wished-for "jetless" space
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drive, ultimately called "Impulse drive", in which designers no longer needed
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to bother about reaction mass carried onboard only to serve as kinetic
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exhaust. Later studies revealed that the application of sufficient power to
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the skewing field would produce a degree of skew effect so highly pronounced
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as to be insupportable by the familiar Einsteinian continuum. Attaining this
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"threshold" level would so stress the ordinary continuum that a vessel and its
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surrounding field envelope would literally be ejected into a higher order
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continuum in which the speed of light was no longer relevant as a limiting
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factor. Cochrane himself visualized our familiar continuum as "floating"
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above the larger realm, and so described the transition process as "dropping
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into sub-space" rather than apply an upward linguistic bias and the overused
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"hyperspace".
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A gentle, private, and in some respects almost old-fashioned man,
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Cochrane lived far enough into his twilight years to see his work send
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humanity to the stars, before he mysteriously vanished. Some say that the
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warp-driven space yacht presented to him by the greatful governments of
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several worlds disappeared at the same time, fueling speculation that he
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headed into unknown space on some final adventure. While historians argue
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over his ultimate fate, none dispute the enormity of his contributions,
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without which the very founding of the Federation could never have occurred.
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Just as the 20th century's mastery of undreamed of natural forces such as
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electricity produces technological wonders inconceivable to 17th century
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minds, so did Cochrane's breakthru set the stage for a vast family of related
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discoveries and devices that seem almost magical to residents of our time.
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In the decades following the construction of the first "impulsor drives",
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further experimentation and theoretical studies led to totally different,
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often unexpected, applications of the basic Cochrane coil system. The coil
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itself would become as basic a concept to an entire branch of technology as
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the "circuit" is to the field of electrical engineering.
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Physicist Alicia Chalmbers interwove two coils, one wound clockwise, the
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other anti-clockwise, and sent twin currents thru them in opposite
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directions. The "Chalmbers" coil did not move, as its external effect upon
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the continuum was balanced between opposite and equal influences, but within
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the dual-coil itself a profound disruption of space/time took place. Wave
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like patterns of variation in the "topological gradient" or distortability of
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space/time, went out equally in all directions. A second Chalmbers coil,
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though unenergized, reacted to the distortion pattern by converting part of
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its energy content back into electricity.
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Of course, modulations in the current flow to the first Chalmbers coil
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were echoed analog fashion in the current output of the second "receiving"
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coil, giving birth to sub-space radio. The effect propagates at the
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theoretical limit of the warp effect, Warp 10, the actual speed depending on
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whether the Chalmbers coils are of the Primary, Secondary, or Tertiary
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variety. All StarFleet, and virtually all modern civilian vessels, use
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Tertiary Chalmbers systems, allowing communications at 131792.79 x C.
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Passive listening for natural occurences of this phenomena, and the active
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use of a form of sub-space radio in "radar" mode, constitute much of the
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sensor technology of Starships.
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Another variation of the basic Cochrane device bends the coil away from
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its "barber-pole" configuration, to double back on itself full circle, in
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effect coiling the coil in a single loop. The result is an artificial
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gravity field projected perpendicular to the plane of the loop, in either
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pull or push mode depending on the orientation of the windings and/or the
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direction of current flow. Within its housing, the loop coil is physically
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anchored or it would simply spin in a warp driven circle rather than impart
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its effect to the gravity field. Such units are always paired so that the
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torque from each cancels the other rather than be imparted to the vessel via
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the structural elements holding them in place.
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Other variants of the Cochrane coil take the form of conical shaped pairs
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of coils nested within each other facing in opposite directions. The conical
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shape causes the warp field's skewing effect to be projected away from the
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coil system rather than centered upon it. By using the two coils in tandem,
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one can induce any desired combination of push or pull force up to the
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system's operational limits on a distant object, moving it arbitrarily close
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to the starship's hull and holding it there. Known as a tractor beam, this
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piece of equipment is indispensable for modern spacecraft operations, without
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it sleek warp-driven starships would be reduced to reliance upon primitive
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manipulator arms such as the one found on the 1980's space shuttle. When
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holding a derelict vessel via tractor beam, it is possible to apply the the
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repulsive force against selected portions of the outer hull, concentrating
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the attractive force thru the vehicles' center, so as to not only retrieve
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and stabilize it, but provide artificial gravity as well for the comfort of
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boarding parties.
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In man's first experience with interstellar combat, the technological
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level of the participants had the vessels of both sides drop into sub-light
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speeds to maneuver against each other in a tight volume of laser crossfired
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space. These primitive battles were analogous to the way in which late 20th
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century fighter planes would reach a combat zone via supersonic travel, then
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go subsonic for the actual dogfight. The advantages of a weapon that could
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unleash its effect at warp speed were so obvious that an all out technology
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race to build such a device began even before the first Romulan War was over.
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Ultra high velocity missiles carrying powerful matter/anti-matter
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warheads were already in use. As the M/A anhilation produces a shower of
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photons in the extremely high energy gamma ray portion of the spectrum, these
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missiles were dubbed photon mines. Though their highly developed fusion
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thrusters could accelerate them at hundreds of G's, they were still so slow
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compared to even the sublight capabilties of impulse driven starships that
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one had to use them in the manner of depth charges, simply deploying them in
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the expected path of the enemy ship and hoping for the best. Attempts to
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replace the fusion thruster with a warp engine enjoyed some success against
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vehicles moving at sublight speeds, but against vessels traveling at warp
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speeds what was needed was a weapon that could travel substantially faster
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than any ship.
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The answer was ultimately inspired by the ancient submarine torpedo,
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which used steam power pumped into the torpedo by the submarine rather
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generated onboard the weapon itself. The modern analog of the torpedo tube
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emerged as an inside out warp engine coil which generated its field within
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its own interior and imparted an enormous skewing effect on any object placed
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inside. The specially designed warhead pod would zip out of the tube at
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extremely high warp speeds, having an unprecendented degree of skew, but free
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of the mass of any onboard warp field generating equipment. Though the
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warhead pod is designed to retain its imparted skew as long as possible, it
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does begin to decay immediately after leaving the tube. As this takes at
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least several minutes, the effective range is quite adequate for the tactical
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role these weapons play. Note that these devices have almost no steering,
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only a slight course correction capability, and so must be carefully aimed.
