TransporterBeam
Lieutenant Commander
What would happen if a starship dropped out of warp in low atmosphere and fell 100,000 feet and then after almost burning up went to warp again blew back into warp and took off ? Would it make it ?
Starship dropping through the atmosphere
- Thread starter TransporterBeam
- Start date
So apparently it would depend on whether you are flying an untested, brand new Federation starship, or a well-worn Klingon contraption. The former presents a risk. The latter... I'm not even sure there is a word for "risk" in thlIngan Hol.
Generally speaking, atmospheric maneuvering doesn't pose problems for most starships if they are properly powered up and all their magic fields are working as intended. The E-D, a whale of a ship, had some problems in "Arsenal of Freedom", but it should be noted that she was deliberately looking for problems, flying at the edge of the envelope and hoping that this would be too much for the invisible and invincible combat drone threatening her.
And warp drive would minimize the time spent in the atmosphere, so there would probably be little or no harm to the ship from initiating warp deep down in the soup. There might be a goodly thunderclap when the starship-shaped hole through the atmosphere filled, though.
Timo Saloniemi
Generally speaking, atmospheric maneuvering doesn't pose problems for most starships if they are properly powered up and all their magic fields are working as intended. The E-D, a whale of a ship, had some problems in "Arsenal of Freedom", but it should be noted that she was deliberately looking for problems, flying at the edge of the envelope and hoping that this would be too much for the invisible and invincible combat drone threatening her.
And warp drive would minimize the time spent in the atmosphere, so there would probably be little or no harm to the ship from initiating warp deep down in the soup. There might be a goodly thunderclap when the starship-shaped hole through the atmosphere filled, though.
Timo Saloniemi
However, one was the untested Enterprise, the other was a Klingon Bird of Prey, which was designed to land on a planetary surface.
Something I found annoying in some episodes is the inconsistency in how atmosphere affects ships.
For example, Voyager is able to land on planets, yet in 'Equinox' episode an atmosphere damaged the shields/ship badly.
For a ship that has an ability to land and probably is capable of atmospheric flight, I would have surmised something like this was a goof.
If anything the Equinox was the one that should have taken more damage than Voyager (I know ... drama).
For example, Voyager is able to land on planets, yet in 'Equinox' episode an atmosphere damaged the shields/ship badly.
For a ship that has an ability to land and probably is capable of atmospheric flight, I would have surmised something like this was a goof.
If anything the Equinox was the one that should have taken more damage than Voyager (I know ... drama).
That would depend a lot on whether you are going in at landing speed or combat pursuit speed, I guess.
A starship would preferably enter at walking pace, and hover down to a landing at such slow speeds that air resistance would never be a factor. But when pursuing a renegade starship, one might wish to move as fast as possible, turning friction into a factor and presumably thus pumping some energy against the shields. Much like in "Arsenal of Freedom" vs "Tomorrow is Yesterday": even a damaged starship does just fine within an atmosphere when she doesn't exert herself unduly, but even an intact starship can be flown in such an extreme way that atmospheric maneuvering creates damaging stresses.
One might also argue that the Voyager's shields in "Equinox Pt II" were substandard due to having been heavily modified to keep the space boojums out...
Timo Saloniemi
A starship would preferably enter at walking pace, and hover down to a landing at such slow speeds that air resistance would never be a factor. But when pursuing a renegade starship, one might wish to move as fast as possible, turning friction into a factor and presumably thus pumping some energy against the shields. Much like in "Arsenal of Freedom" vs "Tomorrow is Yesterday": even a damaged starship does just fine within an atmosphere when she doesn't exert herself unduly, but even an intact starship can be flown in such an extreme way that atmospheric maneuvering creates damaging stresses.
One might also argue that the Voyager's shields in "Equinox Pt II" were substandard due to having been heavily modified to keep the space boojums out...
Timo Saloniemi
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