General Star Trek starship thread.

[Henoch]

Every Ship/Fleet is on that cycle for a variable amount of time in my Head Cannon based on their situation.

• 24 month Deployment cycles for entire Ships/Fleets
  • Flexibility in which part of the phase a Ship/Fleet is in based on real world conditions & circumstances
• Operational Phases:
  • Maintenance : 01-08 months
  • Training : 04-08 months
  • Deployments: 08-19 months

I like these ideas, but where is the 5 year mission (deployment 60 months), or was that only an unique experiment for the TOS era? Anyway, we see few crew members come and go, so if there was a 24-mo. crew cycle, then it must be staggered with a lot of re-upping to explain seeing the same characters year after year on the shows (except for VOY, they got the shaft on that deployment).
Like you indicate, ship upgrades/maintenance seems to be on a schedule in TOS:

1. The Enterprise got a significant upgrade (new engines/nacelles, new bridge, smaller dish) between WNMHGB and the next episode.
2. In my head canon, it got the Photon Torpedo System right after Balance of Terror after weaknesses were exposed with the Enterprise's weapon suite. They probably upgraded its Phaser system, too, based on its failure in combat.
3. Between season 1 and 2 it got the Engineering room upgrade (M/AM reactor or power system upgrade?).
4. It may have gotten either new engines or just upgrades to the engines a little later since the ship was hitting warp 8 routinely in season 2.
5. I think it got an engine or m/AM reactor upgrade again at the start of Season 3. After that, they we hitting warp 9 routinely in season 3.
6. Then after the 5 year mission, the ship was completely refitted for the TOS Movies era.

 

[Ithekro]

In theory, some TNG era starships were suppose to be on five year+ missions that took them out of Federation space. The Galaxy-class and probably the Ambassador-class and maybe even the Constellation-class were designed for such extended missions. The USS Olympia was on an eight year mission outside Federation space prior to the Dominion War and was lost just short of returning home.

 

[Ronald Held]

Was the 1701 close enough to the core system enough times during Kirk's command to get so many upgrades?

 

[blssdwlf]

Was the 1701 close enough to the core system enough times during Kirk's command to get so many upgrades?

Well, Kirk's Enterprise can cover 1,000 LY in a day so probably yes. But I think they could do major upgrades and repairs at any starbase so it need not be a core system.

 

[Ronald Held]

Well, Kirk's Enterprise can cover 1,000 LY in a day so probably yes. But I think they could do major upgrades and repairs at any starbase so it need not be a core system.

Some major upgrades might required a major starbase and There were that many in the TOS era.

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

I like these ideas, but where is the 5 year mission (deployment 60 months), or was that only an unique experiment for the TOS era? Anyway, we see few crew members come and go, so if there was a 24-mo. crew cycle, then it must be staggered with a lot of re-upping to explain seeing the same characters year after year on the shows (except for VOY, they got the shaft on that deployment).
Like you indicate, ship upgrades/maintenance seems to be on a schedule in TOS:

1. The Enterprise got a significant upgrade (new engines/nacelles, new bridge, smaller dish) between WNMHGB and the next episode.
2. In my head canon, it got the Photon Torpedo System right after Balance of Terror after weaknesses were exposed with the Enterprise's weapon suite. They probably upgraded its Phaser system, too, based on its failure in combat.
3. Between season 1 and 2 it got the Engineering room upgrade (M/AM reactor or power system upgrade?).
4. It may have gotten either new engines or just upgrades to the engines a little later since the ship was hitting warp 8 routinely in season 2.
5. I think it got an engine or m/AM reactor upgrade again at the start of Season 3. After that, they we hitting warp 9 routinely in season 3.
6. Then after the 5 year mission, the ship was completely refitted for the TOS Movies era.

Just to give you a perspective:
My Head Cannon starts at the beginning of the 26th Century (YYYY/MM-DD = 2501/01-01)
The story takes place ~122 years from the end of (2379 “Star Trek Nemesis”)

I have different Fleet types with the primary fleets running on a 2 year cycle so officers can cycle in and out between ships/assignments if need be. The main fleet will be in UFP territory or within fairly close distance of UFP Territory / StarFleet|UFP communication nodes so as to be able to come back in case of emergency within UFP territory or near UFP territory or it's allies. That means that even though the average StarFleet StarShip can cross the entire Milkyway's diameter end to end (~105,000 ly) in about 9.8 hrs, it usually stays within range of one of it's many cloaked Hyper-Subspace communications nodes that is spread about the Milkyway Galaxy since the UFP has territory that has expanded to all 4 quadrants by this time but doesn't control much of it. Ergo staying within comms range is critical given the vast territory along with vast number of Fleets & Ships within each Fleet in various stages of operational cycles so as to be able to aid in any internal UFP / Allies issue.