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The parallel to ancient submarine weapons was so close that the term "photon
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torpedo" became permanently attached to these deadly implements of celestial
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combat, which in the ST:TNG era are capable of as much as 10 to 15 minutes
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travel at speeds approaching warp 9.9.
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Early experiments with Dilithium crystals found that two such crystals, a
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mirror, a semi-reflector, and a light source made a marvelously efficient
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laser, as Spock once demonstrated in escaping from Gestapo headquarters on
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the planet Ekos. When Science Officer Bruno Wilhelm placed a dilithium laser
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setup inside a Chalmbers coil, the crystals synchronized so as to overlap the
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coinciding lightwaves exactly out of "phase" making the light energy
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effectively vanish from our continuum, only to reimerge as a uni-directional
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highly intense disruption of the space/time continuum now known as the
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"phaser effect". Such synchronization of the crystals required a
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super-luminal transfer of coordinating influences, and so was only possible
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in the context of a coil-induced sub-space environment. Within the coil, one
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can reasonably construe the laser as being "in" sub-space.
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When fully powered, the phaser effect travels at the Warp 10 limit for
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the type of Chalmbers coil used, be it Primary, Secondary, or Tertiary.
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Naturally, StarFleet vessels are armed only with Tertiary phasers, anything
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less would produce a "beam" literally too slow to catch a Tertiary warp
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starship with Dilithium focused anti-matter reactors.
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However, hand phasers don't have access to quite enough power to energize
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the coil component to its equivalent threshold power level. The result is
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that the phaser beam produced travels at a speed dependent upon the power
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level applied to the coil. Whereas a beam emitted from a coil at threshold
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power would always move at Warp 10, with additional coil power just boosting
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the intensity or striking power of the beam, at just below threshold power
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the beam's speed is the reciprocal of Warp 10. This is a mere 7.58766 x
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10^(-6) x C, or approximately 7300 feet per second from a Tertiary coil,
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therefore hand phasers use Primary coils so that the phaser effect
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propagatation velocity is proportional to the reciprocal of the Primary warp
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field's Warp 10 limit of 22025.47 x C. The reciprocal value is therefore
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approxiamately 8.45 miles per second. At still less coil power, the speed
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diminishes in direct proportion to the fraction of threshold power applied to
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the coil. Operational maximums for ST:TNG hand phasers take their coils to
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about 1/3 of threshold velocity, so that the weapons full power effect moves
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at roughly 2.82 miles per second.
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One can vary the proportion of coil vs. initiating light energy levels
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only so far without overloading the hand phaser, causing burnout or even
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detonation. Thus to moderate the phaser effect down to stun levels, the beam
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in some models of hand phaser may travel as slowly as 200 or 300 feet per
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second. We've seen this effect quite clearly when Kirk once fired his phaser
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set for stun at the metabolically accelerated Deela of Scalos, who simply
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stepped out of the way. Hand phaser on stun is definitely a close quarters
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only weapon, where speed is not significant.
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Unlike sub-space "radio", which simply attenuates under an inverse square
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law, phaser beams have a much shorter range due their propensity to "decay"
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by losing their energy to the creation of visible spectrum photons all along
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their path of travel. This is what the observer sees, not the phaser beam
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itself. The actual phaser effect is one of micro-range random space/time
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fluctuations in the topological gradient of the space encountered, imparting
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warp impulses to the atoms encountered. The effect tends to spread and
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propagate thru solid matter, so that material objects are likely to
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distribute the effect throughout their particularly shaped volumes.
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At high power, the effect is so severe that all molecular bonds are
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snapped, and all of the particles are "impulsed" in random directions. What
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had been a solid object becomes an expanding cloud of particles moving fast
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enough to penetrate other solid matter to an enormous extent. A body so
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"disintegrated" on a ship would pass right thru the hull like a burst of
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gamma rays, but because the particles are traveling via impulse rather than
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momentum, their behavior apes that of neutrinos in that they do almost no
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damage to the matter they pass thru.
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Lower power simply streches the molecular bonds without breaking them,
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their rebounding motions translating into simple heat. In this manner, a
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hand phaser may be used to heat rocks for warmth, cook food, or even act as a
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very precise cutting torch. At the lowest useful power, the jolting of
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molecules is too slight to really impact inanimate matter, but does tend to
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produce neurological shock as large numbers of synapses have their firing
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threshold randomly raised or lowered. The vast number of additional versus
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inhibited synaptic firings causes a biological equivalent of "systems crash"
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leading to unconsciousness, as the nervous system becomes hopelessly confused
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and overloaded by spurious signals. As no actual tissue damage is sustained,
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the nervous system "reboots" itself eventually. Somewhat higher power can do
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permanent, even lethal damage to the nervous system however, and can cause a
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seizure-like muscular convulsion. This minimally lethal effect is not unlike
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electric shock.
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To residents of the 20th century, the transporter is perhaps a more
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incredible application of Cochrane's Unified Field Theory than superluminal
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travel, since the later affords no real Terrestrial gauge for appreciating
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the effect, whereas the wonder of instantaneously materializing elsewhere has
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been part and parcel of Earth's mythology/magic belief systems for millenia.
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Building on the ability of the "looped coil" to project gravitational
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fields, experimenters eventually learned to handle gravity waves in ways that
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parallel optical technology's capabilities with light waves. Ultimately,
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command of these techniques was sufficient to produce a gravitational wave
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"hologram" in which the system literally captured the continuum profile of an
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object down to the minutest detail of atomic constituents and molecular
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bondings in the intersection between its stationary "reference beam" and the
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rotating "scanning beam". Sophisticated split beam techiniques permitted the
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"projection" of a second "continuum profile image", which, depending on the
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operational limits of the equipment, could be located at an arbitrarily
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large distance and direction from the source. These experiments were
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originally conceived in pursuit of improved medical technology following the
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progression of X-rays, ultrasound, nuclear magnetic resonance, and positron
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emmision tomography, with the result enabling Dr. Crusher to obtain a clear
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view of the parasite creature embedded in Admiral Quinn during the
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"Conspiracy" period.
