Transwarp drive and intergalactic travel
- Thread starter EJA
- Start date
What is that reference?
The TW drive as used by the Borg prior to Endgame is just about as fast or probably faster than the first Slipstream version Voyager encountered (60 000 LY's in 3 months).
Voyager did come up with a second version of Slipstream which enabled them to cross 10 000 Ly's in 1 minute (albeit issues cropped up with this due to the phase variance and the benemite crystals decaying faster).
If SF wants to use that tech in the future, that means solving the phase variance and increasing the life span of the crystals.
Anyway ... the Borg TW network in Endgame episodes was just as fast as Voyagers second version of the Slipstream drive.
I think that under those velocities (10 000 Ly's in 1 minute) it would take about 3 hours and 20 mins to cross through 2 million LY's and reach Andromeda Galaxy.
Certainly huge distances would not be a big issue anymore since millions of Ly's could be crossed very easily.
And traveling for days or weeks under such velocities would prove to be extremely viable for exploration
Voyager did come up with a second version of Slipstream which enabled them to cross 10 000 Ly's in 1 minute (albeit issues cropped up with this due to the phase variance and the benemite crystals decaying faster).
If SF wants to use that tech in the future, that means solving the phase variance and increasing the life span of the crystals.
Anyway ... the Borg TW network in Endgame episodes was just as fast as Voyagers second version of the Slipstream drive.
I think that under those velocities (10 000 Ly's in 1 minute) it would take about 3 hours and 20 mins to cross through 2 million LY's and reach Andromeda Galaxy.
Certainly huge distances would not be a big issue anymore since millions of Ly's could be crossed very easily.
And traveling for days or weeks under such velocities would prove to be extremely viable for exploration
Well, I've always thought that transwarp was a generic term for any propulsion system that went far and beyond conventional or modified warp drive systems and that it could range anywhere from anything beyond the TOS Warp 10 to infinite velocity and utilize a wide variety of technologies from transwarp coils to transwarp conduits. Even slipstream could be looked at as a form of transwarp drive, but it does have its own name.
To me, a transwarp ship could take anywhere from a few weeks to a few nanoseconds to reach the Andromeda Galaxy. It depends on how powerful your actual drive is, IMO...
To me, a transwarp ship could take anywhere from a few weeks to a few nanoseconds to reach the Andromeda Galaxy. It depends on how powerful your actual drive is, IMO...
Well, trans DOES mean "beyond" so the idea that "transwarp" just means beyond conventional warp has lots of merit, and that's how interpet it.
The idea that, strictly, "transwarp" = "warp 10" = "infinite veloicty" is kind of silly.
But it is what Trek has led some to believe.
I've always held the belief that when it was mentioned that the Excelsior was "transwarp" that that program was huge sucsess leading to the recalibration of the Warp Scale to the TNG one, placing Warp 10 as "infinite speed" which just means another recalibration likely came between TNG and the AGT future placing a higher number as "infinite speed."
The idea that, strictly, "transwarp" = "warp 10" = "infinite veloicty" is kind of silly.
But it is what Trek has led some to believe.
I've always held the belief that when it was mentioned that the Excelsior was "transwarp" that that program was huge sucsess leading to the recalibration of the Warp Scale to the TNG one, placing Warp 10 as "infinite speed" which just means another recalibration likely came between TNG and the AGT future placing a higher number as "infinite speed."
What confuses people in ST3 is that "All speeds available through transwarp drive" line, as if all speeds from zero to infinite were available...
In retrospect, we probably should read that as the computer merely confirming that all speeds from zero to maximum show green lights, whatever this maximum speed is.
Probably NX-2000 wouldn't have become intergalactic even if everything worked out as planned. Starfleet obviously had extremely high hopes on success, because they equipped their propulsion testbed into a fully operational starship, complete with weapons and potted plants. If those hopes didn't pan out, I'd have expected to hear more about it.
Timo Saloniemi
In retrospect, we probably should read that as the computer merely confirming that all speeds from zero to maximum show green lights, whatever this maximum speed is.
Probably NX-2000 wouldn't have become intergalactic even if everything worked out as planned. Starfleet obviously had extremely high hopes on success, because they equipped their propulsion testbed into a fully operational starship, complete with weapons and potted plants. If those hopes didn't pan out, I'd have expected to hear more about it.
Timo Saloniemi
"Transwarp" is the biggest form of fantasy-based abuse in STAR TREK.
At least Jesco von Puttkammer tried to explain how warp drive worked in Roddenberry & Sackett's "The Making of Star Trek - The Motion Picture". With Transwarp, it seems there is no glue whatsoever to hold a theory together. It doesn't seem to mean anything but "faster than fast", using some kind of dangerous ultra-high-power drive that could tear your ship apart if you lack the mastery to tame it.
VOYAGER is the most fantasy-based of any of the series. There was no rhyme or reason to it. Despite this, there seems to be two forms of "transwarp": the first started in the TNG "Descent" two-parter. This one seemed to be less about an actual engine technology and more about some interdimensional conduits (not unlike a network of stargates) that connects distinct points in space. I gathered the same suggestion from the Borg transwarp network, but I must confess I did not pay attention to VOY as closely. How the Borg came up with this technology is anybody's guess. (Note that the Federation never seemed to do anything with it.)
Then there's this other "transwarp", which seems to be the quantum slipstream concept. The counterfeit prototype Dauntless seems to create some kind of super-warp effect involving the use of the navigational deflector, resulting in enhanced warp speeds. This actually seemed to involve an engine technology.
I have to confess, that's the limit to my understanding of transwarp; I also admit I do not take it seriously.
