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Spoilers Starship Design in Star Trek: Picard

The downside is that there is probably some device or energy cost for keeping that Pocket Dimension open / live-able.

Nothing is free in life, there is always some sort of energy cost.

Keeping a Pocket Dimension of some form open probably doesn't come for free and there is a significant / on-going energy cost that isn't trivial to have your own pocket dimension.

If we follow inflationary theory then a pocket or bubble universe could be stable depending on its initial metric conditions, so while there'd be a high (VERY high) initial energy cost the bubble universe wouldn't need a power source to maintain it – it would just sort of be there. This is analogous to the "warp bubble" of Miguel Alcubierre's warp metric – once the bubble is created it's a "real" object, and one of the big unsolved issues with Alcubierre's original theory and the subsequent revisions are that it's not clear how to shut it down or open it up, and thus how to get anything out of the bubble's interior.

Of course if you were going to build a ship in that bubble universe you'd need power to run the ship, but that's a different issue. (Never mind how you can get into and out of a causally disconnected part of spacetime – a door would be VERY interesting from a physics perspective, and is potentially a mathematical impossibility). But the point is that while the TARDIS running out of power might kill the lights and life support, it wouldn't necessarily make the interior space collapse.
 
We saw Wesley Crusher create a pocket universe in “Remember Me”, I guess several hundred years examining his experiment might have been the basis for Federation TARDIS technology.
Shut up, Wesley!

If we follow inflationary theory then a pocket or bubble universe could be stable depending on its initial metric conditions, so while there'd be a high (VERY high) initial energy cost the bubble universe wouldn't need a power source to maintain it – it would just sort of be there. This is analogous to the "warp bubble" of Miguel Alcubierre's warp metric – once the bubble is created it's a "real" object, and one of the big unsolved issues with Alcubierre's original theory and the subsequent revisions are that it's not clear how to shut it down or open it up, and thus how to get anything out of the bubble's interior.

Of course if you were going to build a ship in that bubble universe you'd need power to run the ship, but that's a different issue. (Never mind how you can get into and out of a causally disconnected part of spacetime – a door would be VERY interesting from a physics perspective, and is potentially a mathematical impossibility). But the point is that while the TARDIS running out of power might kill the lights and life support, it wouldn't necessarily make the interior space collapse.
Weird...
 
This is one of the reasons why the Culture build Orbitals in the novels of Iain M Banks. A typical Orbital has a diameter of 10 million kilometres and a surface area about a hundred times that of Earth. Even for a population of tens of billions everyone gets an enormous amount of space – essentially a small country all to themselves – and it preserves planet surfaces as "natural wildernesses".
That's ALOT of room for 1x person.

If we follow inflationary theory then a pocket or bubble universe could be stable depending on its initial metric conditions, so while there'd be a high (VERY high) initial energy cost the bubble universe wouldn't need a power source to maintain it – it would just sort of be there. This is analogous to the "warp bubble" of Miguel Alcubierre's warp metric – once the bubble is created it's a "real" object, and one of the big unsolved issues with Alcubierre's original theory and the subsequent revisions are that it's not clear how to shut it down or open it up, and thus how to get anything out of the bubble's interior.

Of course if you were going to build a ship in that bubble universe you'd need power to run the ship, but that's a different issue. (Never mind how you can get into and out of a causally disconnected part of spacetime – a door would be VERY interesting from a physics perspective, and is potentially a mathematical impossibility). But the point is that while the TARDIS running out of power might kill the lights and life support, it wouldn't necessarily make the interior space collapse.
Assuming you figure out how much power is needed to create a Stable Pocket Dimension of X m³ volume, you got to make a door to it, how do you attach it to something and make it travel with you?

The Pocket Dimension is attached to "The TARDIS" or the 31st century shuttlecraft.

The fact that the door is mobile and attached to something in normal space is fascinating and that door is potentially mobile.

That opens up alot of possibilities and fixes real estate "Land Issues" for nearly everybody if you can figure out how to mass produce it.

After that you need to figure out how to keep it powered with proper Environmental Systems, build out your facilities, etc.

Basically, you're building a space station within a pocket dimension.
 
That's ALOT of room for 1x person.

Yep. If we assume the same population as the Earth spread out across the entire Orbital, every person would have over six square kilometres to themselves (about two-and-a-half square miles), or roughly equivalent to the size of Gibraltar. That's a hell of a garden. In the Culture, Orbitals are generally regarded as the equivalent of "rustic living" because although they can support enormous populations and can theoretically have vast cities, their population density is so low that you could easily live in magnificent isolation and never see another living soul even on an Orbital with a population of billions. The "urban living" equivalent are the Culture ships, especially the GSVs.

Assuming you figure out how much power is needed to create a Stable Pocket Dimension of X m³ volume, you got to make a door to it, how do you attach it to something and make it travel with you?

