Very true but I was referring to the tech available to Starfleet - they can fly to where they want in space and just set up a bunch of antimatter converters when they get there
Very true but I was referring to the tech available to Starfleet - they can fly to where they want in space and just set up a bunch of antimatter converters when they get there
Anti-Matter is the same matter, but with opposite charges.Sidebar question: "Anti-lithium"?
You've mentioned three outputs from the TNG warp core a couple of times now which initially confused me - but are you referring to this?
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If so, BTS diagrams show it running vertically the entire length of the intermix tube and usually labelled as "secondary matter feed pipe". Here's one such example from the writer's guide:
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From what I can tell it's just a feed pipe for the antimatter generator - it's not connected to the core itself at all.
I believe this is also where the privateers extracted the highly volatile "trilithium resin" in the TNG Ep "Starship Mine".In the TNG movies (specifically First Contact) a similar vertical pipe was the coolant. Absent specific dialogue pointing to the E-D's pipe it could be the coolant as well given it's proximity. Or it could be a matter feed pipe to the AM generator![]()
I believe this is also where the privateers extracted the highly volatile "trilithium resin" in the TNG Ep "Starship Mine".
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If dirt can get into a car's oil or coolant as it circulates through the engine, why could trilithium not build up in a coolant line?
I still think that this shaft routing plasma to other areas of the ship makes the most sense to me at this time, since some of the details are similar to the TMP intermix shaft.
Good point. So at that rate, where does the coolant line actually go on ships confirmed to have it, like the Sovereign? It would have to be close to the reaction to cool the equipment, and the Sovereign's might be close enough. But this extra shaft on the Enterprise-D does not seem to touch the warp core. Would it be close enough, who can say?The presence of the coolant contacting an antimatter stream would be problematic, IMHO
Good point. So at that rate, where does the coolant line actually go on ships confirmed to have it, like the Sovereign? It would have to be close to the reaction to cool the equipment, and the Sovereign's might be close enough. But this extra shaft on the Enterprise-D does not seem to touch the warp core. Would it be close enough, who can say?
In theory the average car should not "burn-oil" meaning the lubricant and reactant are somehow separated even though both are near the reaction. Not sure if this fact supports or argues against the shaft as a coolant tower.
Yeah if the coolant worked like a car analogy then it would be pumped to a jacket of some kind around the combustion chambers of the warp core. But the warp cores of the TNG and E-E are exposed with no obvious coolant system jacket.
Maybe hypothetically when the m/am reactor is offline for service then coolant is flushed into the intermix shaft and reaction chamber to cool it down and the trilithium resin gets mixed in with the coolant at that point and the coolant pipe has a filter that catches it so it can be extracted in "Starship Mine"?
If trilithium is a better form of dilithium, and dilithium is used to moderate the M/AM reaction, then trilithium might immediately shutdown or poison the M/AM reaction instantly in order to "scram" an out-of-control, warp core. Maybe other functions.
I don't believe trilithium is a better form of dilithium as it seems to be sought out to be used for weapons and not power generation.
I came to the same conclusion about the necessity for a sliding screen wall. It only appeared open in The Changeling but nonetheless makes perfect sense, as well as justify the presence of that extra thick pillar between the screen walls.I...updated my Aux Control to reflect the episode where we see the other side and to account for the screen wall that some crew miraculously get behind (I drew it so half of it can slide into the wall leaving the alternate version we sometimes see).
The stalk on the lower sensor dome was added for the series.Now, with the stalk on the lower sensor dome…I could see that as the phaser cannon from THE CAGE….later replaced by phaser banks in the core of the saucer that aim at the lower dome…made of a single huge dilithium crystal. The number of phaser banks determines the strength/color of the beams. Lastly, the ball turrets were added to save on materials. That gives you three variants to go with first and second pilots…and the production look.
I'd not share the idea of a sliding wall. The red grill that we often see on the Enterprise - corridors, machine room, Emergency Manual Monitor - is always a fixed wall. Besides, there is no slide construction to be seen in The Changeling, the grill on the left side of the pilar being just missing. On the Constellation, Matt Decker's ship in S2 Doomsday Machine, the grill is closed and Washburn (and Scotty) are no doubt entering the back compartment via the sliding door on the right side (not to be seen in the pic above, but in my post a moment ago). In The Children Shall Lead and The Way To Eden there are also two grills.I came to the same conclusion about the necessity for a sliding screen wall. It only appeared open in The Changeling but nonetheless makes perfect sense, as well as justify the presence of that extra thick pillar between the screen walls.
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