• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Warp Drive in Star Trek Into Darkness - [SPOILERS]

Are faster warp speeds really an issue in what will likely be a three or four movie series?
 
Are faster warp speeds really an issue in what will likely be a three or four movie series?

Nope. We have no idea just how much warp drive has changed as a result of the timeline change so chalk any difference up to that.
 
I remember in ST09, Chekov says if Mr. Scott can maintain Warp 4. This is after Kirk takes command and they're coming up with a plan to attack Nero. The Constitution cruised at 6. Apparently the JJ-Prise is so big, they couldn't keep up with the NX-01.
 
Are faster warp speeds really an issue in what will likely be a three or four movie series?
Warp speeds have only ever been important for conveying the idea of:
Slow (¼-, ½-, ¾-impulse — just cruising local)
Faster (Warp 1-3 — interstellar, but no major hurry)
Fast (Warp 4-6 — some urgency, 'cos we're on a schedule now)
Haul ass (Warp 7-Maximum warp)​
So no, not really an issue - they still do exactly the same thing.

EDIT:

I remember in ST09, Chekov says if Mr. Scott can maintain Warp 4. This is after Kirk takes command and they're coming up with a plan to attack Nero.
This is also after Enterprise has taken a pounding on arriving at Vulcan. Damaged ship not as fast as undamaged ship - seemples.
 
Last edited:
Or the warp scale is simply different...

Yup, exactly how it's been different two or three times already now.

And even if it isn't. How many times did we see Kirk cruise away from a situation at warp factor one?

It's beginning to become ridiculous the things people pick on this film for. It essentially comes down to "it's too fun".
 
Or the warp scale is simply different...

Yup, exactly how it's been different two or three times already now.

And even if it isn't. How many times did we see Kirk cruise away from a situation at warp factor one?

It's beginning to become ridiculous the things people pick on this film for. It essentially comes down to "it's too fun".

Yeah, it was always Warp 1 away from a planet, or for some reason taking a jaunt at impulse across the system for fun. There could be any number of reasons the new universe speeds seem or are different, none are essential to the story.
 
And yet warping in a solar system is a big no-no, according to The Motion Picture and DS9: "By Inferno's Light"

Damn that canon-violating original series!
 
The new films *do* have standardised warp factors. When the Enterprise is at maximum warp the viewscreen infront of Sulu and Chekov reads Warp 4.25 twice during the movie.

I thought the maximum velocity was warp 7, or something. I did see that somewhere, I'm sure, so hearing warp 4 in the movie I thought it was a bit slow to catch up to a ship from the later 24th century.

And in TOS "The Enterprise Incident" Kirk orders warp 9 for, I think, the only time of the series.

This is also after Enterprise has taken a pounding on arriving at Vulcan. Damaged ship not as fast as undamaged ship - seemples.

A pounding ? It was hit once.
 
When they go to full impulse. Kirk does a captain's log where he says this.

And in DS9 they do mention it as well. It's a bit of a story contrivance so they usually ignore it, but it makes sense from a physical standpoint (bending space around a gravity well is presumably problematic.)
 
A pounding ? It was hit once.

Sickbay was destroyed, main power and shields were below 35%, Spock mentions that there are radiation leaks in the lower levels, damage crews are attending all over the ship and even on trying to catch up to the Narada they mention they're still trying to get the warp drive back to full power.

Sulu even states they can't 'take another hit like that', it damaged a lot more than we were shown.
 
I know, I know. I just thought "pounding" implied more than one hit.
Okay. For "a pounding" substitute "significant damage," and it should still work.

In essence: "We're too broken to go top speed, but if we go just fast enough and take the shortcut, we still might be in time to head the bad guys off at the pass."
 
When they go to full impulse. Kirk does a captain's log where he says this.

In that circumstance they're trying out untested engines for the first time, and no doubt no oen wants them doing in near Earth. Note that they go straight to warp from Earth orbit at the end of the movie, which refutes the idea that it's dangerous.
 
It's definitely the horizontal rim thet visited, according to "By Any Other Name":
ROJAN: There is an energy barrier at the rim of your galaxy.
KIRK: Yes, I know. We've been there.
Problem there King Daniel Into Darkness is this, if you take into account the real world orientation of the Milky way galaxy and the Andromeda galaxy what you're describing makes no sense.

Try this, stand up and hold your right arm straight out to your side, then drop your right hand a little over a foot and a half, now point your index finger.

Now if you're the Earth/Federation, and the center of the galaxy is directly behind you, and the closest "rim" of the galaxy is right in front of you, your finger is pointed at Andromeda.

Traveling from the general area of the Federation (as described by Picard) towards Andromeda, you will have dropped below the plain of our galaxy long before you reached the "rim." It would be the same for the Kelvin traveling from Andromeda to the area of the Federation, they wouldn't pass through the "rim."

Unless by "rim," they mean the entire outer boundary of the galaxy. Certainly nothing in WNMHGB suggests that they didn't travel up or down (relative to the plain) to reach the edge of the galaxy. And Kirk did say in BAON that they had traveled to the "rim" before.

The Enterprise in ... TAS visited ... the centre of the galaxy ("Magicks of Megas Tu")
And don't forget the movie TFF. But did they travel to the exact center of the Galaxy, or towards the general area of the galaxy's interior? If you were to say that you were traveling to America's center, most likely you would be referring to somewhere in the mid-west, and not specifically to the little town of Lebanon, Kansas.

:)
 
Last edited:
In that circumstance they're trying out untested engines for the first time, and no doubt no oen wants them doing in near Earth. Note that they go straight to warp from Earth orbit at the end of the movie, which refutes the idea that it's dangerous.

I think that's speculation. We don't know how long it is from Kirk's final words to the warp-out.

And I don't see how trying out the engines requires you to get to Neptune or anything.
 
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top