When Did different species achieve space travel/ warp?

Discussion in 'General Trek Discussion' started by Scottery, Jul 30, 2010.

  1. Gaith

    Gaith Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    May 11, 2008
    Location:
    Oregon
    It's really the central dilemma of the Trek canon, isn't it - that humans managed to assemble and dominate the Federation despite being (by all appearances and reasonable assumptions) relative newcomers to galactic society, or that all these other species just happened to discover warp tech shortly after we did. Doesn't make tons of sense either way; one just has to roll with it, imo.
     
  2. Cayomagnetking

    Cayomagnetking Cadet Newbie

    Joined:
    Jun 3, 2013
    So, perhaps when Earth got warp technology, it set off an arms race situation and forced the development of faster and faster engines. Are there no episodes that dealt with the events leading from Earth finding how to warp?
     
  3. EliyahuQeoni

    EliyahuQeoni Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Dec 24, 2007
    Location:
    Redmond, Oregon, United States of America
    I've always wondered why everyone assumes that FTL capable = Warp Drive. Surely there are other methods of FTL that may have been in use that were superseded by the more effective Warp Engine?
     
  4. Timo

    Timo Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Aug 26, 2003
    On the other hand, different species do "warp" in rather different ways. It wouldn't surprise me at all if warp were just a catchall term for all the possible methods of FTL travel - and methods that visibly differ from the things called warp are impossible.

    Say, "wormhole" is another vague concept that has been associated with at least three different VFX, each of which also differed conceptually on how a spacecraft would pass through (ST:TMP, "The Price", DS9). And our heroes agree that wormhole is not a valid FTL travel method, until the Celestial Temple comes along. Quite possibly, it's all "warp" and "wormholes" and nothing else can exist without being absorbed into one category or the other.

    Timo Saloniemi
     
  5. MacLeod

    MacLeod Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 8, 2001
    Location:
    Great Britain

    Just remember that the warp scale was recalibrated at somepoint after TOS but prior to TNG. So warp 8 in TNG is more akin to Warp 13 on the old scale.
     
  6. The Wormhole

    The Wormhole Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jul 23, 2001
    Location:
    The Wormhole
    Why would it set of an "Arms race situation?" Earth was one of the last of the prominent Alpha Quadrant powers had warp capability for several centuries before Earth, and within 90 years Earth could only do warp 5 while everyone else could do warp 7.

    The movie First Contact.
     
  7. publiusr

    publiusr Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 22, 2010
    Location:
    publiusr
    Some others

    Vedala
    Slavers
    Vegan Tyranny (Borg?)
     
  8. T'Girl

    T'Girl Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Aug 20, 2009
    Location:
    T'Girl
     
  9. Kevman7987

    Kevman7987 Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    May 20, 2013
    Location:
    Erie, PA, USA
    It makes sense that the writers are vague in when the other species invented their FTL technologies. They wouldn't want to handcuff themselves to specific dates.

    Quark was probably wrong in his statements.

    From the first successful test in First Contact to Earth having a small group of colonies when the NX-01 launched?

    No. Nothing in Star Trek at the highest continuity level (e.g. official, filmed Trek) discusses the FC to Broken Bow era.

    I don't consider novel/comic Trek canon so I will not mention it.

    I wish that Star Trek came up with an official, full canon way of giving fans the complete future history of Star trek of those lost eras. We all want to have a full account of the Eugencs War; a full account of World War III; a full account of the Earth/Romulan War; and finally a full account of the early days of the Federation, of the founding members joining their fleets, militaries, soldiers, and crews into the military/exploratory Federation Starfleet.

    I know there are probably books/comics covering those eras. But again, I don't consider them canon.
     
    Last edited: Jun 9, 2013
  10. Nerys Myk

    Nerys Myk A Spock and a smile Premium Member

    Joined:
    Nov 4, 2001
    Location:
    AI Generated Madness
    I wouldn't want to hamstring the writers like that. Even TOS made it up as it went along.
     
  11. Kevman7987

    Kevman7987 Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    May 20, 2013
    Location:
    Erie, PA, USA
    I know that you are right. They should leave it vague for the sake of the writers. I also have my own version of events in my mind of what happened that makes sense to me and would probably be unhappy with what they came up with.
     
  12. T'Girl

    T'Girl Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Aug 20, 2009
    Location:
    T'Girl
    If you include TAS along with Voyager, Enterprise and TNG (some from a visual display in Up a Long Ladder) you get ...

    Zephram Cochrane's first warp flight as on April 5, 2063

    The SS Valiant left Earth relatively soon after, eventual they reached the galactic barrier, in the year 2265 the ship had been missing over 200 years.

    In 2067 the warp drive probe Friendship One leaves Earth, eventual it reached the delta quadrant.

    Around 2069 the Human colony bound for Terra Nova left Earth, arriving on June 23, 2078 after a nine-year warp flight. By the year 2151 the colony had been silent for over seventy years.

    The Terratin colony also left Earth around this time, they originally named their colony Terra Ten. Suggest a number of colony efforts before their departure.

    By the year 2102 Humans were building multiple J-class freighters (where Travis was born). Also in that year the SS Hokule was on a mission of "deep space" exploration.

    In 2105, the VK Yuri Gagarin was launched from Earth on a colonization mission.

    In 2120 the HMS Lord Nelson (British?) was launched from Earth on a mission of "deep space" exploration.

    In 2135, the HMS New Zealand was launched from Earth on a diplomatic mission.

    In 2146, the Urusei Yatsura was launched from Earth on a mission to conduct a nebula survey project. In real life the closest nebula to Earth is SH 2-216 which is about 400 light years away, Helix Nebula at 700 light years is the closest of the bright planetary nebulae.

    In 2151 Travis said: "I always thought lost colonies affected boomers." Travis statement was with "colonies" in the plural, so Terra Nova was not the only lost colony. This implies Earth had multiple colonies by 2151.



    :)
     
    Last edited: Jun 9, 2013
  13. Kevman7987

    Kevman7987 Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    May 20, 2013
    Location:
    Erie, PA, USA
    I should have clarified what I meant better then. Yes, we do get some factoids about some events during that era, but nothing like an event-by-event timeline of specific happenings. Nothing specific about the rebuild of human civilization after WW3 up to a United Earth. Nothing specific about the entirety of human space colonization between those events. No specifics, just closed-ended factoids.
     
  14. T'Girl

    T'Girl Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Aug 20, 2009
    Location:
    T'Girl
    That would apply for the vast majority of the Star Trek universe timeline, and not just between first warp and Enterprise. We get little windows separated by time, what's happening in the Federation is largely a mystery.

    :)