Well that's rather the problem. We have no idea if it's even possible to have a door, and in fact it might not be. This is where it gets very handwavy. (In Alcubierre's original model and in subsequent modified versions, the bubble is generated around you, and then somehow removed when you reach your intended destination. There are a number of other issues to consider, such as anything inside the bubble is causally separated from the outside and so you can't see or interact or affect anything on the outside, including the bubble itself. Steering it would be... problematic. And when you turn the bubble off – assuming you can – it might explode and vaporise everything inside it and around it.)

Basically, you're building a space station within a pocket dimension.

Which is, I'd argue, the relatively easy part!
 
Yep. If we assume the same population as the Earth spread out across the entire Orbital, every person would have over six square kilometres to themselves (about two-and-a-half square miles), or roughly equivalent to the size of Gibraltar. That's a hell of a garden. In the Culture, Orbitals are generally regarded as the equivalent of "rustic living" because although they can support enormous populations and can theoretically have vast cities, their population density is so low that you could easily live in magnificent isolation and never see another living soul even on an Orbital with a population of billions. The "urban living" equivalent are the Culture ships, especially the GSVs.
Not everybody likes being crammed in like sardines. Some people like it, others like the peaceful country-side.
It's all up to personal preference.


Well that's rather the problem. We have no idea if it's even possible to have a door, and in fact it might not be. This is where it gets very handwavy. (In Alcubierre's original model and in subsequent modified versions, the bubble is generated around you, and then somehow removed when you reach your intended destination. There are a number of other issues to consider, such as anything inside the bubble is causally separated from the outside and so you can't see or interact or affect anything on the outside, including the bubble itself. Steering it would be... problematic. And when you turn the bubble off – assuming you can – it might explode and vaporise everything inside it and around it.)
For it to be useful, you should have a door to the outside/normal world, otherwise you're just trapping yourself inside a pocket dimension, you'll eventually starve or run out of oxygen.


Which is, I'd argue, the relatively easy part!
Nothing about that sounds easy, just look at how big the Tardis is on the inside.
 
For it to be useful, you should have a door to the outside/normal world, otherwise you're just trapping yourself inside a pocket dimension, you'll eventually starve or run out of oxygen.

Well then, you see the problem...

Nothing about that sounds easy, just look at how big the Tardis is on the inside.

But we can build big things now. We can even build space stations now. Building something to put inside a bubble universe would be vastly, hugely, mindbogglingly easy compared to building the bubble universe itself.
 
Actually, it is a true TARDIS situation with a pocket dimension, or a very elaborate holodeck that gives the impression of space when its using transporter buffers instead?
 
IMG-0629.jpg

Just a thought… the Nova Class concept designs from the TNG Technical Manual… The design on the top right could be the Ent-J from top down perspective, if you squint a bit…
The upper-left design reminds me a little of this.
TNG Enterprise D Separated 1a.jpg
 
IIRC, the idea proposed with these concepts was that Starfleet would be leaning towards smaller designs after the Galaxy-class--that perhaps the Galaxy-class was the pinnacle as far as how big a starship should be, and that it was better for the fleet to consist of more compact vessels that was more efficient as far as the use of interior space.

The design on the lower right corner would ditch the tradition of a forward saucer section in lieu of just a forward stardrive section that would pull a number of swappable crew and mission modules not unlike train cars.
 
IIRC, the idea proposed with these concepts was that Starfleet would be leaning towards smaller designs after the Galaxy-class--that perhaps the Galaxy-class was the pinnacle as far as how big a starship should be, and that it was better for the fleet to consist of more compact vessels that was more efficient as far as the use of interior space.
Obviously, with future knowledge, Galaxy-class wasn't the Apex of size in terms of USS Enterprise ships or StarFleet. We know that a "Universe class" will eventually come, and it will be MASSIVE.

But I do agree that a nice & balanced Fleet would be good, one that errs on smaller ships to make up the bulk of the fleet.
There will be bigger vessels, but not that many.

The design on the lower right corner would ditch the tradition of a forward saucer section in lieu of just a forward stardrive section that would pull a number of swappable crew and mission modules not unlike train cars.
So a StarShip Train / Big-Rig?
Kind of like what the Sampson Class would turn out to be:
Mx6fUNe.jpg
lyRKeUd.jpg
 
Obviously, with future knowledge, Galaxy-class wasn't the Apex of size in terms of USS Enterprise ships or StarFleet. We know that a "Universe class" will eventually come, and it will be MASSIVE.
As with most constructions, there is a caveat of something being the biggest at the time, and during the late 2360s/early 2370s, it did seem like Starfleet was favoring smaller ships than the Galaxy-class. Even the Sovereign-class, while longer due to its nacelles, was smaller as far as its interior volume was concerned.
But I do agree that a nice & balanced Fleet would be good, one that errs on smaller ships to make up the bulk of the fleet.
There will be bigger vessels, but not that many.
That was something that was declared from the start. It went even so far as to say that most of Starfleet's objectives were best carried out by smaller vessels. The Galaxy-class was meant to be a vessel that operated far from support from a starbase, but would be equipped with everything it needed for long-term deep-space missions, with extra space for future shipboard facilities and increased crew complement.
So a StarShip Train / Big-Rig?
Kind of like what the Sampson Class would turn out to be:
Mx6fUNe.jpg
lyRKeUd.jpg
Pretty much, but without a saucer section. I don't think the design was meant to be extremely long, though.
 
