Final cover for Raise the Dawn
- Thread starter toughlittleship
- Start date
Not to mention, I seem to remember that in one of the Season 8 DS9 books another race had docked at Empok Nor while Nog and his crew were gathering parts and started a little fire fight. So I would think that, besides the missing parts, there would be battle damage as well.
It's okay, they saved its braaaaaaain.
Nah, TMP Klingons simply had their spinal column arching up over the heads.
Why? Because the Federation had been kicking their butts ever since TOS and TAS.
Actually, it is. A space station like that should be able to last more than four decades. I mean, hell, the Pentagon still plans on using the B-52 bomber into the 2040s, when they'll be 90 years old. You'd think a space station could last longer.
It's also a fair sight easier for the USAF to get replacement parts from Boeing than it would be for Starfleet to get them from Cardassian defense contractors, though.
Had Terok Nor stayed a mining station, a longer lifespan would be expected. But the station's gone through several wars, been extensively modified, and moved about in space in ways it wasn't designed for. The station can only take so much stress...
It's also a fair sight easier for the USAF to get replacement parts from Boeing than it would be for Starfleet to get them from Cardassian defense contractors, though.
Not really. The war's over now, and the Cardassian Union's joined the Khitomer Alliance. Trade with Cardassian firms should be possible.
And that's assuming such trade is even necessary. There's no reason Starfleet shouldn't be able to replicate parts on its own.
If anything, no longer being in orbit of a planet should mean it's exposed to less stress overall. And there's no reason to think those modifications should shorten the station's lifespan, or that war damage hasn't been completely repaired. And on top of all that, the station isn't dealing with the constant stress of being in an atmosphere. I see no reason Deep Space 9 can't last a damn sight longer.
.
Conversely, an atmosphere can protect a structure from the micrometeorite bombardment and radiation damage it would get in deep space. Although I assume you're comparing DS9 to a structure on the ground, because in Bajor orbit it would've only been immersed in the most tenuous outer layers of atmosphere at most.
I still think its a station being built in the Gama Quadrant I mean it makes since seeing as the Dominion okayed them exploring it again and it helps defend Bajor's new friends.
Well, specifically, I was continuing my comparison of DS9 to the B-52 bomber, which, again, is projected to still be in use almost 90 years after its 1950s introduction.
^Right. And actually a better analogy for a space station would be something like a military base or a skyscraper or a factory or some other kind of stationary installation. A lot of those are still going strong after decades or longer. There are cathedrals in Europe that are still standing after centuries.
As far as the station being old and needing to be replaced, what about Earth Spacedock? That facility is older than DS9 and still in use so we have an in-universe study showing aging stations can still be useful.
However since Terok Nor was built as an ore processing station and to oversee the occupation of Bajor, it was not designed for wormhole monitoring and defense as well as to serve as a commercial hub. It was also no doubt designed to serve primarily Cardassian vessels whereas now that sector serves primarily Federation vessels.
So although DS9 is functional, it could use to be surplanted by a station built to serve the mission of DS9 instead of that of Terok Nor.
IF DS9 WERE to be replaced by a new facility, I imagine the new facility would still be named DS9 since it would serve the same purpose at the same location.
I can't imagine needing a major Starfleet on the other side of the wormhole. A monitoring station and small depot, maybe. But why build a major facility minutes away from the existing one?
However since Terok Nor was built as an ore processing station and to oversee the occupation of Bajor, it was not designed for wormhole monitoring and defense as well as to serve as a commercial hub. It was also no doubt designed to serve primarily Cardassian vessels whereas now that sector serves primarily Federation vessels.
So although DS9 is functional, it could use to be surplanted by a station built to serve the mission of DS9 instead of that of Terok Nor.
IF DS9 WERE to be replaced by a new facility, I imagine the new facility would still be named DS9 since it would serve the same purpose at the same location.
I can't imagine needing a major Starfleet on the other side of the wormhole. A monitoring station and small depot, maybe. But why build a major facility minutes away from the existing one?
Of course, the single most utilitarian thing they could do with DS9 would be to flip its upper and lower pylons around so that they face outwards rather than inwards. But I digress...
To establish Federation control of--cough, cough, excuse me--secure the peace at the Gamma Quadrant wormhole terminus, obviously.
Why build Tijuana right across the border from San Diego? Or Windsor right across the border from Detroit?
The wormhole is a short trip, but it's a bottleneck. If there were enough allies and colonies on the Gamma side that traffic to and from the local Federation port became heavy, it would make more sense to have a self-sustaining port on the Gamma side, so all that heavy traffic doesn't have to get backed up at the wormhole.
And of course there's the strategic factor. The wormhole is a vital passage and it only makes sense to keep it well-defended, and you can't do that from only one side.
^Makes sense.
However in the examples you state, these border towns are on either side of a sovereign territory border. Does anyone have claim to the other side of the wormhole?
My worry would be 2 ports (one on either side) ran by the same sovereign entity could add administrative confusion. However, if export/import traffic is heavy for both sides and UFP members have several colonies on the Gamma side I understand the logic for the move.
From a defensive point of view, I only see the need for a small station that is an extention of DS9, under the same command. Then DS9 can send crew and ships over to defend the gamma side as needed. As is, there appears to be no threat on the Gamma side.
I'm sure at least the bean counters at Starfleet Command have made this argument. With Starfleet stretched as thin as it is, aren't its exploratory and defensive resources better spent elsewhere? The Bajor sector isn't the hotbed of activity it was a few years ago. Are we afraid the Dominion or other enemy might take advantage of the Borg invasion and attack? Would resources be better spent along the Typhon Pact border?
Has commercial traffic shifted greatly to the alpha quadrant now that closer worlds are in need of supplies or has the havok brought on by the Borg brought an increase in demand for Gamma Quad goods?
However in the examples you state, these border towns are on either side of a sovereign territory border. Does anyone have claim to the other side of the wormhole?
My worry would be 2 ports (one on either side) ran by the same sovereign entity could add administrative confusion. However, if export/import traffic is heavy for both sides and UFP members have several colonies on the Gamma side I understand the logic for the move.
From a defensive point of view, I only see the need for a small station that is an extention of DS9, under the same command. Then DS9 can send crew and ships over to defend the gamma side as needed. As is, there appears to be no threat on the Gamma side.
I'm sure at least the bean counters at Starfleet Command have made this argument. With Starfleet stretched as thin as it is, aren't its exploratory and defensive resources better spent elsewhere? The Bajor sector isn't the hotbed of activity it was a few years ago. Are we afraid the Dominion or other enemy might take advantage of the Borg invasion and attack? Would resources be better spent along the Typhon Pact border?
Has commercial traffic shifted greatly to the alpha quadrant now that closer worlds are in need of supplies or has the havok brought on by the Borg brought an increase in demand for Gamma Quad goods?
I'm not going to spoil it for you, but have a look at this high resolution cover to get your answer.
http://d28hgpri8am2if.cloudfront.net/book_images/cvr9781451649574_9781451649574_hr.jpg
Where have we seen it - and perhaps more importantly, with which ship was it? (If it was the Enterprise-D, then that means that due to scaling it must've been rebuilt/replaced with a suspiciously similar counterpart at some point after the TOS movies, which makes it hard to put an age on it. If it was some point on DS9 that I'm forgetting, that might not be the case.)
