Ships Traveling the Galaxy in the ST universe.

[Timo]

I remember the idea that the Galaxy-class was that design.

The idea could also be that it's Galaxy class, not Galaxy class. That is, since all the ships are named after galaxies, it's analogous to the various Royal Navy "Town classes" or "County classes" that never feature an HMS Town or an HMS County but merely utilize thematic names.

Not that I'd be happy with these ships actually visiting faraway galaxies within a few years. Nearby dwarf galaxies, yes, and perhaps within a decade or two. So...

Given that ships move at the speed of plot, just how long can a mission be in terms of time?

Three decades might well be doable. There would be some deaths or retirements among the crew, but perhaps also some births leading to new crew serving for a decade or more towards the end of the mission. But the ship in question might need to have a bit more room and amenities than Kirk's TOS ride, and perhaps a bit more self-repair capacity. Still doable with TOS technology, I'd wager.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Tim Walker]

The satellite galaxies of the Milky Way might have a status similar to Mars in our contemporary world-capturing the imagination. And at the top of the list for future expeditions...someday.

 

[Ithekro]

Well the Galaxy-class would fit at least by having a large ship with families and seemingly all basic needs and wants taken care of with ease via the holodeck and replicator systems. Also the warp core seems to be able to handle long duration high speed cruising with not effort until they start pushing well past warp 9.

Now if the warp scale was to the 5th power and not restricted by a warp 10 limiter, that a Galaxy type vessel could make Andromeda at Warp 13 in about 6 or 7 years. Think the "All Good Things..." Enterprise at Warp 13 using that scale. But instead have it be a Kelvin based hull with those super huge warp nacelles. Out beyond the edge of the Galaxy, with less stuff (maybe) to get in the way? Full throttle with less need to correct course to evade gravity wells.

 

[C.E. Evans]

Now if the warp scale was to the 5th power and not restricted by a warp 10 limiter, that a Galaxy type vessel could make Andromeda at Warp 13 in about 6 or 7 years. Think the "All Good Things..." Enterprise at Warp 13 using that scale.

The old FASA TNG Officer's Manual suggested a fifth power warp scale for the Galaxy-class, back when it was published in '88.

 

[Drone]

Paris merely described it is as impossible, even with his Threshold experience, but what was Voyager likely clocking on the contemporaneous velocity scale for the few seconds it experienced the Kes Booster? Not that it could have been maintained for much longer, per Harry.

 

[Tim Walker]

There is the old idea of putting astronauts in hibernation for a long space flight. This technology seems to be developed fairly early in the Trek universe. As exploration covers longer distances, are we likely to see hibernation used by Star Fleet?

 

[Avro Arrow]

There is the old idea of putting astronauts in hibernation for a long space flight. This technology seems to be developed fairly early in the Trek universe.

Yes, at least as early as 18 years ago!

As exploration covers longer distances, are we likely to see hibernation used by Star Fleet?

We don't know if he was in Starfleet, but according to Harry Kim, one of his uncles lead an interstellar expedition in 2210 where the crew was kept in stasis. (Even though TOS said sleeper ships were obsolete by 2018.)

 

[Ithekro]

Guess they thought the trip to Beta Capricus (328 light years) would be boring for the science team. Even if the ship could make Warp 7, it would take a year to get there at that speed. As it turned out they went to some sort of sensor echo that wasn't a real place and returned to Earth.

Since the trip took only six months one way, one can assume that they were making Warp Factor 9 almost the whole way. Perhaps in order to do so, they needed more power than a ship could handle with a full crew? Especially for a ship over 30 years older than the Enterprise (NCC-1701). Roughly around the time the USS Kelvin would have been built (she seemed old in Star Trek.)

 

[C.E. Evans]

There is the old idea of putting astronauts in hibernation for a long space flight. This technology seems to be developed fairly early in the Trek universe. As exploration covers longer distances, are we likely to see hibernation used by Star Fleet?

I think we're more likely to see faster engines developed, be it more powerful warp drives or new slipstream drives.

In the meantime, we could see more ships on five- to ten-year exploration missions, each one contributing to the greater whole.

 

[SPCTRE]

I am trying to be too literal minded with a piece of fiction.