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The transporter breakthru grew out of experiments attempting to
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manipulate matter via alterations of the continuum profile associated
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with an object. If a continuum profile projection were maintained long
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enough, it began to fill itself in with atoms picked up from the
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environment. Eventually, it would recreate the original, though in the
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meantime, if sufficient power was used to intensify the projection, this
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profile construct could behave like the original, even appearing to be
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solid matter, as long it remained within range of the projection radius.
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At the same time, it was shown that changes in the profile of the
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original were reflected in the original object as well in the
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projection, establishing the real-time linkage between the two. Early
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attempts at matter manipulation were usually destructive, not until the
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early 24th century would the raw computer power be available for such
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things as the holodeck, where the projection could be based on computer
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simulations rather than real life / real time models, but in these
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pioneering efforts, the ability to project a profile back on its own
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source object, while maintaining an independent second projection
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elsewhere, was developed.
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Dr. Janet Hester of the Deneva Research Station first conceived the idea
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that if one reversed the "topological polarity" of the image projected back
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upon the source, in effect FLATTENING the impression it made in space/time,
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|
while simultaneously boosting the gravitational intensity, and thus the DEPTH
|
|
of the spatially projected image, one could create a situation in which the
|
|
probability of finding any given constituent of the source object at the
|
|
original location could be reduced to zero, even as the probability of
|
|
finding it at the projection's location went up to unity. Every component of
|
|
an object, its atoms, the chemical bonds between them, even the ongoing
|
|
molecular processes, would cascade back and forth between the twin loci of
|
|
probable locations, finally coming to rest at the one brought to unity. Of
|
|
all the marvels that have sprung from Zephram Cochrane's insights, none more
|
|
clearly demonstrate his success at unifying gravitational space/time
|
|
continuum phenomena with quantum mechanical probability functions.
|
|
It would take another four decades of dedicated experiment and study
|
|
before Science Officer Winston of the USS Moscow became the first human to
|
|
transport across to the USS Tehran. Still more work was required before the
|
|
ability of the tranporter to project a "virtual" yet functional copy of the
|
|
active components of the scanning and projection processes to envelope the
|
|
retrieval site would eliminate the need for physical hardware at both ends of
|
|
the transport linkage, and theb to learn to bend the projection around the
|
|
surfaces of planets using the natural gravitational field so that transport
|
|
could be free of line-of-sight restraints. The depth of dense planetary
|
|
matter the transporter can penetrate is still limited, but the often
|
|
life-saving speed and conveinience of transport in general has proved well
|
|
worth the time, cost, and often sacrifice it took to perfect.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Path: maverick.ksu.ksu.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!usc!cs.utexas.edu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!torsqnt!geac!contact!yung
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|
From: yung@contact.uucp
|
|
Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek
|
|
Subject: Treknology Rationalization (part 1 of 3)
|
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Message-ID: <1990Aug17.173012.2174@contact.uucp>
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Date: 17 Aug 90 17:30:12 GMT
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Reply-To: yung@contact.uucp ()
|
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Organization: Contact Public Unix BBS. Toronto, Canada.
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Lines: 401
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S T A R T R E K T E C H N O L O G Y
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|
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by Leon Myerson
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|
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COPYRIGHT 1988 by Leon Myerson - permission to download and reprint this
|
|
essay for free distribution within the ranks of Star Trek fandom is hereby
|
|
granted provided the author's name and this copyright notice are retained.
|
|
This essay may be periodically superceded by revised versions uploaded to
|
|
Data Library 2 of CompuServe's Science Fiction Forum.
|
|
|
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DISCLAIMER SECTION: None of the ideas expressed in this essay are
|
|
"official". All concepts put forth are solely my own opinions and
|
|
speculations, and as such, might be completely contradicted by "official"
|
|
Star Trek material issued in the future. I have drawn as much as possible
|
|
upon the filmed Star Trek episodes and features, and refer to such
|
|
"references" as the Franz Joseph blueprints and Technical Manual, and to the
|
|
"Spaceflight Chronology" book, when I have found it useful to do so. At
|
|
other times, I made it up. This material and any companion essays I may
|
|
upload, are for the sole purpose of having fan-fun with the Star Trek
|
|
universe. I have no connection whatsoever with ST:TNG or with Paramount, I
|
|
just like to speculate regarding futuristic science. -Leon.
|
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|
|
|
|
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|
Warp numbers do not directly refer to speed, but to power. Warp 1 is the
|
|
power level required to enter the warp continuum, and is known as Threshold
|
|
power. Warp 2 is twice that power level, etc. Fractional warp is simply
|
|
less than Threshold power while the ship, though traveling via warp field
|
|
effect, is still "in" the Einstein space-time continuum at sub-light speed.
|
|
The unit of power between whole warp factors for a given vessel is one
|
|
"Impulse", as in the ST:TNG episode "Conspiracy" when Geordi answers Riker's
|
|
command to increase from Warp 5 to Warp 6 by acknowledging the addition of
|
|
yet another full impulse to the power already coursing thru the warp
|
|
nacelles.
|
|
The formula relating the Warp number W to velocity in terms of C is not
|
|
the hopelessly inadequate V = W^3. In Trek Classic's very first episode the
|
|
Enterprise was seen at the edge of our galaxy. Even assuming this to be the
|
|
near edge reached by going perpendicular to the galactic plane, it is still
|
|
at least 1500 light years from Earth. At a cruising speed of Warp 6 = 216 C,
|
|
the ship would have spent at least 7 years getting out there, then 7 more
|
|
back.
|
|
Nor would that formula fit the size of the United Federation of Planets'
|
|
Treaty Exploration Zone mapped in the "StarFleet Technical Manual". This zone
|
|
was pictured as being approximately 12,000 light years in radius, with both
|
|
the Klingon and Romulan empires located at the rim some 60 degrees apart.
|
|
Clearly, Enterprise did not require an excess of 50 years to reach the neutral
|
|
zone.
|
|
In the ST:TNG episode "Conspiracy", Picard and Riker confront the parasite
|
|
mother creature in the guise of Lt. Cmdr. Remmick as he/it sends a beacon to
|
|
the parasite beings' homeworld via StarFleet's own CommNet. The 3-D map of
|
|
that network on the wall behind him fits almost perfectly the Treaty
|
|
Exploration Zone of the Trek Classic Era.
