When Did different species achieve space travel/ warp?

[Gaith]

It's really the central dilemma of the Trek canon, isn't it - that humans managed to assemble and dominate the Federation despite being (by all appearances and reasonable assumptions) relative newcomers to galactic society, or that all these other species just happened to discover warp tech shortly after we did. Doesn't make tons of sense either way; one just has to roll with it, imo.

 

[Cayomagnetking]

So, perhaps when Earth got warp technology, it set off an arms race situation and forced the development of faster and faster engines. Are there no episodes that dealt with the events leading from Earth finding how to warp?

 

[EliyahuQeoni]

I've always wondered why everyone assumes that FTL capable = Warp Drive. Surely there are other methods of FTL that may have been in use that were superseded by the more effective Warp Engine?

 

[Timo]

On the other hand, different species do "warp" in rather different ways. It wouldn't surprise me at all if warp were just a catchall term for all the possible methods of FTL travel - and methods that visibly differ from the things called warp are impossible.

Say, "wormhole" is another vague concept that has been associated with at least three different VFX, each of which also differed conceptually on how a spacecraft would pass through (ST:TMP, "The Price", DS9). And our heroes agree that wormhole is not a valid FTL travel method, until the Celestial Temple comes along. Quite possibly, it's all "warp" and "wormholes" and nothing else can exist without being absorbed into one category or the other.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[MacLeod]

The one thing about Warp drive for other races is that very few of them have speeds over warp 5 by the 2150's, Vulcans have warp 7 but all the major races seem to have progressed on warp speeds at the same time once the Federation was formed and are now at warp 8 and 9+ by the 2380's.

This sort of implies that, like Earth, the other races are fairly new to warp drive, maybe within a few hundred years, or that once they developed warp drive whenever they did they just stuck with the first thing they had and kept with it with very little progress.

Just remember that the warp scale was recalibrated at somepoint after TOS but prior to TNG. So warp 8 in TNG is more akin to Warp 13 on the old scale.

 

[The Wormhole]

So, perhaps when Earth got warp technology, it set off an arms race situation and forced the development of faster and faster engines.

Why would it set of an "Arms race situation?" Earth was one of the last of the prominent Alpha Quadrant powers had warp capability for several centuries before Earth, and within 90 years Earth could only do warp 5 while everyone else could do warp 7.

Are there no episodes that dealt with the events leading from Earth finding how to warp?

The movie First Contact.

 

[publiusr]

Some others

Vedala
Slavers
Vegan Tyranny (Borg?)

 

[T'Girl]

Even the dating of their fancy lightsails is unknown, because Sisko merely replicates a specific model that comes from 800 years before the episode

We have giant nuclear powered vessels, and little sail boats are still being made.

Are there no episodes that dealt with the events leading from Earth finding how to warp?

The movie First Contact.

I believe he meant after First Contact. Troi rattled off some vague generalities, but no details.

 

[Kevman7987]

It makes sense that the writers are vague in when the other species invented their FTL technologies. They wouldn't want to handcuff themselves to specific dates.

Dialogue in "Little Green Men" seemed to suggest the Vulcans didn't have warp drive in 1947.

Quark was probably wrong in his statements.

Are there no episodes that dealt with the events leading from Earth finding how to warp?

From the first successful test in First Contact to Earth having a small group of colonies when the NX-01 launched?

No. Nothing in Star Trek at the highest continuity level (e.g. official, filmed Trek) discusses the FC to Broken Bow era.

I don't consider novel/comic Trek canon so I will not mention it.

I wish that Star Trek came up with an official, full canon way of giving fans the complete future history of Star trek of those lost eras. We all want to have a full account of the Eugencs War; a full account of World War III; a full account of the Earth/Romulan War; and finally a full account of the early days of the Federation, of the founding members joining their fleets, militaries, soldiers, and crews into the military/exploratory Federation Starfleet.

I know there are probably books/comics covering those eras. But again, I don't consider them canon.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I wish that Star Trek came up with an official, full canon way of giving fans the complete future history of Star trek of those lost eras. We all want to have a full account of the Eugencs War; a full account of World War III; a full account of the Earth/Romulan War; and finally a full account of the early days of the Federation, of the founding members joining their fleets, militaries, soldiers, and crews into the military/exploratory Federation Starfleet.

.