To give you context:
- 7% of the Milky Way Galaxy belongs to the UFP at the start point of the Show’s In Universe story
- 23% of the Milky Way Galaxy has been explored
- Bits of nearby Galaxy are being explored by Deep Space Explorer Fleets

I do have a Fleet Type dedicated for Deep Space Exploration, but there are far fewer of them then the Primary Multi-Role fleet type. The Deep Space Exploration Fleets have (Voyager's Mission, but in reverse). They intentionally go to other nearby Galaxy's and start Exploring where there isn't StarFleet to back them or go exploring the parts of the Milkway Galaxy that don't have direct connections to StarFleets vast Inter-Steller Hyper-Subspace comms network where they can answer the call to an emergency within UFP territory or nearby UFP territory. Or be able to call for help.

The Main Fleet is tasked to keep all of UFP territory and nearby UFP allies safe, while the Deep Space Explorers can rest assured that there is a VERY large number of Fleets ready to guard the UFP when worst case disaster strikes.

While 5 year missions sound great on paper, UFP & StarFleet prefer to not venture out too far and be away for too long. Ergo the 2 year operation cycle applies to even the Deep Space Explorers since they can easily come back at full speed should they need to.

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

The largest & slowest StarShip within my standardized main Fleet Type, the Universe Class Mk. 2, could travel from the Milkyway Galaxy to the Andromeda Galaxy in ~9.7 days of non-stop travel using it's CoAxial Warp Drive.
But that is slow compared to being launched there by UFP's Graviton Catapult networks.

It would take ~2 Days, 7 Hr, 9 Mins via Graviton Catapult to cross the same ~2,500,000 ly trip to the Andromeda Galaxy.
But since you are launched by the Graviton Catapult instead of traveling under your own power, there are advantages / disadvantages to using that system.

This is not counting next Generation FTL systems that are being brought online.

 

[Timo]

Well, Kirk's Enterprise can cover 1,000 LY in a day so probably yes. But I think they could do major upgrades and repairs at any starbase so it need not be a core system.

The issues might also be related. A ship doing 1000 ly/d might be incapable of doing 2000 ly/wk or 3000 ly/yr because the high speed takes its toll. But mission requirements would vary wildly, meaning some ships would need weekly maintenance for high warp strain while others would only need to pull in once every ten years for the same reason.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

The issues might also be related. A ship doing 1000 ly/d might be incapable of doing 2000 ly/wk or 3000 ly/yr because the high speed takes its toll. But mission requirements would vary wildly, meaning some ships would need weekly maintenance for high warp strain while others would only need to pull in once every ten years for the same reason.

Timo Saloniemi

There is a reason why there is "Cruising Speed" & Top Speed. Usually Cruising Speed can be sustained for many hrs on end as long as there is fuel, but not indefinitely.

 

[Mres_was_framed!]

While 5 year missions sound great on paper, UFP & StarFleet prefer to not venture out too far and be away for too long. Ergo the 2 year operation cycle applies to even the Deep Space Explorers since they can easily come back at full speed should they need to.

While doing my current re-watch of TOS, the thought occurs to me that many episodes with Stardates that start with "5" have plots that either do not require them to be far from the Federation's home territory, or that explicitly suggest that they are on a Federation Planet (i.e. "The Cloud Minders).

Even with a five year mission, I would think that it would have to be divided 3-4 years out and 1-2 years to get back. Knowing that the Federation is supposedly a large, somewhat sphere-shaped area with the Federation-proper members close together at its center, I would think that there could still be many mapped, but not explored, planets not far from a ships home base to visit during the last part of its mission.

The issues might also be related. A ship doing 1000 ly/d might be incapable of doing 2000 ly/wk or 3000 ly/yr because the high speed takes its toll. But mission requirements would vary wildly, meaning some ships would need weekly maintenance for high warp strain while others would only need to pull in once every ten years for the same reason.

Timo Saloniemi

Combining what you say with what I said above, I think we have the perfect reasoning behind the idea that there was almost an official show to be called "Star Trek Phase Two." According to the concept artwork I've seen, if that continuity would have come true, the Enterprise would have been repaired/up-fitted and sent further out into space. In other words, the entire first five year mission would have been "Phase One," spent headed "out" (away from Earth) to the asteroid base, then it would have begun "Phase Two" going "out" for at least another couple years. (I'm assuming that the flight plan would have allowed them to head back to Earth, or at least a closer base, during the last part of "Phase Two").

Instead, there is a limit on how far from Earth they could go after TMP, even if Kirk did get another five year mission, since they had to start at Earth all over again.

