Link, please. because every on photo I've seen, there's only one door visible.
Starbase 001: Unrealistic?
- Thread starter CuttingEdge100
- Start date
Surprisingly, the best evidence is from TSFS itself, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_SGXx3pLzs , two doors are visible in one shot as the Enterprise rounds the dome with Excelsior appearing behind.
http://www.ottens.co.uk/forgottentrek/images/movies/Earth Spacedock (behind the scenes) 4.jpg shows two in shot. One very prominent, and one at 90 degrees on the right.
The only official represenation in miniature form, the Micromachine Spacedock, has four doors, all at 90 degrees, which are unlabelled.
The official print from FASA has four main doors as well...
http://www.shipschematics.net/startrek/images/federation/spacedock_ournal.jpg
I think that's pretty conclusive at this point.
I don't think there's a problem with the design of space dock itself, it works fine as a space station/starbase in deep space, it just doesn't seem like it should be in Earth orbit? I mean with all the other facilities in San Francisco, the space office complex, various "dry" docks, and other facilities on/around the Moon and at Utopia Planetia, it just seems unecessary for such a huge structure to be parked in Earth orbit. To say nothing of the gravitational displacement of something that big, it probobly would compete with the Moon in it's effects on the tides? and the ugly thing would be visible in Eath's skies from the surface, not only at night but in daylight too! Maybe if it were in one of the neutral points of the Earth/Luner system, like the the proposed L5 colonies???
Uh... no...? At supposedly 5 km high, an open honeycomb structure like spacedock compared to the MOON?!?! A sphere of rock 3474 km in diameter massing 73,400,000,000,000,000,000,000 kg? Spacedock would have no more tidal effect than piling all the buildings in a typical major city into one lump and putting into a stable orbit. I don't know the math on how much that will effect tidal forces, but I'd be astonished if it raised or lowered the tides by more than a few millimeters.
On the other hand, agree it would totally be visible from Earth's surface. But then, I bet just about everything we've seen on Star Trek would be too. The 23rd Century night sky must be swarming with movement...
Yeah, I don't know the math either, but being that the thing is closer to Earth than the Moon, and we really dont know how heavy/massive it is (or how "solid") it's still concievable that it could have some effect? Also, just how far up/out would it need to be for a stable orbit? Again, without knowing the the math, I doubt it's possible it could be as close as we saw it in the movie, and I bet it'd be hard to stabilize anyway, causing some sort of gravitational broblems?
It's big, but it's mostly hollow (even the decks are mostly hollow, when you think about it). It's certainly more more massive than, say, Ceres or anything, and those moons have nearly no effect on Mars... so...
The problem with dealing with astronomical numbers is that they're astronomical, it's hard to grasp the scales we're really talking about here.
The problem with dealing with astronomical numbers is that they're astronomical, it's hard to grasp the scales we're really talking about here.
trevanian
Rear Admiral
It has been awhile since I read a science textbook, but from what I recall, Ceres is the largest asteroid in-system. Phobos and Deimos are the moons of Mars, Deimos being so small that you can almost achieve escape velocity by taking a running leap (according to an old AC Clarke story anyway.)
But by that logic, Empire State Building should never have been built. There were other buildings in Manhattan already, after all.
In terms of size and shape, they might be SFB light frigates. What were those, Burke class?
I mean, the number of starship classes was limited only by the number of models or mattes TPTB could be bothered to do/fund. If an Okudagram could cheaply introduce an all-new class, they/us should go for it...
Timo Saloniemi
Well not exactly, considering the size of space Dock, the analogy would be more like building one humongous building the size of all the other skyscrapers in Manhatten combined, rendering all the others superfluous. Besides the impossibility of such a feat, why would anyone want to, or need to?
Yet the Empire State Building was, what, only the third true skyscraper being built in the city (and completed rather faster than the two competitors). It did dwarf all the other previous buildings by something of a margin, and did represent a senseless leap forward. Its construction wasn't motivated by the price of land as much as by architectural derring-do, the will to build that which was possible.
So I feel the analogy is quite apt here. Spacedock could be the starter of a trend, or then merely the most prominent example of it - Earth orbit could be littered with such structures, each of them making eminent economical or technological sense now that they have created their own niche.
Timo Saloniemi
So I feel the analogy is quite apt here. Spacedock could be the starter of a trend, or then merely the most prominent example of it - Earth orbit could be littered with such structures, each of them making eminent economical or technological sense now that they have created their own niche.
Timo Saloniemi
I think SpaceDock is actually the right size and at the right place to be somekind of last stop before going to Earth and for ships a big depot of everything they need, also its probably a great distribution centre and since ships don't land often THE place to unload your ambassadors and the like who can catch up on things and fresh up before getting shuttled/beamed to Earth.
Kind of like a large airport so to speak.
Kind of like a large airport so to speak.
...Its importance might trace back to the time when transporters weren't yet cleared for bio-transport, and switching to a shuttle was indeed the only way to get from a ship to the surface.
If the structure is that old (and ENT is still fully in the realm where nobody but foolish heroes would voluntarily step in the transporter), it could also be argued that it was sized to hold the entire Starfleet of the day in prestigious containment.
Timo Saloniemi
If the structure is that old (and ENT is still fully in the realm where nobody but foolish heroes would voluntarily step in the transporter), it could also be argued that it was sized to hold the entire Starfleet of the day in prestigious containment.
Timo Saloniemi
And perhaps a sort of "Ellis Island" where folks of other species are cleared before they go to Earth itself. Customs, Immigration, etc. are probably all centralized in this structure.
Nodding to this speculation, I also add the idea that this would be an essentially civilian facility, with Starfleet personnel mainly doing traffic control and customs (after all, Starfleet does pretty much everything in the Federation, including police work) and renting a pier or two for its ships...
Timo Saloniemi
Timo Saloniemi
