#warp technology

[horseshoecrabguy]

I’ve always wondered why in star trek ships don’t really seem to have inertia like they should in the vacuum of space. especially when applied to warp travel, but also just in general: if you are moving in a direction and at a velocity, you would continue to move the same way until acted upon by another force (like gravity or something else which shouldn’t affect them in space). there’s probably some kind of canon explanation but I don’t know where to find it, anyone know?

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

[deepspacenightshift]

Antidean transport ships have one and a half command sections due to their species’ long history with space travel.

Antideans know that they will be spacefarers for thousands more years, so they have contingencies for every outcome in all their vessels. This makes the ships a little blobby-looking, and they’re reportedly maze-like on the interior, but they beautifully. They have two warp cores in their warp-capable ships, their impulse power is very reliable, and each Antidean transport ship has a set of rocket thrusters for emergency use, as well as unparalleled life-support including suspension chambers for the ill or amphibious / water-dwelling species. Antidean transport ships can travel across a tenth of a quadrant before needing to stop and restock. The half-command section is for disguise, so that if a hostile enemy decides to open fire they will hopefully blow out the weak false command station. They then mask all their life signs, cut their engines, and float hoping that no one will bother scavenging them but preparing for hand-to-hand combat if they’re boarded.

An amazing species. It’s fascinating to meet so nomadic peoples aboard DS9.

[brightestofcentaurus]

Warp Technology

Moving faster than the speed of light is one of the key necessities to interstellar travel due to the incredible distances between interstellar objects. The difficulty is that increased speed requires an increased input of energy. As the speed of light is approached, the energy required to accelerate increases exponentially. For the moment, a "warp drive" device that would allow this speed remains purely speculative, and most of the data indicates that it is impossible by the laws of physics.

One idea is to warp space-time around a spaceship instead of trying to propel the ship itself. This would use a loophole in the laws of physics prohibiting faster than light travel. Here, some sort of device would warp space-time, contracting it in front of the ship and extending it behind, allowing the ship to "move" at about 10 times the speed of light. Unfortunately, previous estimates indicated that the energy required would be far beyond our ability to produce. More recent modifications have placed the concept within a more feasible range, but the idea remains speculative.

Information from NASA and Space.com.