At least Jesco von Puttkammer tried to explain how warp drive worked in Roddenberry & Sackett's "The Making of Star Trek - The Motion Picture". With Transwarp, it seems there is no glue whatsoever to hold a theory together. It doesn't seem to mean anything but "faster than fast", using some kind of dangerous ultra-high-power drive that could tear your ship apart if you lack the mastery to tame it.
VOYAGER is the most fantasy-based of any of the series. There was no rhyme or reason to it. Despite this, there seems to be two forms of "transwarp": the first started in the TNG "Descent" two-parter. This one seemed to be less about an actual engine technology and more about some interdimensional conduits (not unlike a network of stargates) that connects distinct points in space. I gathered the same suggestion from the Borg transwarp network, but I must confess I did not pay attention to VOY as closely. How the Borg came up with this technology is anybody's guess. (Note that the Federation never seemed to do anything with it.)
Then there's this other "transwarp", which seems to be the quantum slipstream concept. The counterfeit prototype Dauntless seems to create some kind of super-warp effect involving the use of the navigational deflector, resulting in enhanced warp speeds. This actually seemed to involve an engine technology.
I have to confess, that's the limit to my understanding of transwarp; I also admit I do not take it seriously.
I came to this conclusion the moment the crew of Voyager retrofitted their engines to get them to go "Warp 10" (Infinite Speed.)
But, again, "transwarp" just means "beyond warp" in this context. Not "infinite speed."
Transwarp is just a placeholder name for any speed that is signifigantly beyond the current limits and "speed" simply meaning the time it takes to travel a certain distance whether the method is through a conduit, propulsion, or other means.
It'd probably be a whole lot easier if we just stopped calling "Warp 10" (a misnomer in of iteself) "Infinite Speed" and realize that that is impossible even in the "limits" of Trektech and we just completely ingnore and forget about that Voyager episode as the nonsense that it is.
Transwarp is the Ultimate version of Plot Drive.
In other words, it's as fast as the story needs it to be...
And the drive system is usually installed on Tuesday.
Cheers,
-CM-
In other words, it's as fast as the story needs it to be...
And the drive system is usually installed on Tuesday.
Cheers,
-CM-
Ask Sylvia and Korob how long it took them to travel from Andromeda?
That has been shown to be often true.
The evolution that occurred in 'Threshold' episode of Voyager could have been induced by something else.
I mean really, we saw numerous things that managed to pass through the shields and interact negatively with the crew ... and since Tom's shuttle was supposed to be occupying every point in the universe itself, I think there are any number of possibilities as to what really happened to him.
They hardly explored the Milky Way galaxy and on a universal scale, our galaxy is less than microscopic.
One would think that it was inevitable that once Tom took Janeway with him on a TW flight, she would be exposed to the same situation Tom was the first time he did the flight.
It could be that some kind of substance in the universe interacted with the TW drive version that the shuttle used which had a negative effect on Tom (human physiology in general).
I thought it was an ok episode, the whole evolution thing was interesting, but could have been explained better.
When I first saw the episode in which Voyager attempted to open a TW conduit the Borg used for example with 7's help, I was genuinely surprised that Torres said how they don't have experience with TW technology.
Of course it wasn't later on I learned through the Internet that the writers disregarded the 'Threshold' episode as part of cannon.
Also the evolution into salamanders could be the next step for Humans in that universe.
We do know the Q hinted that humanity has the potential to surpass even them ... but that would only happen if humans in that universe started developing their psionic abilities ... and since to our knowledge, neither Tom or Janeway had displayed such mental abilities, it's possible the next evolutionary step was in a purely biological direction that could have been heavily influenced by something in the Trek universe (the shuttle was supposed to occupy every point in the universe after all).
I mean really, we saw numerous things that managed to pass through the shields and interact negatively with the crew ... and since Tom's shuttle was supposed to be occupying every point in the universe itself, I think there are any number of possibilities as to what really happened to him.
They hardly explored the Milky Way galaxy and on a universal scale, our galaxy is less than microscopic.
One would think that it was inevitable that once Tom took Janeway with him on a TW flight, she would be exposed to the same situation Tom was the first time he did the flight.
It could be that some kind of substance in the universe interacted with the TW drive version that the shuttle used which had a negative effect on Tom (human physiology in general).
I thought it was an ok episode, the whole evolution thing was interesting, but could have been explained better.
When I first saw the episode in which Voyager attempted to open a TW conduit the Borg used for example with 7's help, I was genuinely surprised that Torres said how they don't have experience with TW technology.
Of course it wasn't later on I learned through the Internet that the writers disregarded the 'Threshold' episode as part of cannon.
Also the evolution into salamanders could be the next step for Humans in that universe.
We do know the Q hinted that humanity has the potential to surpass even them ... but that would only happen if humans in that universe started developing their psionic abilities ... and since to our knowledge, neither Tom or Janeway had displayed such mental abilities, it's possible the next evolutionary step was in a purely biological direction that could have been heavily influenced by something in the Trek universe (the shuttle was supposed to occupy every point in the universe after all).
Especially since the computer notes "Transwarp drive maximum velocity in..." and starts a short countdown. So Excelsior had a maximum velocity limit she could attain and since the point was to cut-off the Enterprise's escape, Stiles would not want the ship to accelerate a few dozen - much less hundred or thousand or million - light-years beyond Kirk and Co.
All Seeing Eye
Admiral
I always thought the Transwarp in ST3 was successful but following the Excelsiors prototype drive it was decided that it would instead continue to be called warp and that the Warp scale would instead be altered.
Yes ... it's called 'writers stupidity'.
But on another note ... if you desire an in-universe explanation, then you could postulate the Borg go with the slower route in order to test Federations advancement and what they did to design new technologies to counter the Borg, so the Collective can assimilate those techs (unless they end up destroyed).
