Warp Core Explosions

[T'Paul]

The Enterprise's warp core explosion was powerful enough to throw the Enterprise clear of the gravity of a black hole.

How come the Kelvin's explosion didn't annihilate the Narada? How come it just had that pissy little explosion instead of the big blue one the Enterprise had?

 

[Awesome Possum]

Maybe Warp Cores have some shut off device in case of such an event.

 

[T'Paul]

Maybe Warp Cores have some shut off device in case of such an event.

Well maybe Kirk should have overridden it. He could have saved Vulcan if he destroyed the Narada back then.

So much for him being a hero!

 

[Trekker4747]

The Enterprise's warp core explosion was powerful enough to throw the Enterprise clear of the gravity of a black hole.

How come the Kelvin's explosion didn't annihilate the Narada? How come it just had that pissy little explosion instead of the big blue one the Enterprise had?

For the same reason detonating a nuclear weapon is very, very, different than simply blowing a nuclear bomb up with a conventional bomb.

One is a controled, intended, reaction the other is just blowing something up.

 

[Ovation]

Perhaps the interaction of the warp core explosion and the singularity made it that much more powerful than the smaller, less powerful warp core of a much less advanced ship all by itself? There--that's one problem fixed. Anything else?

 

[Awesome Possum]

Maybe Warp Cores have some shut off device in case of such an event.

Well maybe Kirk should have overridden it. He could have saved Vulcan if he destroyed the Narada back then.

So much for him being a hero!

Real shame he couldn't predict the future. Although I imagine he thought flying the ship into it would work.

But if he had allowed it to happen it would have possibly destroyed the escaping shuttlecrafts, killing his wife and newborn son. Saving those two were his chief concern.

 

[T'Paul]

Perhaps the interaction of the warp core explosion and the singularity made it that much more powerful than the smaller, less powerful warp core of a much less advanced ship all by itself? There--that's one problem fixed. Anything else?

How can a black hole make an explosion bigger.

 

[Kpnuts]

Detonating a warp core in a controlled manner and having it and the ship explode are two completely different things

 

[T'Paul]

Perhaps a better question is why didn't Kirk detonate the warp core.

His inaction lead to the destruction of Vulcan and mass murder.

 

[Awesome Possum]

Perhaps a better question is why didn't Kirk detonate the warp core.

His inaction lead to the destruction of Vulcan and mass murder.

He was attempting to save the lives of the rest of the crew of the Kelvin, including his wife and infant son. That was his orders. A Warp Core explosion would have likely killed them all.

Also how the hell could he have known that Nero was going to destroy Vulcan?

That's like getting upset at some random German guy who could have hit Hitler with a bus in the 1920s.

 

[T'Paul]

Perhaps a better question is why didn't Kirk detonate the warp core.

His inaction lead to the destruction of Vulcan and mass murder.

He was attempting to save the lives of the rest of the crew of the Kelvin, including his wife and infant son. That was his orders. A Warp Core explosion would have likely killed them all.

Also how the hell could he have known that Nero was going to destroy Vulcan?

That's like getting upset at some random German guy who could have hit Hitler with a bus in the 1920s.

That's a good point. I guess the blame lies with Old Spock, for not going to the "City on the Edge of Forever" planet and going back in time to stop Nero.

 

[CaptainStoner]

Perhaps the interaction of the warp core explosion and the singularity made it that much more powerful than the smaller, less powerful warp core of a much less advanced ship all by itself? There--that's one problem fixed. Anything else?

That was my thought as well. The warp core + black hole = weeely big 'splosion.

 

[T'Paul]

Perhaps the interaction of the warp core explosion and the singularity made it that much more powerful than the smaller, less powerful warp core of a much less advanced ship all by itself? There--that's one problem fixed. Anything else?

That was my thought as well. The warp core + black hole = weeely big 'splosion.

I still don't understand how proximity to a black holes magically makes explosions bigger.

 

[Mr. B]

Whatever the story requires... a warp core detonation would only create an infinitesimal amount of momentum in the vacuum of space... surely not enough to propel it away from a black hole... but whatever. This is a movie about characters, not plot.

 

[T'Paul]

Whatever the story requires... a warp core detonation would only create an infinitesimal amount of momentum in the vacuum of space... surely not enough to propel it away from a black hole... but whatever. This is a movie about characters, not plot.

Very true. This movie sure as shit wasn't about plot.

 

[Ovation]

Perhaps a better question is why didn't Kirk detonate the warp core.

His inaction lead to the destruction of Vulcan and mass murder.

He was attempting to save the lives of the rest of the crew of the Kelvin, including his wife and infant son. That was his orders. A Warp Core explosion would have likely killed them all.

Also how the hell could he have known that Nero was going to destroy Vulcan?

That's like getting upset at some random German guy who could have hit Hitler with a bus in the 1920s.

That's a good point. I guess the blame lies with Old Spock, for not going to the "City on the Edge of Forever" planet and going back in time to stop Nero.

Then you should blame Harlan Ellison.

 

[CaptainStoner]

Perhaps the interaction of the warp core explosion and the singularity made it that much more powerful than the smaller, less powerful warp core of a much less advanced ship all by itself? There--that's one problem fixed. Anything else?

That was my thought as well. The warp core + black hole = weeely big 'splosion.

I still don't understand how proximity to a black holes magically makes explosions bigger.

There is something about what the warp core does - it generates a field which can somehow warp normal space, allowing a vehicle to traverse otherwise impossible distances.
I don't understand why this would be really bad, either, but I can imagine it being a potentially enormous energy displacement when the warp core's space-altering explosive force is then compressed by the singularity, resulting in an amplified shock wave that was capable of knocking the Enterprise out of the danger zone like a ship at sea.

 

[urbandk]

You know something... this whole conversation is a little nonsensical because an explosion in outer space like that would not propel anything. All it would do is incinerate whatever is around it.

The OP is being more than a little disingenuous. Dude, how many times did a ship have a warp core breach in battle and not destroy what was around it?

Maybe the Narada was protected, as is every other ship in Star Trek, by its magical shields.

I mean, Jesus, feel free to hate on the film, but please don't make a million asinine threads just to pollute the forum.

 

[Jeri]

Ho, boy. I haven't said anything up until now, but the warp-core escape is the one real bugaboo I have with the story.

They plainly said they were going at top warp -- and still being pulled into the singularity's event horizon.

The moment they ejected the core, their speed would drop to zero; and they wouldn't have had a chance to detonate it before the ship were pulled immediately into the singularity.

I'd be glad of a good explanation of why it wouldn't work that way.

 

[urbandk]

Ho, boy. I haven't said anything up until now, but the warp-core escape is the one real bugaboo I have with the story.

They plainly said they were going at top warp -- and still being pulled into the singularity's event horizon.

The moment they ejected the core, their speed would drop to zero; and they wouldn't have had a chance to detonate it before the ship were pulled immediately into the singularity.

I'd be glad of a good explanation of why it wouldn't work that way.

Maybe they had reserve power or something... or they saved a core. dunno.