|
|
|
|
Instead of V = W^3, velocity is defined by the sum of an infinite series
|
|
known as the 3rd-order Cochrane function, which is applicable to Tertiary
|
|
warp effect fields such as are utilized by major Federation vessels from the
|
|
Tritium class onward. The first term of this series is the familiar W^3, the
|
|
second term is the integral of the first term, W^4/4, the third is the
|
|
integral of the second, W^5/20, and so on, ad infinitum. Each term is the
|
|
integral of the preceding term. Thus the common mistake so often made is to
|
|
quote only the first term of the series as if it were the entire function.
|
|
The behavior of this series is such that the terms rise in value at
|
|
first, then become increasingly smaller so as to converge on a definite
|
|
value. This may be calculated by the equivalent formula:
|
|
|
|
V = 6 * { e^W - [ (W^2)/2 + W + 1] }
|
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|
|
where V = velocity, W = Warp factor, and e = base for natural logs 2.71828..
|
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|
|
When calculated in this manner, this function gives the following values:
|
|
|
|
Generated Uncorrected
|
|
Power Warp Speed x C
|
|
|
|
1 1.31
|
|
2 14.33
|
|
3 69.51
|
|
4 249.59
|
|
5 779.48
|
|
6 2270.57
|
|
7 6384.80
|
|
8 17639.75
|
|
9 48315.50
|
|
10 131792.79
|
|
11 358809.85
|
|
12 976018.75
|
|
13 2653889.35
|
|
14 7214947.68
|
|
15 19613332.78
|
|
|
|
For starship designers, these numbers seemed too good to be true, and
|
|
indeed they were. From the earliest days of starship operations, warp
|
|
engines had always registered a small power loss as they were fed more than
|
|
Warp 1 power. Defined as the difference between Generated Power and
|
|
Delivered Power, this drain was ascribed to the faintly conceived notion of
|
|
"continuum drag". It was Delivered Power that determined actual velocity
|
|
according to the 3rd-order Cochrane function. As the phenomena was still too
|
|
poorly understood for mathematical description, progressive increases in
|
|
power generation capability had to be matched empirically with increases in
|
|
Delivered Power via actual flight testing, and the term Warp Factor continued
|
|
to refer to Generated Power.
|
|
The Dilithium breakthru made it possible to generate unprecedented
|
|
multiples of threshold power, and led to the Federation's investment in the
|
|
Constitution class vessels. Able to safely generate and sustain Warp 8
|
|
power, these ships found the drag/drain worsening rapidly at the higher
|
|
levels.
|
|
It was the USS Enterprise, under Christopher Pike, that first challenged
|
|
the "Warp Barrier". After three month's total overhaul at the Terran Orbital
|
|
Shipyards personally supervised at every stage by Montgomery Scott, the ship
|
|
went on speed runs pushing her anti-matter reactors as high as Warp 13 for a
|
|
few seconds at a time. The resulting measurements at last permitted Scott to
|
|
define the continuum drag equation:
|
|
|
|
tan(A)
|
|
CDF = G - ------------------------------------ + 10
|
|
(G-S) + (tan^2(A)+((G-S)^2)-1)^(1/2)
|
|
|
|
and thus
|
|
|
|
D = G - CDF
|
|
|
|
where D = Delivered Power; G = Generated Power; CDF = Continuum Drag
|
|
Factor; A = 5.1050881 radians; and S = 9.8658770244 (Scott's constant). The
|
|
corrected table of Warp speeds is therefore:
|
|
|
|
Generated Delivered Warp Speed
|
|
Power Power x C
|
|
|
|
1 1.00000 1.31
|
|
2 1.98354 13.91
|
|
3 2.96260 65.98
|
|
4 3.93509 230.94
|
|
5 4.89755 696.42
|
|
6 5.84370 1926.80
|
|
7 6.76140 4999.38
|
|
8 7.62571 12075.26
|
|
9 8.38615 26048.20
|
|
10 8.96633 46707.91
|
|
11 9.33067 67348.90
|
|
12 9.53548 82717.85
|
|
13 9.65322 93087.64
|
|
14 9.72615 100151.85
|
|
15 9.77477 105155.01
|
|
|
|
Old Warp New Warp
|
|
|
|
A graph of Scott's equation plotting Generated Power as X against
|
|
Delivered Power as Y, shows that at threshold power (Scott's equation and the
|
|
3rd-order Cochrane's function are not applicable below this point) X = Y = 1,
|
|
and the graph line proceeds at an almost 45 degree angle assuming equal
|
|
scales. (This graph is available as WARP10.RLE in DL2 for those with IBM PCs
|
|
or compatibles.)
|
|
But as Generated Power exceeds 8 times threshold level, Delivered Power
|
|
deviates ever more significantly and the graph curves sharply to the right.
|
|
The curve is half of a hyperbola, rotated by angle A, with the significant
|
|
asymptote line represented by the equation Y = 10, so that while the
|
|
Generated Power may go arbitrarily high, the Delivered Power will only
|
|
approach ever more closely but never equal 10. The speed value for Warp 10
|
|
from the uncorrected chart, 131792.39 times the speed of light, is the
|
|
theoretical limit of the Tertiary warp effect, and can only be approached,
|
|
never equaled or exceeded. This is also the velocity of such warp continuum
|
|
energy transmission phenomena as sub-space radio and the standard phaser
|
|
effect. (The complete hyperbola is graphed in WARP_X.RLE, also in DL2.)