It occurs to me that TNG must have had echoes of this, since even though the Enterprise-D was built on Mars, the mission did not really begin until reaching Deneb IV, and some licensed materials said that the Galaxy-class was built for missions of ten years or more.

Kind of a long post, but I suddenly find this very interesting.

 

[Ithekro]

That the Enterprise-D returned to Earth at the start of season four kind of make it harder to get them "out there" again. But then they spend a lot of time in and near Klingon space or the Neutral Zone for most of the years they were out anyway.

 

[Henoch]

Knowing that the Federation is supposedly a large, somewhat sphere-shaped area with the Federation-proper members close together at its center, I would think that there could still be many mapped, but not explored, planets not far from a ships home base to visit during the last part of its mission.

Real data supports your post.

• According to Wiki: "There are 52 stellar systems beyond our own Solar system that currently lie within 5.0 parsecs (16.3 light-years) of the Sun. These systems contain a total of 63 stars, of which 50 are red dwarfs, by far the most common type of star in the Milky Way. Much more massive stars, such as our own, make up the remaining 13." I would say that all of these systems have been explored by the ENT era.
• According to SIMBAD, ~970 stars within 50 light-years. I would say that all of these systems have been explored by the TOS era, and more. Kirk said to Cochrane, "We're on a thousand planets and spreading out."
• One author estimated that there are ~170,000 stars within 100 light-years. I would say that all of these systems have been explored by the TNG era. I would call this area as the core of the Federation.
  
• Within 1000 light-years, it's anybody's guess. I've seen estimates from 3-12 million stars.

Whether the Federation is 1000 to 10,000 light-years across, there will be millions to billions of stars to explore inside the Federation. Long-range probes and scans can only do so much, so, eventually you send explorer spaceships to the closer systems and starships to explore the most interesting outer systems which you think are habited with new life and new civilizations, etc.

 

[DEWLine]

You are going to have so much fun with the GAIA DR2 data, Henoch...

 

[Ithekro]

The question would be, "how many of the red dwarf stars and smaller will have anything interesting about them?"

 

[Henoch]

The question would be, "how many of the red dwarf stars and smaller will have anything interesting about them?"

You are right, most of the stars are red or brown dwarf starts. I heard that red dwarf stars are the most numerous. A M-Class planet could be in close orbit to such star, so, they are worth the look. Brown dwarf stars are probably boring, but there could be crazy things there, like binary dwarf stars with small planets with tidal action heating them up like the moons of Jupiter, or unformed sub-planets displaying their mineral wealth.

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

Even with a five year mission, I would think that it would have to be divided 3-4 years out and 1-2 years to get back. Knowing that the Federation is supposedly a large, somewhat sphere-shaped area with the Federation-proper members close together at its center, I would think that there could still be many mapped, but not explored, planets not far from a ships home base to visit during the last part of its mission.

Think of the Federation's territory as a Giant Pie with random chunks sliced out and eaten.

Federation Territory has verticality, but giant chunks are near each other and random chunks exist off on it's own.

 

[Mres_was_framed!]

Eventually you send explorer spaceships to the closer systems and starships to explore the most interesting outer systems which you think are habited with new life and new civilizations, etc

Great points. Also I'm of the opinion that your quoted portion here, pretty well describes what I see as the role for TOS "cruisers" and "Star Ships," and for TNG's "Explorers." Ships that did other stuff would typically not be called "Star Ships" in TOS, despite being faster-than-light." In most of TNG, and a lot of TOS also, it seems that other ships mapped the area, but only now are "Explorers" send actually parties to certain planets.

 

[Henoch]

but only now are "Explorers" send actually parties to certain planets.

Yes, you would send only the best to unknown star systems for first contact for example. The aliens/monsters may be friendly, or most likely not as seen in almost every TOS first contact. I'm too tired to make a list, but I bet the number of unfriendly's is a couple of times longer than the friendly's. I can't see the SS Antares dealing with the First Federation, Apollo, the Gorns, etc.

 

[Mres_was_framed!]

I can't see the SS Antares dealing with the First Federation, Apollo, the Gorns, etc.

That's a funny mental image. I bet Apollo would have crushed the Antares without trying. But then maybe that's why in TOS so many ships end up having gone missing

 

[Timo]

Then again, Apollo's ilk would have crushed all the hero ships without trying, too. Why waste your most expensive frontline ships on such duties when a two-man scout can deliver the ambassador to his or her glowing success or gruesome death at so much lower a cost?

Exploration has traditionally been bestowed on expendable ships (that is, ones not needed for fighting or deterrent), and Kirk's (Pike's) certainly seems to fit that bill...

Timo Saloniemi