'Nemesis' - Enterprise repairs and starship construction

[BolianAuthor]

I would think it's alot easier to replace component modules and hull plating
than it would be to build a ship from scratch, assembling the entire ship
infastucture and framework.

But we are talking about actually replacing areas that aren't there anymore which means, reconstructing infrastructure and framework on the frontal saucer section.
You saw the extent of the damage ...

And most of the damage was already repaired. Numerous hull plates were missing indeed, but it wasn't incredibly much.

As for the time frame being a month.
Color me crazy, but in my opinion that's way too much time for an officer to be debriefed and to depart to his next command.
By that analogy, it must have been decades for Janeway to undergo debriefing for her 7 years of being in the DQ.

Scanning B4 wouldn't take long at all ... give it half a day for thorough examination.
Besides, Picard wasn't entirely sure what to do with him either and left things open in that regard.

Deks,

When I talk about scanning B4, I'm not talking about running a tricorder over him for a few hours... I'm talking really in-depth stuff, like bringing Cmdr. Maddox on board, and having him and Geordi do a comprehensive breakdown, testing, and workup of all of B4's structure and ability, as well as testing, to see if somehow, B4 can be "expanded" to something resembling Data's level of AI. Basically doing an in-depth study of B4.

Also, you have to take into consideration the time frame... we can assume that this movie takes place very shortly after the end of the Dominion War... you of all people have to know that Starfleet's shipyards are gonna be inundated with work overflow for a LONG time, considering the epic amounts of ships that were lost in the war, and the massive rebuilding that has to be taking place. Yard crews will prioritize, yes, but it's also a matter of equipment availability, yard team availability, parts fabrication speed, etcetera. I really don't think a month is out of the question at all.

 

[GodThingFormerly]

However, this changes radically when Riker hears that Picard is in trouble. This means haste: it's now necessary to finish the process ASAP, or then put it on hold. But the "on hold" option would probably mean slowing down the barge again after the initial, necessary acceleration, or then altering the course from the sun to empty space - both of which might actually take longer than the other options. Not to mention that the barge would probably split open in the meantime and prevent further action.

What Riker should have done after Geordi managed to screw up the RCS retrofit procedure was transfer the entire ship's complement to the E-D's battle section, split the vessel, and then use the saucer section to leisurely tractor that garbage scow into the star's photosphere under remote control while keeping the cobrahead safely outside the radiation zone, and I find your argument for a spherical asteroid "belt" in a system with just one stellar primary even more unconvincing today than I did back in 2005 thanks to my recent contemplation of Alessandro Morbidelli's Modern Celestial Mechanics: Aspects of Solar System Dynamics. You're a smart guy, Timo, but even your Odyssean cleverness isn't sufficient to rescue this turkey from the chopping block.

TGT

 

[Timo]

...To be sure, we have no proof of the tractoring abilities of the saucer section. Sure, it has good sublight propulsion - but as the episode indicated, the quality of the tractor beam is crucial at high towing strain, and the "winch" of the saucer might not have had the oomph of its battle section counterpart.

Granted, though, that there's very little to be done about that spherical asteroid belt. Unless, of course, the belt and the planet orbit at essentially the same distance, and the planet is in the belt for all practical purposes...

The one remaining problem is how the hell the barge got caught in low and seemingly circular orbit around the planet if its engines were indeed dead. Now, why it got caught could be explained fairly easily: the barge wasn't just wandering aimlessly, but was intended to reach that specific planet, quite possibly out of malevolence. But if LaForge could verify that the engines hadn't been fired up for centuries, and if the radiation that spanned hundreds of kilometers of vacuum and atmosphere had only appeared suddenly rather than been observed from afar, then the how of it becomes quite a mystery. We might have to assume that LaForge missed something obvious about the engines - perhaps even the existence of a jettisonable and jettisoned braking stage.

That the hero ship was readily equipped with these rocket modules is interesting in itself. A couple of episodes like "Relics" hinge on the ship's advanced sublight drive becoming inoperable; perhaps these rough and ready rockets could have remained functioning and saved the day? Then again, to be of any real worth, the modules would have to feature impulse drive technology, and thus might not survive circumstances that knock out the ship's own drive.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[GodThingFormerly]

...To be sure, we have no proof of the tractoring abilities of the saucer section. Sure, it has good sublight propulsion - but as the episode indicated, the quality of the tractor beam is crucial at high towing strain, and the "winch" of the saucer might not have had the oomph of its battle section counterpart.

But why would it need the "oomph" (assuming, of course, that the saucer even has a tractor beam emitter)? If the saucer is automated and therefore unmanned then the time-constraint is effectively removed from the equation unless the scow's emissions are so powerful that they begin frying the onboard systems.

Granted, though, that there's very little to be done about that spherical asteroid belt. Unless, of course, the belt and the planet orbit at essentially the same distance, and the planet is in the belt for all practical purposes...

The natives of Gamelan V would definitely save a wad of cash on fireworks displays if such is indeed the case, and it may also explain their somewhat unfortunate appearance.

The one remaining problem is how the hell the barge got caught in low and seemingly circular orbit around the planet if its engines were indeed dead. Now, why it got caught could be explained fairly easily: the barge wasn't just wandering aimlessly, but was intended to reach that specific planet, quite possibly out of malevolence. But if LaForge could verify that the engines hadn't been fired up for centuries, and if the radiation that spanned hundreds of kilometers of vacuum and atmosphere had only appeared suddenly rather than been observed from afar, then the how of it becomes quite a mystery. We might have to assume that LaForge missed something obvious about the engines - perhaps even the existence of a jettisonable and jettisoned braking stage.

It would have been nice for a character to at least mention the possibility of malign intent on screen, but I honestly don't think it even occurred to the episode writer/s (such as they were).

That the hero ship was readily equipped with these rocket modules is interesting in itself. A couple of episodes like "Relics" hinge on the ship's advanced sublight drive becoming inoperable; perhaps these rough and ready rockets could have remained functioning and saved the day? Then again, to be of any real worth, the modules would have to feature impulse drive technology, and thus might not survive circumstances that knock out the ship's own drive.

Presumably those thruster packs would be stored deep within the E-D's main shuttle bay until required, so they would have at least a little more protection than the ship's impulse engines which obviously require direct exposure to the space environment to function.

TGT