|
|
By the time of ST:TNG, it had become standard practice to quote Warp
|
|
factors in terms of Delivered, rather than Generated, power. This explains
|
|
the apparent discrepancy between the eras. Overall Generated Power
|
|
capabilities are still crucial to military vessels, as even a few dozen extra
|
|
C's may mean the difference between success and failure when outrunning or
|
|
persuing an opponent. Here then is the standard warp factor scale used in the
|
|
24th century:
|
|
|
|
|
|
Delivered Generated Tertiary
|
|
Power Power Warp
|
|
|
|
1 1.0000000000 1.31
|
|
2 2.0167653720 14.33
|
|
3 3.0383208502 69.51
|
|
4 4.0670614879 249.59
|
|
5 5.1072983806 779.48
|
|
6 6.1676537197 2270.57
|
|
7 7.2682459514 6384.80
|
|
7.5 7.8487197368 10628.50
|
|
8 8.4694304149 17639.75
|
|
8.2 8.7364919027 21588.78
|
|
8.4 9.0203187626 26414.32
|
|
8.6 9.3280961537 32310.48
|
|
8.8 9.6717993420 39514.34
|
|
9 10.0729838055 48315.50
|
|
9.1 10.3071067812 53422.73
|
|
9.2 10.5747605008 59067.65
|
|
9.3 10.8903152831 65306.85
|
|
9.4 11.2777216596 72202.80
|
|
9.5 11.7800905867 79824.61
|
|
9.6 12.4836439773 88248.61
|
|
9.7 13.5895662949 97559.17
|
|
9.8 15.7014109302 107849.55
|
|
9.9 21.8369448362 119222.79
|
|
10 INFINITE 131792.79
|
|
|
|
New Warp Old Warp Velocity x C
|
|
|
|
To calculate the Generated Power corresponding to a given Delivered
|
|
Power level, use the formula:
|
|
|
|
((D-10)^2*(tan(A)^2-1)-tan(A)^2
|
|
G = S - ---------------------------------
|
|
2*(D-10)*tan(A))
|
|
|
|
|
|
An interesting aspect of the 3rd-order Cochrane function is that Warp 1
|
|
is not C but 1.31 x C. Taking the reciprocal of this number, 0.763, gives
|
|
what is known as threshold velocity. Under fractional warp power, a starship
|
|
"accelerates" as the power is steadily increased. At Warp .99999 etc., the
|
|
ship is traveling at 0.763 x C. Transition occurs, an explosive event
|
|
accompanied by the hauntingly beautiful phenomena known as the Chromatic
|
|
Detonation, the optical analog of a sonic boom. In the next micro-instant,
|
|
the ship is on "the other side", traveling through the warp continuum at 1.31
|
|
x C. The ship is never observed at speeds 0.763 < V < 1.31 under normal
|
|
conditions.
|
|
It should be noted however, that the boundary layer of the warp field
|
|
effect creates an envelope of 4 dimensional Einsteinian space-time within
|
|
which the ship travels. Therefore, all the familiar physical laws of the
|
|
"ordinary" continuum still apply within the envelope. From the outside, it
|
|
appears as though a space-time anomaly were manifested sequentially along a
|
|
linear path. Fleeting, multiple images of the vessel in the center of the
|
|
anomaly are created at widely spaced intervals which grow more distant at
|
|
higher warp factors. Light coming from within the envelope gathers at the
|
|
boundary layer until it reaches optical crossover threshold, at which point
|
|
it "pulses" through, thus re-entering normal space-time to project the image
|
|
of the ship. This effect was nicely filmed for the climactic scene in
|
|
ST:TSFS when we see the Enterprise fleeing the detonation of the Genesis
|
|
Device.
|
|
External light enters the envelope via complex optical interaction with
|
|
the warp field boundary layer. The micro-instant lost for photons in front
|
|
of the ship's path to cross the boundary layer causes them to appear to
|
|
originate from directions shifted away from the line of motion in favor of
|
|
apparent origins perpendicular to the direction of travel. While an optical
|
|
blind spot exists directly behind the ship along the direction of motion, due
|
|
to the superluminal velocity involved, the tear-drop shape of the overall
|
|
warp field minimizes the area so blanked out to a vanishingly small region.
|
|
The overall effect is curiously symmetrical to that observed by vessels
|
|
approaching light speed in normal space-time. Such a vessel would see its
|
|
3-dimensional field of view collapsed into twin circles of light in front of
|
|
and behind the ship, with a band of darkness around its mid-section. A
|
|
vessel in the warp field traveling at superluminal velocities experiences a
|
|
tunnel-like effect in which the dark region consists of circles in front of
|
|
and behind the vessel, and its view of the universe is projected onto a
|
|
cylindrical tube which the ship appears to travel through.
|
|
Of course, the ship's computers correct for this effect to present an
|
|
intuitively "normal" view upon the bridge and other viewscreens. Windows
|
|
facing port or starboard reveal a relatively normal view without
|
|
sophisticated correction, others have internal holographic layers which serve
|
|
as the functional equivalents of corrective lenses to keep the view at least
|
|
intelligible, if not exactly accurate.
|
|
Sometimes a foreign body, such as small pieces of asteroidal rock or
|
|
chunks of cometary ice are pulled into the forming continuum envelope as a
|
|
starship achieves transition. Usually this is a harmless occurence, unless
|
|
the "dragger" is massive enough to damage the hull if it should collide with
|
|
the vessel. If so, the ship will usually power down below threshold to
|
|
release the object, otherwise it can remain within the influence of the warp
|
|
field effect and go along for the ride to the starship's scheduled
|
|
destination. An unusually extreme instance of this effect occurs in ST:TMP
|
|
when the old Enterprise, bucking wildly from her imbalanced engines, pulled a
|
|
whole asteroid into the warp envelope formed around herself, and was forced
|
|
to pulverize it with a photon torpedo.
|
|
Old space junk from various inhabited systems often gets distributed
|
|
about the galaxy in this fashion, centuries in orbit about their star of
|
|
origin affording plenty of time for a chance encounter with a transitioning
|
|
starship. Some of places identifiable objects ultimately turn up can be
|
|
downright humorous. Items too small to possibly damage a vessel thru its
|
|
deflector shield are usually ignored, especially when they have no possible
|
|
salvage value.
|
|
An example would be the cryonics satellite found just prior to the
|
|
NCC-1701-D's recent visit to the Neutral Zone which originally WAS orbiting
|
|
Sol, minding its own business for centuries. People in the future tend to
|
|
leave space junk that old alone, the objects most popular as tourist sights
|
|
actually being protected with "landmark" status. A sleeper ship such as
|
|
Khan's would certainly have been detected, but the cryonauts registered NO
|
|
life signs at all, so no one ever knew what was in this craft. Eventually, a
|
|
starship pulled it into its envelope and carried it thousands of light years
|
|
out to the vicinity of the starbase Enterprise was visiting for Captain
|
|
Picard's conference with StarFleet authorities regarding the apparent loss of
|
|
stations near the Neutral Zone.
