ugzannin@sunybcs.UUCP (Adrian Zannin) (04/17/85)
I have never understood something (maybe I'm just ignorant!) and I would like it if someone could explain it to me... On many episodes,(one example is 'Day of the Dove'), the ship is out of control and racing through space at warp factor > 10. And of course Scotty cuts in with the usual 'The ship canae take the stress no more. She'll break apart!' My question: Even if the ship is traveling faster that it is supposed to, what causes the stress? After all, there is no air out in space to create a drag effect... Live long and try to prosper (It's getting harder every day!).
ph@wudma.UUCP (04/18/85)
> On many episodes,(one example is 'Day of the Dove'), the ship is > out of control and racing through space at warp factor > 10. And of > course Scotty cuts in with the usual 'The ship canae take the stress no > more. She'll break apart!' My question: Even if the ship is traveling > faster that it is supposed to, what causes the stress? After all, there > is no air out in space to create a drag effect... I suppose one might argue that the engines are exerting more thrust than the support members were designed to take, but this seems more appropriate to our present-day primitive "impulse drives"--in any case case warps seem to be velocities, not accelerations (and velocities relative to what, anyway?). I rather prefer the idea that the extreme warping of space created by the operation of the engines at such levels puts stress on the ship. Either that, or simply that the engines can't handle the energies begin fed to them and are about to burn out/melt down/explode/whatever--remember that those matter-antimatter generators really put out impressive amounts of energy. --pH /* * "Pardon me for breathing, which I don't do anyway so I don't * know why I bother apologising for it, oh GOD I'm so depressed." */
canopus@amdahl.UUCP (Frank Dibbell) (04/18/85)
From: 1513@sunybcs.UUCP > I have never understood something (maybe I'm just ignorant!) and I > would like it if someone could explain it to me... > On many episodes,(one example is 'Day of the Dove'), the ship is > out of control and racing through space at warp factor > 10. And of > course Scotty cuts in with the usual 'The ship canae take the stress no > more. She'll break apart!' My question: Even if the ship is traveling > faster that it is supposed to, what causes the stress? After all, there > is no air out in space to create a drag effect... Perhaps at super-light speeds, photon drag becomes a noticeable problem? -- Frank Dibbell (408-746-6493) {whatever}!amdahl!canopus [R.A. 6h 22m 30s Dec. -52d 36m] [Generic disclaimer.....]
ron@wjvax.UUCP (Ron Christian) (04/19/85)
>From: 1513@sunybcs.UUCP >> On many episodes,(one example is 'Day of the Dove'), the ship is >> out of control and racing through space at warp factor > 10. And of >> course Scotty cuts in with the usual 'The ship canae take the stress no >> more. She'll break apart!' My question: Even if the ship is traveling >> faster that it is supposed to, what causes the stress? After all, there >> is no air out in space to create a drag effect... > >Perhaps at super-light speeds, photon drag becomes a noticeable >problem? >Frank Dibbell (408-746-6493) {whatever}!amdahl!canopus What about intersteller hydrogen? At about 1 atom per cubic foot (I don't remember where I read that) hydrogen would probably represent considerable friction at trans-light speeds. Assuming, of course, that ordinary matter would affect something in 'warp'. Perhaps the hydrogen atoms are accelerated to trans-light speeds as they come in contact with the warp envelope? Perhaps I don't know what the hell I'm talking about? Wait a minute, that *does* make a little sense. Remember ST-TMP during the wormhole sequence where a bit of rock was sucked into the warp field and was carried along merrily at trans-light. Hmmm. Another possible cause of stress: Internal. There must be tremendous energies kept in precarious balance internal to a starship in warp. Perhaps your top speed is dictated by how well one can keep those forces in balance. Which would perhaps explain how alians with more advanced technology could 'tune' the Enterprise's engines to allow much higher warp numbers. (I forget the specific episode where this occured.) -- -- Ron Christian (Watkins-Johnson Co. San Jose, Calif.) {pesnta,twg,ios,qubix,turtlevax,tymix,vecpyr,isi,idx}!wjvax!ron "What do you mean you backed it up the wrong direction???"
kstern@aecom.UUCP (Ken Stern) (05/02/85)
> > I have never understood something (maybe I'm just ignorant!) and I > would like it if someone could explain it to me... > On many episodes,(one example is 'Day of the Dove'), the ship is > out of control and racing through space at warp factor > 10. And of > course Scotty cuts in with the usual 'The ship canae take the stress no > more. She'll break apart!' My question: Even if the ship is traveling > faster that it is supposed to, what causes the stress? After all, there > is no air out in space to create a drag effect... > > > Live long and try to prosper (It's getting harder every day!). *** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR MESSAGE *** There is no inconsistency the stress is on the engines. The reason the that Scotty says - she'll rip(blow,tear,etc.) apart - is simple.The engines put out a lot of power. They are not made to put out to much power though since they will start wearing down, via the stress, and the ship will be blown apart when the matter/antimatter meet. I don't remember which episode that explanation was on but it was there.
zubbie@ihlpa.UUCP (Jeanette Zobjeck) (05/10/85)
> > > > I have never understood something (maybe I'm just ignorant!) and I > > would like it if someone could explain it to me... > > On many episodes,(one example is 'Day of the Dove'), the ship is > > out of control and racing through space at warp factor > 10. And of > > course Scotty cuts in with the usual 'The ship canae take the stress no > > more. She'll break apart!' My question: Even if the ship is traveling > > faster that it is supposed to, what causes the stress? After all, there > > is no air out in space to create a drag effect... > > > > > > Live long and try to prosper (It's getting harder every day!). > > *** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR MESSAGE *** > > > There is no inconsistency the stress is on the engines. The reason the > that > Scotty says - she'll rip(blow,tear,etc.) apart - is simple.The engines > put out a lot of power. They are not made to put out to much power though > since they will start wearing down, via the stress, and the ship will be > blown apart when the matter/antimatter meet. I don't remember which > episode that explanation was on but it was there. While space might be a vacume it is far from an empty place at at translight speeds the friction and drag caused by the tenous grains of space matter would have a definite effect on the integrity of the ship. under normal conditions the deflector screens or some such device could act to push this material out of the way but all mechanisms have some upper limit. While the discussions in this group haev failed to resolve the actual multiplier for e which warp factor 10 represents even 10*e would be more than a significant velocity. jeanette zobjeck ihnp4!ihlpa!zubbie