Vertical Warp Core?

Discussion in 'Trek Tech' started by Vanyel, Dec 18, 2012.

  1. Timo

    Timo Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Then again, if you need antimatter to load your torpedoes, then placing this application right next to all the other antimatter-consuming ones to create a "citadel" where you center all your armor and shielding is probably the way to go. Distributing these kaboom-prone systems all over your ships just means your ship will go kaboom all over!

    Indeed, the neck would be smack in the middle of a bubble-type shield, and shadowed from enemy fire by both the major hulls even in purely physical (or skintight shielding) terms... Arguably the best protected part of the vessel overall.

    We never learned if this backstage speculation held true in the "real" Star Trek universe. In ENT, the similar-looking blue glowing thing is said to manipulate the warp field somehow, in comparable offscreen doubletalk by the creators of the design.

    Perhaps both are true, and any energies pumped into this crystal will be used for adjusting the main warp field in such a way that it makes inertia do the crew's bidding? From the DS9 pilot we (canonically, for a change!) learn that manipulation of subspace fields is indeed important in facilitating sublight propulsion; perhaps starships with these blue crystal things manipulate their warp fields in order to adjust their inertial mass?

    Does the fact that Khan's ship has two of these things and Kirk's just one contribute to Spock's assertion that Khan can outmaneuver Kirk?

    Another thing to consider: Andy Probert placed Main Engineering in TMP directly below this crystal, allowing the vertical "core" (or whatever) to point straight at it. But the set was then boosted by a forced-perspective matte painting showing a long corridor towards the bow from Main Engineering, meaning the facility "actually" has to be farther back. Nothing wrong with that as such - but it means the upper part of the vertical "core" must either twist or terminate just a deck or two above Main Engineering. Perhaps it runs along the spine of the connecting neck and eventually reaches the crystal... Or perhaps it just hits a fuel tank inside the neck, like in the TNG design?

    Timo Saloniemi
     
  2. blssdwlf

    blssdwlf Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Two cylindrical crystal deflectors?
     
  3. Timo

    Timo Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Well, two domed blue things - there's the big one inside the octagon atop, but also a corresponding one inside a circle at the bottom. If those relate to impulse propulsion, then Khan could have an agility advantage right there.

    Whether the cylinders on the roll bar have anything to do with the matter, I don't know. They do look a little bit like the front end of Kirk's TOS ship, with concentric cylinder surfaces around the central spire thing, but without the paraboloid dish.

    Timo Saloniemi
     
  4. Crazy Eddie

    Crazy Eddie Vice Admiral Admiral

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    The lower feature is slightly further aft than the one above, which would indicate a slanted intermix chamber. Also, there doesn't seem to be an actual dome present in that feature, just a very small running light that blinks intermittently.
     
  5. blssdwlf

    blssdwlf Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Upon looking at the Reliant again, the lower cylinder is further forward than the one on top. The one on top is directly over the impulse engines which hang off of the main body. The lower cylinder does lack a dome. Perhaps it is the bottom of the reactor shaft?
     
  6. Timo

    Timo Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Only assuming that the domes have anything to do with intermix chambers. A slanted chamber would be required in the Enterprise as well, if such a connection existed.

    The bottom feature does not have a protruding central dome, but the sunken structure has a design quite similar to the top dome:

    http://www.fightingstarships.info/files/2012/04/Reliant-Aft-Phasers.jpg

    Similarly, the Constellation class features two lateral domes, but neither is distinctively painted let alone lit: these Enterprise kit components are simply painted over. Yet their role may well be interpreted to be similar to that of the identical component seen lit on the Enterprise

    Timo Saloniemi
     
  7. blssdwlf

    blssdwlf Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I figure on the Constellation, the inclusion of the domes goes with the close proximity to the impulse engines. The Reliant's bottom piece has a missing dome, but would correspond to the bottom of the intermix chamber...
     
  8. Robert Comsol

    Robert Comsol Commodore Commodore

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    Here's Andrew Probert's descripction of the impulse deflection crystal:

    "In order to power the impulse engine while the Enterprise was operating as a single unit, the thinking was that we would channel energy from the main reactor, if you will, up into the crystal, which would deflect that energy into the impulse engine units. So it was literally that -- a crystal that would deflect power into the impulse system. I didn't have much of a handle on how the ship would be powered at that time, which didn't really come into fruition until Rick Sternbach helped me sort that all out on Next Gen." http://www.trekplace.com/ap2005int01.html

    What Andrew Probert described, sounds a lot like an antimatter rocket where the heat from the matter-antimatter annihilation is channeled to the crystal which then heats up the impulse fuel and results in an impressive particle thrust.

    Alternately you could get similar results from a fusion rocket, where - in essence - the engine nozzle is like a valve of a fusion reactor, releasing the hot ion plasma to achieve particle thrust.

    Apparently, the dilithium crystals transform the matter-annihilation products into some kind of exotic energy or radiation that can be used to power the warp engines. It seems there's still not that much more speculation as to how the dilithium crystals could actually work.

    Of course there's one blatant error I'd like to see fixed ASAP: Spock recrystalizing dilithium by exposing it to gamma radiation. :rofl:

    Gamma radiation is the biggest product of matter-antimatter annihilation... :devil:

    Bob
     
    Last edited: Jan 15, 2013
  9. SicOne

    SicOne Commodore Commodore

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  10. Manticore

    Manticore Manticore, A moment ago Account Deleted

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    Copy-paste the link into your browser.
     
  11. blssdwlf

    blssdwlf Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Hi SicOne,

    That's my site. I currently use it to house any images that I link to from either TrekBBS or other sites that I post to. One of these days I'll open up all the images in a captioned gallery or project site :)

    Cheers,
    Peter
     
  12. SicOne

    SicOne Commodore Commodore

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    blssdwlf, does your site also have ship stats and discussion of weapons systems, stuff like that, like we discuss here? Or pictures and images only?
     
  13. blssdwlf

    blssdwlf Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    @SicOne - right now just pictures and images. I have some stuff that I've typed up but haven't made public yet.
     
  14. SicOne

    SicOne Commodore Commodore

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    Gotcha. Thanks; look forward to those.