|
|
This is also now considered the most probable explanation for the early
|
|
1990's Voyager 6 probe having reached a black hole capable of sending it to
|
|
the "machine" planet, as various research ships have made many voyages
|
|
directly from the Sol system to known black holes since warp drive was first
|
|
employed. Its return to the Sol system as "V'ger" prompted some talk
|
|
off a system wide clean up of old hardware, but nothing ever came of it.
|
|
|
|
The relativistic time dilation experienced at Tertiary threshold
|
|
velocity is such that time passes at 64.6% per cent, or roughly 2/3's,
|
|
the "normal" rate of objects "at rest". This time dilation factor goes
|
|
along with the ship as the warp effect envelope separates from normal
|
|
space/time in crossing over the threshold, and remains stable
|
|
thereafter, so that all the time spent under way at superluminal
|
|
velocities is discounted by 1/3 for those on the vessel vs. those
|
|
staying behind. The effect is rather conveinient for starship crews, as
|
|
it effectively cuts by 1/3 the travel time between stop-overs, and since
|
|
all Tertiary warp vessels experience it, there is no disadvantage in
|
|
reaction time against opponents.
|
|
There are social aspects to the cumulative effect of a lifetime career
|
|
devoted to star travel, in that one's age starts falling behind that of
|
|
friends, family, and above all spouse's left behind. In the 2nd, 3rd, and
|
|
4th feature films, we see James Kirk wearing four bars and three dots on his
|
|
sleeve, indicating 23 years service in StarFleet. Yet his birthday
|
|
depression in ST:TWOK and the presence of the fully grown David Marcus all
|
|
point towards a 50th birthday. Assuming Kirk graduated the Academy at the
|
|
normal age of 22, adding 23 years leaves a 5 year gap. The gap is simply the
|
|
cumulative effect of the time he's spent cruising at warp speed. For married
|
|
personnel, this "age gaping" becomes a serious problem over a lifetime, and
|
|
was a major factor in StarFleet's decision to allow families to go along on
|
|
its latest vessels of the ST:TNG era.
|
|
A very important aspect of this effect derives from the behavior of the
|
|
threshold cross-over phenomena in the presence of intense gravitational
|
|
fields, such as would be found near stellar bodies. The intense warping of
|
|
space/time already imposed upon the region of the continuum nearest the star
|
|
causes it to become more tolerant of extreme profile skewing than normal
|
|
space. As a nearby ship accelerates, the threshold velocity is reached, but
|
|
cross-over does not occur, one has to increase the degree of skew with still
|
|
more power. This means going nearer to lightspeed while still in the normal
|
|
continuum, thus the time dilation factor increases. Since the time dilation
|
|
at cross-over remains in effect throughout the period spent in the warp
|
|
continuum's sub-space, it is possible to retard one's own rate of time
|
|
passage to an arbitrarily high degree to assist in making extremely long
|
|
voyages.
|
|
Some of the early Federation exploration ships, such as the famous USS
|
|
Horizon, used this sort of maneuver on occasion, but more often avoided it
|
|
due to the detrimental effect upon shipboard reaction time it causes.
|
|
Merchant vessels sometimes tried it, but the extreme danger of maneuvering so
|
|
close to a star led first to uninsurability and finally to outright
|
|
regulatory prohibitions against the practice. Ships full of colonists almost
|
|
always housed them in sleeper chambers, an old and proven technology dating
|
|
as far back as the late 20th century, leaving only the crew awake.
|
|
One of the greatest scientific discoveries made by the original
|
|
NCC-1701 Enterprise was that if a ship went EXTREMELY close to an object
|
|
of stellar mass while in the normal continuum, then poured on maximum
|
|
power to force its way to threshold before putting significant distance
|
|
between itself and the gravity field of the celestial body in question,
|
|
then the effective threshold velocity could actually be slightly above
|
|
lightspeed, and the associated time dilation not only extremely large
|
|
but NEGATIVE. This is the essence of time travel under what has become
|
|
known as the breakaway maneuver.
|
|
The class of phenomena known as "time travel" are extremely complex
|
|
and remain poorly understood. Most recorded incidents have involved
|
|
multiple effects which, in the absence of a fully developed theory of
|
|
time, are often difficult to untangle for separate description and
|
|
analysis. The Enterprise's unintentional journey to the Terra of the
|
|
late 1960's began with an accidental encounter with an uncharted black
|
|
hole. The unusual properties of this particular hole had attracted
|
|
their attention, resulting in the Enterprise making a low warp speed
|
|
sensor pass. The anomalous readings prevented them from realizing the
|
|
nature of this object until it was too late. The hole's intense
|
|
distortion of the continuum pulled the Enterprise out of warp, where the
|
|
ship was in iminent danger of being sucked into the hole itself.
|
|
On Kirk's orders, Sulu applied full emergency power in a desperate
|
|
attempt to fight their way back to threshold so as to to re-enter the
|
|
warp continuum, but even as the mighty starship trembled under the
|
|
effort, the threshold power level was moving higher and higher as they
|
|
neared the event horizon. With seconds left before the end, Mr. Scott
|
|
in engineering surmised the nature of their situation. Knowing the ship
|
|
could never make the rising tertiary warp threshold in time, he engaged
|
|
the emergency circuit breakers to take the tertiary booster coils
|
|
offline, and diverted 100% of the reactor output into what was now a
|
|
lower threshold secondary warp field system. The collapse of the
|
|
tertiary field into a secondary one "collided" with the rapidly growing
|
|
overall power level, kicking the ship into the warp continuum with such
|
|
explosive force that she briefly left sub-space itself on a kind of
|
|
"ballistic arc" OVER rather than thru the warp-space she would normally
|
|
traverse.
|
|
It would take Spock many weeks of theoretical study and analysis
|
|
before he would devise a tentative explanation for their seemingly
|
|
miraculous appearance within the Terran atmosphere. Ultimately, his
|
|
explanation for their movement thru space as well as time rested upon
|
|
two major points.
|
|
First, time travel does not permit violation of the conservation of
|
|
mass law. One cannot simply send 200,000 metric tons of starship back
|
|
in time to coexist with an "earlier" copy of the same 200,000 tons of
|
|
matter without in some way compensating for the effect such functional
|
|
duplication of mass will have on the overall gravitational process of
|
|
the cosmos.
