Scaling up the FASA-verse
According to FASA, the UFP has a diameter of 180 parsecs (587 light years) which, as we have covered, is too small. But if you’re a fan of the FASA-verse, here are two solutions for scaling it up to something better resembling the TOS on-screen reality.
Before we dig in, remember that my best-guess theory based on TOS proper has been a 1,900 ly diameter UFP centered on Earth. But FASA (following Star Trek Maps) places Earth some distance to the northwest of the UFP Central Navigation Beacon, and the particular Orion/Romulan/Klingon frontier which Enterprise explored is to the south and southeast. When using this setup, it means the UFP sphere itself should be smaller than 1,900 ly in diameter, in order for maintain fidelity to our more important assumptions regarding the distance from Earth to the border. Just still nowhere near as small as FASA would have it.
Solution #1
In this solution you simply increase distances such that 1 parsec is scaled up to 10 light years. The diameter of the UFP is now 1,800 light years. The grid lines on the map now represent 100 ly intervals, and planetary coordinates (eg., Talos at 7.49S 1.48E) are now in terms of hundreds of light years instead of tens of parsecs (which was always rather odd anyway).
The benefits of this approach are plain, as no math is required—all you have to do is move over the decimal point and call it light years. As we have seen, the TV show mainly prefers to give distances in terms of light years (or hundreds of light years) over parsecs anyway.
Indeed, this approach makes so much sense that I have to wonder if this actually was FASA’s intent at some early stage in the design process, before they decided to shrink things down to accommodate an ultra-slow warp factor scale.
Fun fact: In Discovery they actually speak the FASA coordinates for Talos aloud in the form of, “seven four nine mark one four eight.” Not to suddenly admit Discovery into evidence, but I am tickled by this. So they drop the decimal completely, and present quadrant is assumed.
Downside: Earth (1.23N 2.79W) and Rigel (8.51S 1.27E) end up being 1,055 ly distant, when in reality they ought to be 864 ly apart. This is much better than 105 pc (344 ly), but still off the mark.
Curiously: Star Trek Maps, upon which the FASA map is based, provides coordinates in three dimensions (in parsecs). Thus Earth (23.9, 61.8 0.0) and Rigel (-209.9, 7.7, -136) are 900 ly apart, which is fine. But if you ignore the third dimension (as FASA does), then it’s only 783 ly. Now, stick with me. If you scale up STM (480 pc diameter) to a 1,800 ly diameter, the distance from Earth to Rigel in two dimensions is...... 900 ly. Coincidence? Or have I indeed stumbled on a forgotten layer of FASA’s design process (before they broke everything)? I have to wonder.
Solution #2
In this solution you increase the distances by 8/3, that is, to the scale of Star Trek Maps. The UFP now has a 480 pc diameter rather than 180. Earth to Rigel is now 918 light years. This solution says, FASA really adds to the STM-verse in many ways, but goofed on the scale, so we’re just going to hit the undo button on that one thing.
Upside: STM is a masterpiece that nailed this 40+ years ago, so you’re not reinventing the wheel as in the other solution, and the end result is more accurate than the other solution. Also, by harmonizing the STM and FASA maps, you can draw freely from both (without converting to yet a third scale).
Downside: Well, you can’t use FASA’s coordinates and grid lines anymore. You have to do the math to calculate the new positions and/or distances. But if you’re the sort of person who has been following this thread, you might not mind that.
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