Because it sounds fast.
A turbocharger compresses gases going into a reciprocating internal combustion engine for increased power.
A turbojet, turboprop, turbofan, or turboshaft is a type of gas turbine engine.
As to turbolifts, probably "rule of cool."
A turbojet, turboprop, turbofan, or turboshaft is a type of gas turbine engine.
That's why 12Mhz or faster 286 AT-class DOS boxes of the late 1980s were called "turbo" ATs
As to turbolifts, probably "rule of cool."
My memory is that the moniker appeared in early TOS scripts, so I would imagine it was one (or more) of the writers?
Sam Peeples?
Or The Great Bird?
(you KNOW how he loved credits!)
I love the term, and however mal-descriptive (!) it is, it sounds pretty cool and just perfect!!!
Sam Peeples?
Or The Great Bird?
(you KNOW how he loved credits!)
I love the term, and however mal-descriptive (!) it is, it sounds pretty cool and just perfect!!!
I think TMOST even quotes memos, and/or Kellam DeForest reports, leading to the idea of something better than a simple elevator.
Turbowarp!
Same underlying mechanic that makes anything with racing stripes go faster
The "turbo-lasers" from SW actually make more sense: a gas turbine can generate the hot, fast-moving gases needed for a gas-dynamic laser.
Oh, and I forgot one in post #3: a turbopump is the usual mechanism for feeding fuel into a rocket engine. The turbopump for a Rocketdyne F-1 is the size of a small car, and puts out some 55k horsepower, driving some 42k gallons of kerosine and LOX into the combustion chamber per minute.
Oh, and I forgot one in post #3: a turbopump is the usual mechanism for feeding fuel into a rocket engine. The turbopump for a Rocketdyne F-1 is the size of a small car, and puts out some 55k horsepower, driving some 42k gallons of kerosine and LOX into the combustion chamber per minute.
As with so many things, The Making of Star Trek provided the answer. From p. 193: "The turbo-elevators operate in a way similar to huge pneumatic tubes, each elevator independently turbine-driven, controlled by computer-activated relays in the shaft that control and direct the air pressure created by the turbines." So it's like those old pneumatic message-tube delivery systems, but the individual capsules provide their own pressure/thrust, as I suppose they'd have to in order to accelerate or decelerate as needed.
Although as discussed in this thread, that isn't very plausible, because the shafts aren't airtight, and a pressure-driven system wouldn't work with multiple cars in the same tube. It also doesn't explain how they can move sideways.
Although as discussed in this thread, that isn't very plausible, because the shafts aren't airtight, and a pressure-driven system wouldn't work with multiple cars in the same tube. It also doesn't explain how they can move sideways.
Yes, it does. They're called turbolifts because they were originally intended by TOS's creators to be a pneumatic system powered by air turbines. What the original poster referred to as "a turbo" in a car engine is actually a turbocharger, which is called that because it uses a turbine to power the compressor. "Turbo-" is a prefix for a turbine-based device.
If it's an in-universe question of why the turbolifts we've seen in later shows are called that despite having no evident turbines, that's harder to answer. Maybe it's leftover terminology from an earlier version of the system.
But this is what the OP is asking???…
What @Christopher said. In posts #3 and #8, I cited specific examples of this. A turbocharger is an exhaust-turbine-driven supercharger (there are also belt-driven superchargers); the terms for various gas turbine engines start with "turbo" because the intake compressors (and fans, propellers, or output shafts that might drive anything from helicopter rotors to an electric generator) are all driven by turbines in the exhaust stream. Turbopumps on rocket engines are driven by the exhaust stream of a hot gas generator.
Johnny Carson's dimwitted yokel character was probably named "Floyd R. Turbo" because it sounded like the sort of name you'd find attached to a total yutz.
And for all we know, "Turbolift" could be some in-universe manufacturer's trademark.
Johnny Carson's dimwitted yokel character was probably named "Floyd R. Turbo" because it sounded like the sort of name you'd find attached to a total yutz.
And for all we know, "Turbolift" could be some in-universe manufacturer's trademark.
When Spock crossed from the ShuttleBay to the Bridge in 3.5 seconds on the USS Enterprise, his TurboLift was moving REALLY fast.
According to EC Henry, the TurboLifts in the JJ-verse USS Enterprise was 'Averaging 159 mph' with a 'Top-Speed of 317 mph' before decelerating.
Given Inertial Dampeners along with other crazy tech, that is very much in the realm of plausibility for a TurboLift to be moving that fast across the span of the ship.
No more long drawn out conversations within a TurboLift anymore, go have them in a corridor or conference room if you're in the JJ-verse.
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Why are internet video/radio talk shows called "podcasts", after all?
. . . and those seeds often came in fruiting bodies called . . . wait for it . . . PODS.
Incidentally, the TOS writers' bible spelled it "turbo-lift." It also used that term and "elevator" interchangeably. The Making of Star Trek mostly called them "turbo-elevators," a term only used onscreen in "Space Seed," though "elevator" was used in TMP and TWOK.
I've always wondered, why did an American production call them "lifts" when that's chiefly a British usage? I guess because "turbolift" (or "turbo-lift") is half the length of "turbo-elevator," so it's easier to say.
I've always wondered, why did an American production call them "lifts" when that's chiefly a British usage? I guess because "turbolift" (or "turbo-lift") is half the length of "turbo-elevator," so it's easier to say.
Why are internet video/radio talk shows called "podcasts", after all?
Nonsense, it’s because dolphins invented them. Everyone knows that!
