Spoilers Ship construction and configuration after the 25th century

[Unimatrix Q]

In "People of Earth" we learnt that the configuration and metallurgy of starfleet ships apparently changed around or after the end of the 25th century.

The changes seem to be big, considering that people in the 32nd century apparently had an easy time to recognize the approximate dating of when the Discovery was constructed after only being aboard for a short time.

So, let's discuss the possible changes.

 

[Timo]

Well, moving on from the use of tritanium and duranium as hull materials ought to do the trick. The former might in fact have been something introduced at the lower limit of the DSC-specified time window, because although it's found everywhere, even the ability to melt it (or to pour it into the shape that we then see melted?) is beyond TNG technology...

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Deks]

Well, moving on from the use of tritanium and duranium as hull materials ought to do the trick. The former might in fact have been something introduced at the lower limit of the DSC-specified time window, because although it's found everywhere, even the ability to melt it (or to pour it into the shape that we then see melted?) is beyond TNG technology...

Timo Saloniemi

Well, there ARE materials today which can be burned and destroyed... but not melted in real life. Crosslinked polymers, both rubbery and glassy are such examples.

So, we can SHAPE things into those materials, and we can even recycle those materials (if we bothered to do so), but melting them is not doable (yet).

But on the other hand, the Federation CAN vaporize Tritanium (as evidenced from multiple examples - like the Borg cube)... just not melt it.

It seems strange that you can make/shape, vaporize and recycle a material, but not melt it (especially because usually, vaporization requires MORE energy compared to melting).

In "People of Earth" we learnt that the configuration and metallurgy of starfleet ships apparently changed around or after the end of the 25th century.

The changes seem to be big, considering that people in the 32nd century apparently had an easy time to recognize the approximate dating of when the Discovery was constructed after only being aboard for a short time.

So, let's discuss the possible changes.

Well, the Federation did have access to a disabled Planet Killer since the mid 23rd century, which was made out of solid Neutronium.
You'd think that Neutronium would be something the Federation would have been able to make on its own after about 10 to 50 years of studying that thing so that ships would have this alloy integrated into their superstructure by the 24th century, because 150 alien worlds working together with exponential developments and returns would EASILY make this happen with or without that 'trinket'... but, alas, we saw that starships continued to be made with a combination Tritanium and Duranium alloys in the late 24th century.

The 32nd century SF ships on the other hand DO have neutronium alloys (erm, FIBERS), along with organic, holographic ones, etc. (which actually seems more realistic for early 25th century Starfleet development).

If we take into account what was stated on-screen, we would probably have to say that SF managed to reproduce Neutronium by 25th century in great enough amounts for incorporating it into its ships hulls.

Its also possible that ships made out of 'solid neutronium' aren't particularly efficient. As we know from real life, mixing various alloys together to get the benefits of all those alloys with minimal or none of their drawbacks produces better results than just using a single alloy.

So, Neutronium (for example) could have become one of many base alloys used in starship construction past 25th century (and for all we know, Tritanium and Duranium could still be in use, just as supplemental alloys to provide their benefits).

 

[publiusr]

I think Enterprise J was the last ship to have super materials and a great SIF both. I read something about magnetars “the vacuum itself is polarized...like a calcite crystal. This explains how Spock stayed with Enterprise in Immunity Syndrome and why ships now need no physical support. But the all field approach probably served as a waveguide for the Burn’s death shout. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it :/

 

[Mark_Nguyen]

The different metallurgy of the ship materials could suggest that the elements in the alloys could have changed too. There are several different kinds of steel today, and all of them are alloys of iron, carbon and a little bit of other stuff. Duranium or tritanium may still be in use in the 32nd, but the way that these fundamental building blocks are made and their alloying processes may have completely changed in the interim centuries.

Mark

 

[Go-Captain]

Seems weird they couldn't nail it down to less than a 300 year period, we can do better with the Ancient Greeks, not that there can't be reasons for it. Anyway, the mid to late 2400's could be the period where ships start using wacky materials like organic hulls, holographic hulls, and programmable matter. That would be a distinct transition point no one would miss. It has to be post PIC since we have no evidence of that period's ships being anything unusual in comparison to the TNG era 20 years prior.