I wouldn't want to hamstring the writers like that. Even TOS made it up as it went along.

 

[Kevman7987]

I wouldn't want to hamstring the writers like that. Even TOS made it up as it went along.

I know that you are right. They should leave it vague for the sake of the writers. I also have my own version of events in my mind of what happened that makes sense to me and would probably be unhappy with what they came up with.

 

[T'Girl]

Are there no episodes that dealt with the events leading from Earth finding how to warp?

No. Nothing in Star Trek at the highest continuity level (e.g. official, filmed Trek) discusses the FC to Broken Bow era.

If you include TAS along with Voyager, Enterprise and TNG (some from a visual display in Up a Long Ladder) you get ...

Zephram Cochrane's first warp flight as on April 5, 2063

The SS Valiant left Earth relatively soon after, eventual they reached the galactic barrier, in the year 2265 the ship had been missing over 200 years.

In 2067 the warp drive probe Friendship One leaves Earth, eventual it reached the delta quadrant.

Around 2069 the Human colony bound for Terra Nova left Earth, arriving on June 23, 2078 after a nine-year warp flight. By the year 2151 the colony had been silent for over seventy years.

The Terratin colony also left Earth around this time, they originally named their colony Terra Ten. Suggest a number of colony efforts before their departure.

By the year 2102 Humans were building multiple J-class freighters (where Travis was born). Also in that year the SS Hokule was on a mission of "deep space" exploration.

In 2105, the VK Yuri Gagarin was launched from Earth on a colonization mission.

In 2120 the HMS Lord Nelson (British?) was launched from Earth on a mission of "deep space" exploration.

In 2135, the HMS New Zealand was launched from Earth on a diplomatic mission.

In 2146, the Urusei Yatsura was launched from Earth on a mission to conduct a nebula survey project. In real life the closest nebula to Earth is SH 2-216 which is about 400 light years away, Helix Nebula at 700 light years is the closest of the bright planetary nebulae.

In 2151 Travis said: "I always thought lost colonies affected boomers." Travis statement was with "colonies" in the plural, so Terra Nova was not the only lost colony. This implies Earth had multiple colonies by 2151.

 

[Kevman7987]

If you include TAS along with Voyager, Enterprise and TNG (some from a visual display in Up a Long Ladder) you get ...

Zephram Cochrane's first warp flight as on April 5, 2063

The SS Valiant left Earth relatively soon after, eventual they reached the galactic barrier, in the year 2265 the ship had been missing over 200 years.

In 2067 the warp drive probe Friendship One leaves Earth, eventual it reached the delta quadrant.

Around 2069 the Human colony bound for Terra Nova left Earth, arriving on June 23, 2078 after a nine-year warp flight. By the year 2151 the colony had been silent for over seventy years.

The Terratin colony also left Earth around this time, they originally named their colony Terra Ten. Suggest a number of colony efforts before their departure.

By the year 2102 Humans were building multiple J-class freighters (where Travis was born). Also in that year the SS Hokule was on a mission of "deep space" exploration.

In 2105, the VK Yuri Gagarin was launched from Earth on a colonization mission.

In 2120 the HMS Lord Nelson (British?) was launched from Earth on a mission of "deep space" exploration.

In 2135, the HMS New Zealand was launched from Earth on a diplomatic mission.

In 2146, the Urusei Yatsura was launched from Earth on a mission to conduct a nebula survey project. In real life the closest nebula to Earth is SH 2-216 which is about 400 light years away, Helix Nebula at 700 light years is the closest of the bright planetary nebulae.

In 2151 Travis said: "I always thought lost colonies affected boomers." Travis statement was with "colonies" in the plural, so Terra Nova was not the only lost colony. This implies Earth had multiple colonies by 2151.

I should have clarified what I meant better then. Yes, we do get some factoids about some events during that era, but nothing like an event-by-event timeline of specific happenings. Nothing specific about the rebuild of human civilization after WW3 up to a United Earth. Nothing specific about the entirety of human space colonization between those events. No specifics, just closed-ended factoids.

 

[T'Girl]

Yes, we do get some factoids about some events during that era, but nothing like an event-by-event timeline of specific happenings.

That would apply for the vast majority of the Star Trek universe timeline, and not just between first warp and Enterprise. We get little windows separated by time, what's happening in the Federation is largely a mystery.