|
|
Second, in this particular incident the mode of compensation took
|
|
the form of an exchange or displacement of the 20th century matter that
|
|
would one day be the Enterprise and her crew, this material swapping out
|
|
of the normal plane of existance to reside in the hyper-continuum the
|
|
ship had traversed to reach its destination. Therefore, in a manner
|
|
related to the phenomena of "symmetry breaking", the cosmos "selected"
|
|
as the ship's re-entry point a location determined by the whereabouts at
|
|
that time of the raw materials which would one day be the Enterprise and
|
|
her crew.
|
|
As most of this material would be found on Terra in the 1960's, that
|
|
is where the ship materialized. Fortunately, not quite all of the
|
|
material constituting the Enterprise was of Terrestrial origin, or the
|
|
ship would appeared at the center of the Earth instead of 5 miles above
|
|
its surface. That it wasn't 5 miles below the surface instead was
|
|
simply good luck as to the total net effect of the mass-origin location
|
|
factors. When the Enterprise returned to its proper place in time, the
|
|
older version of her material constituents resumed their proper place in
|
|
the continuum as well.
|
|
|
|
Path: maverick.ksu.ksu.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!usc!cs.utexas.edu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!torsqnt!geac!contact!yung
|
|
From: yung@contact.uucp
|
|
Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek
|
|
Subject: Treknology Rationalization (part 3 of 3)
|
|
Message-ID: <1990Aug17.173205.2372@contact.uucp>
|
|
Date: 17 Aug 90 17:32:05 GMT
|
|
Reply-To: yung@contact.uucp ()
|
|
Organization: Contact Public Unix BBS. Toronto, Canada.
|
|
Lines: 212
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
This is the last part of this lengthy article. Unfortunately, the
|
|
end of the file was cut off by my editor mainly because of its
|
|
inability to handle such a enormously big file. However, the missing
|
|
part consists of only a few lines of numbers and therefore should
|
|
not interfere with your viewing enjoyment.
|
|
---Amos Yung---
|
|
|
|
*****************************************************************************
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|
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|
|
The Secondary Warp field effect was originally achieved by winding a
|
|
second-stage "booster" coil around a specially designed Primary coil. The
|
|
early versions of this system would energize the Primary coil first to
|
|
navigate at low percentages of threshold power. Once clear of stellar and
|
|
planetary gravitational fields, they would engage the booster coil
|
|
reconfiguring their warp field into the 2nd order type. When this was
|
|
accomplished, power would be steadily increased until the threshold level was
|
|
attained and transition to the warp continuum occured. The Primary and the
|
|
booster together constitute the Secondary coil. Should the booster fail
|
|
under operational stress, a fairly common occurence in the early days, the
|
|
Primary alone could be used and could operate above its threshold level to
|
|
take the ship to superluminal velocities.
|
|
While later vessels retained the above system layout, experience proved
|
|
it far more efficient to energize the whole Secondary coil system as a single
|
|
circuit, and to navigate at very low power and speeds with an independent
|
|
miniature Primary system. This became known as the Impulse Drive. As it was
|
|
intended only for low speed operations, this system would not normally be
|
|
capable of handling the power load it would require to bring the vessel past
|
|
the threshold point. However, engineers took advantage of this dual
|
|
propulsion system to split the vessel itself, letting each major sub-division
|
|
of the hull house one of the systems. It became customary to place the major
|
|
living quarters in the hull with the smaller Impulse Drive, both to better
|
|
shield the crew from the higher radiation levels the more powerful Secondary
|
|
system created, and also with the idea of better accomodating the entire crew
|
|
should "coil burnout" force the abandonment of the other hull.
|
|
The terminology of vessel design adopted the convention of referring to
|
|
the hull housing the Secondary coil system as the Secondary Hull, and
|
|
the other housing the Primary coil only Impulse Drive as the Primary Hull.
|
|
Tertiary drive systems simply wound yet another type of booster coil around
|
|
the Primary and Secondary stages nested inside it, but as there were still
|
|
only two drive systems and two main hull sections, the one with the large
|
|
engine system continued to be called the Secondary Hull.
|
|
In the event of separation, the Primary Hull's Impulse Drive, freed of
|
|
the weight of the entire Secondary Hull and the even more massive main drive
|
|
engine nacelles, is usually large enough for superluminal propulsion. This
|
|
has been shown quite clearly in ST:TNG during the initial encounter with Q,
|
|
when the Primary Hull found its way to Farpoint after the entire ship spent
|
|
some 10 minutes pushing itself to its operational limits while going in
|
|
exactly the opposite direction. It is equally well implied by Geordi's
|
|
instructions to Engineer Logan to take the Primary Hull to a Starbase if
|
|
unable to re-establish contact with him after performing the saucer-sep
|
|
manuevar in the "Arsenal of Freedom" incident.
|
|
The first three orders of warp field phenomena correspond to the first
|
|
three "generations" of warp drive technology in the "Spaceflight Chronology".
|
|
Logically, a "Fourth generation" designation should have waited for the
|
|
developement of Quarternary warp, the sum of X^4 + (X^5)/5 + (X^6)/30 etc.,
|
|
equivalent formula 24*((e^W)-((W^3)/6 + (W^2)/12 + W + 1)), but the impact of
|
|
Dilithium on power generation, and thus overall performance, was so great
|
|
that the "Fourth generation" label took hold for the Constitution class. All
|
|
orders of warp field phenomena remain subject to the Warp 10 limit on
|
|
Delivered Power, but higher order warps produce greater velocity for the same
|
|
Delivered Power than lower orders. (See Appendix for tables of Primary,
|
|
Secondary, and Quartenary Warp Factor Equivalent Velocities).
|
|
The term "Fifth generation" is usually applied to the abortive attempt to
|
|
harness "Trans-Warp", a misbegotten application of the Interphase phenomena
|
|
first observed by the Enterprise NCC-1701 during the "Tholian Web" incident.
|
|
The abandonment of this dangerous system was made doubly disappointing by the
|
|
continued failure of Federation science to perfect a workable Quartenary warp
|
|
drive. The seemingly insurmountable difficulties encountered in the early
|
|
attempts at Quarternary drive design were the prime reason for the costly
|
|
"Trans-Warp" interlude.