 

[Timo]

...not that there can't be reasons for it

Ancient Greeks might be a good example of players who, while seemingly divided politically, really were utterly monobloc technologically. The early UFP probably wouldn't be, it taking time for the national quirks of Vulcan or Tellarite shipwrights to cease to be.

Would the UFP become more homogeneous towards DSC S3? Or would there be a constant influx of new members who would upset the tech progress? Vance's Starfleet might still pose the same problem to future historians as Cornwell's does to Vance.

Possibly the one era-defining superpower of the UFP would be the killing of ideas: while anybody could innovate, it takes a federal ruling to declare a specific technology or material outdated and downright dangerous, this ban then coming to effect UFP-wide at once...

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Go-Captain]

Ancient Greeks might be a good example of players who, while seemingly divided politically, really were utterly monobloc technologically. The early UFP probably wouldn't be, it taking time for the national quirks of Vulcan or Tellarite shipwrights to cease to be.

Would the UFP become more homogeneous towards DSC S3? Or would there be a constant influx of new members who would upset the tech progress? Vance's Starfleet might still pose the same problem to future historians as Cornwell's does to Vance.

Possibly the one era-defining superpower of the UFP would be the killing of ideas: while anybody could innovate, it takes a federal ruling to declare a specific technology or material outdated and downright dangerous, this ban then coming to effect UFP-wide at once...

Timo Saloniemi

Starfleet and the major powers might have fairly uniform technology, but the way I expect it would work is there is no centralized technology authority, and no free technological transfer, except for humanitarian technologies. If a member wants better technology they either have send students to alien schools and make it themselves, or make trade deals with other members. That would foster novel directions in innovation, and allow civilizations to change on their own terms instead of being dictated to and driven onto the same technologies, standards, and uses as everyone else.

Otherwise all that pre-warp isolation is rather pointless.

 

[valkyrie013]

Let's look at it I like aircraft at first it was cloth, wood and string. next it was aluminum some stainless steel now it's all Composites, carbon fiber in the technology moves forward and maybe the Alloys that they make it in the 23rd 24th century got replaced by better Alloys and 25th stuff like organic compounds may be different stuff like neutronium maybe different from certain phase variances the possibilities are endless

 

[C.E. Evans]

I'm surprised starships in the 32nd-Century aren't semi-organic and could actually be considered life-forms. Hmph, maybe some of them are...

 

[publiusr]

Let's look at it I like aircraft at first it was cloth, wood and string....technology moves forward

Well...maybe sideways?

Speaking of the 25th Century... Buck’s ship took a hit from Ardala’s Hatchet fighters but didn’t come apart.

Now, the Thunderfighter we see Wilma in might have solid hydrogen for a hull...not much of a force field perhaps...but an inertial dampener such that you don’t need that...you just dump airspeed and come down slowly.

Buck’s craft was a shuttle type. It re-enters! It has tiles. Hatchet-fire only scorched it for that reason.

Today’s Predator drone would be eaten alive by a P-51 or FW-190.

A pawn can kill a queen

 

[Go-Captain]

I'm surprised starships in the 32nd-Century aren't semi-organic and could actually be considered life-forms. Hmph, maybe some of them are...

DIS S3 mentions organic hulls, holographic hulls, I think neutronium fibers, and there should be programmable matter hulls. But all of that got mentioned in a gee whiz info dump not relevant to the story, so it never got explored in any detail. It's a wonder we got an explanation for how the detached nacelles work, but it's too bad it's magnetism.

 

[publiusr]

Magnetism can be quite strong. Look up the term “magnetar” on the web and be amazed.

If I were in a metal spaceship.,.and had to pass near a black hole or a magnetar near it?

I’ll pick the black hole every time

 

[Unimatrix Q]

One thing nobody really talked about are possible changes in the configuration of the ships that happened over the centuries.

From what we've seen (e.g. Book's ship) everything inside looked kinda similar to what we know from the 23rd and 24th century.