Warp Speed
- Thread starter gazomg
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They can still scan the stars ahead and plot their course accordingly. That's part of why you have sensors and probes.
They can still scan the stars ahead and plot their course accordingly. That's part of why you have sensors and probes.
but then they must do that while they are at warp or face crashing it to things
Probably have to do that anyways, even in known spacelanes.
I would think that a starship would plot and set a flightplan to avoid running into obstacles such as planets, stars, and other navigational hazards. For example, when the USS Enterprise flew too close to an unknown gravity well (black star?) and ended up at Earth in 1968. Plus, apparently there's some 23rd-24th Century version of space traffic control where shipping and traffic lanes have been established in the Federation.
With Voyager being stranded in the Delta Quadrant without any starcharts. Neelix initially provides that capability with his knowledge of the local space. He knows where the best places to go and to stay away from are. Later on Voyager acquires starcharts and traffic knowledge from friendly peoples. In areas of unknown and apparently uncontrolled space, Voyager basically flys VFR. Using it's sensors to detect any obstacles in it's flightpath. A flightplan can be as simple as a straight line, with a direction, speed, and time of travel to reach the endpoint. "Set course 180 mark 0 degrees, Warp factor 8, for ten hours. Engage."
With Voyager being stranded in the Delta Quadrant without any starcharts. Neelix initially provides that capability with his knowledge of the local space. He knows where the best places to go and to stay away from are. Later on Voyager acquires starcharts and traffic knowledge from friendly peoples. In areas of unknown and apparently uncontrolled space, Voyager basically flys VFR. Using it's sensors to detect any obstacles in it's flightpath. A flightplan can be as simple as a straight line, with a direction, speed, and time of travel to reach the endpoint. "Set course 180 mark 0 degrees, Warp factor 8, for ten hours. Engage."
Well strictly speaking Voyager wasn't lost in the DQ. They knew exactly where they were. hey have extensive star charts in order to determine their position. Such as use of pulsars etc... They might not have detailed maps of the solar systems but they would regonise the stars.
In "Emissary" the Quadros-1 probe had made it to the GQ, so perhaps Voyager's databanks included rudimentry star charts from the Quadros-5 probe.
There are also long-range telescopes and sensor platforms (like the Argus Array), which would have some scans of the DQ, which they could then use as a basis to plot a course home.
There are also long-range telescopes and sensor platforms (like the Argus Array), which would have some scans of the DQ, which they could then use as a basis to plot a course home.
Do you have to plot a course in a forest in order to avoid bumping into trees?
Space to Voyager would be like the Bonneville Flats to a racing car - just about as many trees to avoid. If Tom Paris just locked the helm straight ahead and moved the warp speed slider to warp nine, then kicked off his shoes and lifted his feet on the helm console and took a nap, he could outsleep Rip van Winkle before risking collision.
There just isn't anything much in space to run into, even in Star Trek. Or if there is something of dramatic value, it isn't indicated in the maps. Other starships aren't a hazard as such, either: the odds of accidentally running into one are a flat zero.
As for TOS "Tomorrow is Yesterday", one wonders if the black star they ran into wasn't inside the Sol system, considering where they ended up being. ST:TMP tells us there is a black hole somewhere very near Earth, and DS9 "Past Tense" uses a black hole traveling through the Sol system as a plot device. Perhaps all those alien abductors dumped their dark bilge matter there before heading off to probe their catch, leaving singularities lying about?
Timo Saloniemi
Space to Voyager would be like the Bonneville Flats to a racing car - just about as many trees to avoid. If Tom Paris just locked the helm straight ahead and moved the warp speed slider to warp nine, then kicked off his shoes and lifted his feet on the helm console and took a nap, he could outsleep Rip van Winkle before risking collision.
There just isn't anything much in space to run into, even in Star Trek. Or if there is something of dramatic value, it isn't indicated in the maps. Other starships aren't a hazard as such, either: the odds of accidentally running into one are a flat zero.
As for TOS "Tomorrow is Yesterday", one wonders if the black star they ran into wasn't inside the Sol system, considering where they ended up being. ST:TMP tells us there is a black hole somewhere very near Earth, and DS9 "Past Tense" uses a black hole traveling through the Sol system as a plot device. Perhaps all those alien abductors dumped their dark bilge matter there before heading off to probe their catch, leaving singularities lying about?
Timo Saloniemi
I would think that considering the power the Hubble Space Telescope has today that in Star Trek's time the ability to see and detect objects in space in the Delta Quadrant would be considerable. Virtually all of the stars and possible star systems would be charted but without specifics. I'd think that Voyager's course would be set to avoid not just the stars themselves but their solar systems, which are alot larger of a target to hit. The exception would be to check out Sol-type stars that might have M-class planets to supply from.
Hitting any planets would be extremely unlikely. Hitting any "aura" of a star or its planets would be unlikely as well, because warping right next to a star appears to be fairly problem-free in Star Trek.
The Oort cloud of a star system might extend to a significant distance from the star, though - and since so many stars in Trek have systems, many probably have such clouds as well. Perhaps there would be some need to dodge Oort objects? Not that such clouds would be particularly dense, but the objects within might still be too much to be simply shoved aside by the deflectors.
Timo Saloniemi
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