|
|
However, in the intervening decades advanced theoretical studies have led
|
|
to vastly simpler, more reliable Tertiary drives which can be pushed, and
|
|
above all held, far closer to the Warp 10 limit of Delivered Power than the
|
|
original design multi-stage units. These single stage "integrated" units
|
|
were first used in ship's of the NCC-1701-C's Ambassador class, and marked
|
|
the arrival of warp technology's "Sixth generation". A highly refined and
|
|
advanced version of this type of drive serves as the main propulsion for
|
|
"Galaxy" class starships such as Enterprise NCC-1701-D. Gone are the
|
|
inefficientcies of the nested, three coil approach, advances in Impulsor
|
|
Calculus theory and supercomputer simulation techniques having found a single
|
|
coil equivalent.
|
|
As the early efforts at Quarternary warp floundered on the complexities
|
|
of a four level multi-stage approach, the success of the single stage
|
|
"integrated" approach for Tertiary warp has scientists of ST:TNG's era once
|
|
more confident of eventual success, and aggressively paced research programs
|
|
are again under way in the race for the Quartenary drive. It should be noted
|
|
that the extra heavy warp nacelle mountings and overall structural strength
|
|
rating of the Galaxy class design should easily permit retrofitting of
|
|
Quarternary Warp engines when they become available.
|
|
Montgomery Scott correctly predicted the crippling deficientcies of the
|
|
Trans-Warp system, but was unable to dissuade StarFleet from investing in it.
|
|
Rightly convinced that Quartenary warp would have to await improvements in
|
|
warp theory permitting "integrated" designs, he attempted to convince
|
|
StarFleet to allow him to challenge the Warp 10 Barrier itself. Alas, Scott
|
|
was never able to secure StarFleet backing for his proposal, and only a
|
|
handful of ST:TNG era technical persons who've studied his original notes
|
|
even know what he had in mind.
|
|
Realizing that the "SuperWarp" scheme was far too radical for his era,
|
|
Scott dedicated his leisure time engineering studies to the design of the
|
|
ship he felt StarFleet should build in place of more "Excelsior" class
|
|
vessels. Yet this project also offered too many radical advances, as Scott
|
|
was allowing for upgrades to integrated Tertiary or even Quartenary main
|
|
drives in his huge dreamship. But while the Galaxy class would ultimately be
|
|
larger and incorporate advances beyond his wildest imaginings, even a cursory
|
|
glance at Scott's old plans and drawings reveals the striking similarities
|
|
that mark the true lineage of these greatest of all StarShips. NCC-1701-D's
|
|
operational status is the way Scott would most have wanted StarFleet
|
|
Engineering to acknowledge its continuing debt to its greatest practitioner.
|
|
As for the mechanics of SuperWarp, the mathematically inclined are invited
|
|
to contemplate the significance of the other half of the hyperbola relating
|
|
Generated to Delivered power, which most Federation scientists dismiss as a
|
|
mere geometric curiousity. Of course, scientists once thought that C itself
|
|
represented an impassable barrier, yet as Spock would say, "There are always
|
|
possibilities".
|
|
Without giving too much away, I can offer the following clue, that the
|
|
Constitution class USS Enterprise NCC-1701 under James Kirk, once broke
|
|
through the Warp Barrier by accident, the result of her Captain's famous
|
|
propensity for taking desperate gambles in otherwise hopeless situations.
|
|
Students of warp physics correctly identifying the occassion are eligible to
|
|
win a scholarship to StarFleet academy, which, alas, may not be used until the
|
|
23rd century.
|
|
|
|
-Leon Myerson; 72157,3432; 6/23/88
|
|
|
|
|
|
APPENDIX 1 - PRIMARY WARP
|
|
|
|
|
|
Generated Delivered Primary
|
|
Power Power Warp x C
|
|
|
|
1 1.00000 1.72
|
|
2 1.98354 6.27
|
|
3 2.96260 18.35
|
|
4 3.93509 50.17
|
|
5 4.89755 132.96
|
|
6 5.84370 344.05
|
|
7 6.76140 862.85
|
|
8 7.62571 2049.24
|
|
9 8.38615 4384.92
|
|
10 8.96633 7833.82
|
|
|
|
|
|
Theoretical Limit = 22025.47 x C
|
|
|
|
Threshold Velocity = 0.5814 x C
|
|
|
|
Time Dilation at threshold = 0.813205
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
APPENDIX 2 - SECONDARY WARP
|
|
|
|
|
|
Generated Delivered Secondary
|
|
Power Power Warp x C
|
|
|
|
1 1.00000 1.44
|
|
2 1.98354 8.57
|
|
3 2.96260 30.77
|
|
4 3.93509 92.46
|
|
5 4.89755 256.13
|
|
6 5.84370 676.42
|
|
7 6.76140 1712.18
|
|
8 7.62571 4083.24
|
|
9 8.38615 8753.06
|
|
10 8.96633 15649.70
|
|
|
|
|
|
Theoretical Limit = 44030.93 x C
|
|
|
|
Threshold Velocity = 0.6944 x C
|
|
|
|
Time Dilation at threshold = 0.717939
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
APPENDIX 3 - QUARTERNARY WARP
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Delivered Generated Quarternary
|
|
Power Power Warp
|
|
|
|
1 1.0000000000 1.24
|
|
2 2.0167653720 25.34
|
|
3 3.0383208502 170.05
|
|
4 4.0670614879 742.36
|
|
5 5.1072983806 2617.92
|
|
6 6.1676537197 8218.29
|
|
7 7.2682459514 24167.20
|
|
7.5 7.8487197368 40826.52
|
|
8 8.4694304149 68510.99
|
|
8.2 8.7364919027 84149.66
|
|
8.4 9.0203187626 103286.47
|
|
8.6 9.3280961537 126697.69
|
|
8.8 9.6717993420 155331.49
|
|
9 10.0729838055 190346.01
|
|
9.1 10.3071067812 210676.62
|
|
9.2 10.5747605008 233155.87
|
|
9.3 10.8903152831 258009.95
|
|
9.4 11.2777216596 285488.88
|
|
9.5 11.7800905867 315868.94
|
|
9.6 12.4836439773 349455.49
|
|
9.7 13.5895662949 386586.00
|
|
9.8 15.7014109302 427633.43
|
|
9.9 21.8369448362
|
|
|