What?! That's a ridiculous notion! This is Star Trek we're talking about, do you hear? Star Trek!

 

[F. King Daniel]

I am trying to be too literal minded with a piece of fiction.

What?! That's a ridiculous notion! This is Star Trek we're talking about, do you hear? Star Trek!

HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS!!!!

 

[T'Girl]

As exploration covers longer distances, are we likely to see hibernation used by Star Fleet?

In one of my old fan fics, Starfleet was using hibernation for a portion of the crews toward the end of the Romulan War because it was taking starships months to reach the battle front.

In the story, entire fighter squardants were frozen, the same with ground troops.

We don't know if he was in Starfleet, but according to Harry Kim, one of his uncles lead an interstellar expedition in 2210 where the crew was kept in stasis. (Even though TOS said sleeper ships were obsolete by 2018.)

Stasis and the type of hybernation seen in Space Seed might be different enough for McGivers not to consider them to be the same.

 

[SPCTRE]

I am trying to be too literal minded with a piece of fiction.

What?! That's a ridiculous notion! This is Star Trek we're talking about, do you hear? Star Trek!

HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS!!!!

 

[Tim Walker]

I think we're more likely to see faster engines developed, be it more powerful warp drives or new slipstream drives.

In the meantime, we could see more ships on five- to ten-year exploration missions, each one contributing to the greater whole.

It occurs to me that raising the maximum safe cruising speed would extend the range of exploration. Not necessarily the maximum emergency speed.

 

[C.E. Evans]

I think we're more likely to see faster engines developed, be it more powerful warp drives or new slipstream drives.

In the meantime, we could see more ships on five- to ten-year exploration missions, each one contributing to the greater whole.

It occurs to me that raising the maximum safe cruising speed would extend the range of exploration. Not necessarily the maximum emergency speed.

It would equate to the same thing any way you look at it (either higher cruising and maximum speeds in the existing warp scale or faster warp factors in a new warp scale).

Then again, something like slipstream drive could do away with warp factors altogether and make it more an issue of how far a ship can go rather than how fast.

 

[Tim Walker]

On another forum it was commented that in the Trek universe, it would take a probe a century to reach one of the dwarf satellite galaxies. If you think back....if you could have launched an intergalactic probe at the start of World War I, would you? Knowing that it wouldn't reach its destination until the year 2014?

 

[publiusr]

I don't know for sure if it's what Vonda had in mind, but DC Comics, whose ongoing series was loosely in continuity with the novels at the time, assumed "Galaxy class" meant what we now call "Miranda class" (although elsewhere they also used FASA's "Reliant class" designation for that ship type)

Rather than an amazing new ship type, I think the assumption was that the Kelvan superwarp formula was being used.

That would be interesting. A cross-canon engine design that is specifically for very long range travel.

Either Starfleet stopped making these in the 24th century, or perhaps they intended to send one to rescue USS Voyager....once one got home from another galaxy.

A proto FASA Decker class comes to mind--or that Bozeman concept Neil Rodis di would be a good candidate.

The way I might argue--is that some type of focal line (See deep space mission to the solar foci) allowed fast travel to a nearby cluster on a one time basis.

 

[wulfio]

On another forum it was commented that in the Trek universe, it would take a probe a century to reach one of the dwarf satellite galaxies. If you think back....if you could have launched an intergalactic probe at the start of World War I, would you? Knowing that it wouldn't reach its destination until the year 2014?

If you could start researching a technique for curing all diseases, or a completely renewable clean energy source, but know that the research wouldn't be complete in your life time, would you?

 

[Ithekro]

In today's society if it needed government funding? Probably not. If it goes past the chance that someone can gain political points for its success or failure, they just won't likely do it.

 

[Timo]

Government funding has never played that big a part in long term research, not even when terms in office were determined by the lifespans of kings. Yet researchers themselves readily engage in eternity projects, and quite often prefer those over immediate-return ones.

I doubt an intergalactic prove would really require government funding in the Trek environment. It's not astronomically high above personal transportation in complexity and cost after the 21st century - it's in fact fairly mundane business, quite comparable to today's or yesterday's engineers fiddling with cars and tractors to create tanks and roving robots. Or even hopping onto a stock car and driving around the world. The publicity alone would float the commercial boat.

Timo Saloniemi