Spoilers - Distance to Qo'Nos (Kronos), a math question

Discussion in 'Star Trek Movies: Kelvin Universe' started by throwback, May 27, 2013.

  1. throwback

    throwback Captain Captain

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    The Enterprise's warp core goes offline. The ship is reduced to impulse power. Sulu informs Kirk that they are twenty minutes from Qo'noS. How far is the ship from Qo'noS?

    We know from the Starship Visual Simulator that, Full impulse speed is about one quarter the speed of light. (Impulse Drive)

    So, using that statement, is it possible to estimate the distance between the ship and the planet? If so, what is the distance?
     
  2. Belz...

    Belz... Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    They are 20 minutes from their destination. The ship was never supposed to actually reach Qo'Nos.
     
  3. F. King Daniel

    F. King Daniel Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I thought it was a twenty minute journey via Mudd's (warp capable) ship?
     
  4. Ryan8bit

    Ryan8bit Commodore Commodore

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    First, even if the 1/4 light speed number was at all accurate, it wouldn't matter because the writers don't care at all about distances and speeds.

    That being said, 1/4 light speed is ~75 million m / s
    Assuming no acceleration/deceleration (since those variables aren't given), that speed could cover about 90 billion meters in 20m.
     
  5. beamMe

    beamMe Commodore

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    Belz... is right.
     
  6. Faria

    Faria Lieutenant Red Shirt

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    more or less 90 millions of km
     
  7. Belz...

    Belz... Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Marcus did say to park the Enterprise at the edge of the neutral zone.
     
  8. Admiral Buzzkill

    Admiral Buzzkill Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    The Starship Visual Simulator doesn't have anything to do with anything except merchandising. So if that's "what we know," we know nothing.
     
  9. throwback

    throwback Captain Captain

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    The film is all over the map when it comes to where the Enterprise is. They are either in the Neutral Zone, at the edge of the Neutral Zone, in Klingon space, or in the Klingon system. The novelization clarifies the matter somewhat - the Enterprise was to take up position near one of the moons of Qo'noS after coming out of warp.

    The K'normian trading ship never goes to warp. It travels at impulse speed to its destination.

    So, 90 billion kilometers, huh? Wouldn't that place the Neutral Zone in the Klingon system? (This would be the second time that the border passed through a system.)

    The Starship Visual Simulator is based on what was already known in the Star Trek universe, on what was already established in the comics, and had new information here and there. It's the closest we will get to actual information on the 2009 iteration of the Enterprise.
     
  10. Timo

    Timo Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    ..But really, the less such "information" we have, the better.

    STXI already had Klingons being within mere tens of thousands of kilometers of our Kelvin heroes, so there's plenty of precedent for Starfleet dancing right under the noses of these supposedly fearsome opponents. Perhaps they are not all that fearsome after all, and the movie basically repeats the pattern set in "Errand of Mercy" where an old foe is corralled inside a Neutral Zone that basically quarantines a single star system at point blank range?

    Timo Saloniemi
     
  11. throwback

    throwback Captain Captain

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    I think you are referring to the "Balance of Terror".

    I was hearing the commentary for "Sins of the Father". There was a vivid description of the Klingon Empire. The Empire was governed from a resource poor planet in a modest system. Klingons were like the Spartans or the Samurai warriors. The Klingons conquered neighboring planets; the people over time came to accept the rule of the Klingons. There was more there, but I can' remember all of it now.

    According to the novelization, the planets mentioned in the film conquered by the Klingons were not Federation planets, but the homeworlds of indigenous people who happened to be living close to the Klingon Empire.

    I think that not by showing these conquered planets was a missed opportunity by the writers of Star Trek. These people would be like the Helots of ancient Sparta, who did the work that individuals in a military state would refuse to do, like farming and the arts.

    For the latest film, the Klingons came off pretty poorly didn't they? A squad or a platoon - again, the film is not clear - was bested by a "superman". A Federation starship was able to operate unmolested in their home system; even worse, there was a battle between two ships, and the Klingons didn't even send out a ship to see what was going on. If Klingons can't even retain control over their own system, how much of a threat is their empire to the Federation?
     
  12. Belz...

    Belz... Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    To be fair, TWOK isn't very clear on what the neutral zone is, either.
     
  13. hammerhead

    hammerhead Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    Wait a minute didn't the NX-01 go to Qu'Nos in "Broken Bow", in like a day or something at Warp 5? I would think that put Earth on it's doorstop.....
     
  14. Vyse

    Vyse Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    This has been an issue before in Trek. Remember when the Enterprise E got from the Romulan Neutral Zone back to Earth very fast in First Contact?
     
  15. Enterprise is Great

    Enterprise is Great Vice Admiral Admiral

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    It took 4 days for Archer's ship to get to the Klingon homeworld. Also, they never went as fast as warp 5 in the Enterprise pilot. I forget the ships top speed there but it was closer to warp 4 than 5.
     
  16. throwback

    throwback Captain Captain

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    Interestingly, for me that is, is that Gamma Hydra is later shown in proximity to the Romulan Neutral Zone. Now, working in three dimensional space, the Neutral Zone for the Klingons could be above or below that for the Romulans.
     
  17. Pauln6

    Pauln6 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    It's like starships are weapons of mass destruction. You could reach the Klingon homeworld in less than 12 hours. We know that Starfleet sends its main fleet out of communication range and relies on automated defences. We know that Starfleet doesn't challenge Federation ships in its territory, even at top secret bases. Earth is doomedwhen all the Klingons need to do is commandeer a starships and do enough damage to the defences before Starfleet command uses the prefix code to shut you down, which takes ages apparently...

    Unless they beam a Genesis Device straight to Qo'onos.
     
  18. Zeppster

    Zeppster Commodore Commodore

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    Distances in both of these films doesn't really make sense. But then again finding a way to travel at light speeds is basically impossible anyway. So traveling at faster than light and getting from earth to Q'onoS in a few minutes and back, it's not that bad compared to other things.
     
  19. throwback

    throwback Captain Captain

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    Impossible for our civilization, at its current level of technological development - yes.
    Impossible for what is out there - maybe.
     
  20. beamMe

    beamMe Commodore

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    Why does everyone who talks about "minutes to reach Kronos" seem to be totally unaware of what film editing is?