As with most constructions, there is a caveat of something being the biggest at the time, and during the late 2360s/early 2370s, it did seem like Starfleet was favoring smaller ships than the Galaxy-class. Even the Sovereign-class, while longer due to its nacelles, was smaller as far as its interior volume was concerned.
True the Sovereign-class seem to be the Galaxy-class minus the civilian amenities, and tuned up for the Dominion War.
Ergo, it went on a diet and became a lean, mean, fighting machine.


That was something that was declared from the start. It went even so far as to say that most of Starfleet's objectives were best carried out by smaller vessels. The Galaxy-class was meant to be a vessel that operated far from support from a starbase, but would be equipped with everything it needed for long-term deep-space missions, with extra space for future shipboard facilities and increased crew complement.
Funny, how on so many occasions that the Galaxy-class gets called back to Earth or somewhere within or around UFP territory to deal with a local problem. It's "Deep Space" missions didn't really happen all that often. The one major notable thing was that it was the first UFP StarShip to reach a different Galaxy by accident. After that, it dealt with more things near the edge of UFP space or along UFP borders.

While the USS Voyager was never meant to deal with Deep-Space Spelunking, it accidentally made the history books and brought back a treasure trove of knowledge.


Pretty much, but without a saucer section. I don't think the design was meant to be extremely long, though.
I don't mind the Saucer section, given that you need a small crew to operate the vessel, you need some room for them, and that StarShip isn't particularly big in the grand scheme of things.

The Sampson class has dimensions of:
LxWxH (w/o Cargo Containers) = (300.0 x 152.4 x 53.4) meters

Those Cargo Containers are HUGE, like giant Aviation Hanger HUGE.
LxWxH (1x of those Cargo Containers) = (125.0 x 120.0 x 31.2) meters.
ABUXcY3.png
You can fit the Largest Aircraft on Earth in one of those Cargo Boxes if you wanted to.
That's how humongous those boxes are.

Each Cargo Container contains 7x standard StarFleet Decks of usable Height
These were meant to help the Romulan Refugees move their entire life off world.
And you have these giant Space-Worthy Cargo Container that are the size of Giant Aviation Hangers with multiple Decks.
 
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Funny, how on so many occasions that the Galaxy-class gets called back to Earth or somewhere within or around UFP territory to deal with a local problem. It's "Deep Space" missions didn't really happen all that often. The one major notable thing was that it was the first UFP StarShip to reach a different Galaxy by accident. After that, it dealt with more things near the edge of UFP space or along UFP borders.
A case could be made that--as the Federation flagship--the Enterprise was somewhat atypical of other Galaxy-class vessels, and most of her first seven or eight years were spent conducting representative missions close to home. Other Galaxy-class ships usually were deployed to the frontier and beyond, but most of them may have been recalled to bolster the fleet during the Dominion War.
While the USS Voyager was never meant to deal with Deep-Space Spelunking, it accidentally made the history books and brought back a treasure trove of knowledge.
An argument also could be made that the Voyager wasn't like other Intrepid-class ships and demonstrated how rugged & resilient the design was without support and replenishment from Starfleet. For all intents and purposes, the Intrepid-class may have not been intended for lengthy exploration missions, but the Voyager proved the design was capable of that.
 
A case could be made that--as the Federation flagship--the Enterprise was somewhat atypical of other Galaxy-class vessels, and most of her first seven or eight years were spent conducting representative missions close to home. Other Galaxy-class ships usually were deployed to the frontier and beyond, but most of them may have been recalled to bolster the fleet during the Dominion War.
Hopefully we see a sequel to the Galaxy-class down the time line in the future.
We've seen Circle-shaped saucers (the original shape), we've seen Elliptical shaped ones, we've seen Triangles, we should see more varied saucer shapes in the future =D.

An argument also could be made that the Voyager wasn't like other Intrepid-class ships and demonstrated how rugged & resilient the design was without support and replenishment from Starfleet. For all intents and purposes, the Intrepid-class may have not been intended for lengthy exploration missions, but the Voyager proved the design was capable of that.
The Intrepid-class sure did, it's class name will go down in history and probably be one of the classes to continue getting updated designs down the road.
Like how the Constitution class -> Constitution II -> Constitution III.
I wish they just went with Mk.# instead of using Roman numerals for the updated classes.
 
The Sovereign seems more like a replacement for the Excelsior as a mutli-role cruiser, rather than the premier explorer vessel.

Starfleet seems to have churned them out, given the numbers we see in Picard.
From "only ship in the sector" to (per Jörg Hillebrand & MA) 339 ships from 17 classes in the same place. This is some progress, yes?
 
Question, Doug has been posting stuff on his facebook of some of the picard stuff, anyone know where I can find bigger versions? Facebook shrinks all there stuff for no reason.
 
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