Maneuvering in the Z-Axis...

[A beaker full of death]

Wow.

[EmperorTiberius]

FormerLurker wrote:

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You people don't really know what the Z axis is, do you? X is left-right, Y is up-down. Z is a corkscrew motion.

wat

[Maurice]

FormerLurker wrote:

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You people don't really know what the Z axis is, do you? X is left-right, Y is up-down. Z is a corkscrew motion.

Cute, but wrong.

Typically the Z axis is that axis which is perpendicular to both the X and Y axes, but which axis is which depends on the conventions of a particular usage. For instance, on a computer monitor, the X axis is horizontal, the Y is vertical, and the Z is into the screen. In algebraic geometry Z is the vertical axis. With regards to aircraft and spacecraft, X is the nose to tail axis, Y is the left to right, and Z is the up to down (so Kirk's order is correct relative to the Enterprise in TWOK), unless you're talking Yaw, Pitch and Roll, in which case Z is the roll. But what X, Y and Z are all depends on what you're talking about as to which axis is what.

So next time you choose to lecture someone, take a moment to check your own command of the facts first.

[DonIago]

Captain Shatner wrote:

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Very true. Out of curiosity, what was that web supposed to do anyways?

It's shown in IAMD, but I believe the premise is that once the web is complete it collapses in on itself, absorbing any energy directed at it and slicing and dicing anything it comes into contact with as it compresses.

[Timo]

On the other hand, the Tholians had already demonstrated the ability to destroy the Enterprise from a distance with their death rays. It thus seems rather possible that the Tholians were simply snaring the Enterprise in a trawl that would allow them to drag her away, back to their base.

In the ENT episode "In a Mirror, Darkly", we see a web that could be used as a weapon: it's deployed much faster and can englobe even a somewhat maneuverable ship, eventually crushing it. The TOS web doesn't seem capable of that under any circumstances, and IMHO shouldn't be considered a weapon.

As for dodging incoming fire by moving up or down, everything in Star Trek of all eras points to this being best done by turning your bow towards the direction you want to go to. Starships don't move sideways or up or down any more than cars or aeroplanes do, except at a crawling pace. And you definitely don't want to crawl in the transverse direction if a torpedo is heading towards you.

Timo Saloniemi