General Trek Questions and Observations

[Tim Thomason]

do you think that a tribble could ever become the captain of a starship??

i know this sounds completely absurd, but please hear me out!

what if someone genetically modified a tribble so it would become sentient, and as that tribble bred over several generations, they would get smarter and smarter to the point where they are capable of making sound and rational decisions? hell, maybe they could even learn to talk! and if this happened, what if one of them decided that they wanted to become a starfleet officer?

Uh, yeah probably. If you reconceptualize and uplift Tribbles, they can become Starfleet officers and potentially captains. Kelpiens are one example of a species potentially uplifted and we now see Saru on track to become Captain.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

do you think that a tribble could ever become the captain of a starship??

i know this sounds completely absurd, but please hear me out!

what if someone genetically modified a tribble so it would become sentient, and as that tribble bred over several generations, they would get smarter and smarter to the point where they are capable of making sound and rational decisions? hell, maybe they could even learn to talk! and if this happened, what if one of them decided that they wanted to become a starfleet officer?

Captain Dunsel vs The Ultimate Tribble

Not that it invalidates anything you're saying here, but it may be worth noting that what's sitting in the captain's chair there isn't an individual tribble, it's a tribble colony. Of course, that's part of the joke, so that Kirk can wind up in a pile of tribbles again. I mention this, though, to suggest that, if an individual tribble can't make it, perhaps a colony can.

 

[Veronica Hobbes]

Another question, this time about the star dates. I can't work them out. Are they easy and I'm just being dense. I'm working on a Star Trek: Discovery story, and I want to be able to include star dates but don't actually know.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

do you think that a tribble could ever become the captain of a starship??

Vulcan Tribble certainly thinks so. https://lacyntrek.weebly.com/vulcan-tribble.html

 

[matthunter]

Another question, this time about the star dates. I can't work them out. Are they easy and I'm just being dense. I'm working on a Star Trek: Discovery story, and I want to be able to include star dates but don't actually know.

One Stardate = roughly one Earth day. So work out (from a DSC ep) what date is around the time you want to start the tale, and go from there.

 

[Veronica Hobbes]

One Stardate = roughly one Earth day. So work out (from a DSC ep) what date is around the time you want to start the tale, and go from there.

Ah cheers, that helps a bit. I will have to study this a bit more.

Sorry, I'll stop with the questions soon. But one more for now.

If a captain was due to retire and then war breaks out, like in Discovery with the Klingons, would they then be called temporarily back into service. I'm assuming they would need all hands on deck right. I'm working on a Discovery fic, and I have this captain who was meant to be retiring and then the war with the Klingons happened, and well I just wanted to make sure it wouldn't be implausible for him to go on one last mission. He's in his early 60's but he's quite fit for someone his age and probably looks several years younger.

 

[Acenos]

It would be a nice continuity nod to how the space shuttles and rockets n real life were painted white.

Every time federation/united earth ships are shown, they are either grey colored (light grey even) or for DSC and ENT era ships, bronze colored. TOS era ships aren't an exception since they are grey colored (11 foot model). Even kelvin timeline ships aren't painted white.

It's an odd transition that after white/black space shuttles, humanity's first warp capable ships such as NX-01 are these bronze-colored clunky spaceships.

Trek can just easily technobabble "paint" as "Thermal coating" since i doubt federaton ships have their shields up 24/7.

 

[Finn]

I apologize

It's just a color. I figure the white was more practical in an era with limited "sensor" technology where they needed more visibility.

I'm not sure this makes sense

-Edited, after a friendly by The Old Mixer

 

[Timo]

All the crewed spacecraft today are actually painted grayish-green.

This is due to change with the reintroduction of American spaceflight in the near future. As this reintroduction is largely a commercial venture, though, I'd expect near-future spacecraft to actually come in gaudy colors. If Virgin ever goes orbital, we get red spacecraft, say. Color as thermal regulation technology isn't all that important nowadays, and will be much less so in the future.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[F. King Daniel]

Because that's space racist.

 

[matthunter]

Ah cheers, that helps a bit. I will have to study this a bit more.

Sorry, I'll stop with the questions soon. But one more for now.

If a captain was due to retire and then war breaks out, like in Discovery with the Klingons, would they then be called temporarily back into service. I'm assuming they would need all hands on deck right. I'm working on a Discovery fic, and I have this captain who was meant to be retiring and then the war with the Klingons happened, and well I just wanted to make sure it wouldn't be implausible for him to go on one last mission. He's in his early 60's but he's quite fit for someone his age and probably looks several years younger.

DSC era that could be about right. There's the "little known, seldom-used reserve activation clause" that Kirk used to get Bones back aboard in TMP, assuming that wasn't just Kirk bluffing him.

Bear in mind though that 60 may not be a partiularly sedentary age for humans even in the DSC era though - certainly by TNG Picard was nearing 60 at the START of the series.

 

[The Old Mixer]

What the fuck are you on?

Not an appropriate response. Consider this a Friendly.

 

[Orac]

The Enterprise is white in the opening credits of every episode. I know they changed it when they remastered the episodes in 2006 but I don't watch those versions.

 

[Spot261]

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/...vQn-fdWZRPXkUk5lw7TIS59W5ayFbPTAvPsdNuRmMZTfm
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/...1yckKjQsYksjxjJ7jzOT28suxa74RhwQc6Un8XO0Ex5ig
https://www.universetoday.com/wp-co...MG_2017_3b_KSCVC-Hall-of-Fame_Ken-Kremer-.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/73/Soyuz_2_metop.jpg/220px-Soyuz_2_metop.jpg

 

[1001001]

It would be a nice continuity nod to how the space shuttles and rockets n real life were painted white.

Every time federation/united earth ships are shown, they are either grey colored (light grey even) or for DSC and ENT era ships, bronze colored. TOS era ships aren't an exception since they are grey colored (11 foot model). Even kelvin timeline ships aren't painted white.

It's an odd transition that after white/black space shuttles, humanity's first warp capable ships such as NX-01 are these bronze-colored clunky spaceships.

Trek can just easily technobabble "paint" as "Thermal coating" since i doubt federaton ships have their shields up 24/7.

"Why Aren't Ships White?" is the exact reason the General Trek Thread exists.

 

[Finn]

Not an appropriate response. Consider this a Friendly.

I apologize

 

[Locutus of Bored]

Because that's space racist.

That's white livery-ege for you.

 

[F. King Daniel]

I stand corrected

 

[Locutus of Bored]

I had to do it, because I know how much @1001001 loves puns.

 

[1001001]

I had to do it, because I know how much @1001001 loves puns.